Sometimes the weight of expectation doesn’t always bear out…

By an unnameable law of the universe in most cases, movie sequels are lesser then those that came before them.  While Wonder Woman 1984 is ultimately no exception to that rule, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a hell of a lot of fun.

Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) and The Cheetah (Kirsten Wiig).

Yeah; Wonder Woman 1984 is overlong and a little bloated, but Gadot and co-writer/director Patty Jenkins still get the job done thanks to some solid action and great performances from our new villains.

There’s a lot to enjoy here as we get the classic comic book arc of a megalomaniacal villain trying to take over the world but Jenkins and company simply try to cram too much melodrama into the drama from minute one.  Obviously it all looks great and we buy these two new obstacles placed in front of heroine for this adventure, but shoehorning the Chris Pine romance of it all ate it up a solid 20 minutes that it really didn’t need to.

Meanwhile Pedro Pascal was inspired as Max Lord the man desperate to not be a failure that it drove him to the brink of madness and Kirsten Wiig never gets enough credit making for a really interesting foil opposite Wonder Woman.  Jenkins actually does a better job of capturing these characters with more flair and style then she does her heroine on this outing.

This is the inherent flaw in the DC universe, sure Gal Gadot looks great on screen and we easily buy her as this icon Amazon who only wants to find love, but the supporting players and villains are typically just way more interesting.  I don’t doubt that young girls use the Wonder Woman model to be an example of heroism and nobility and the reminder that young women can do anything they put their minds too(an idea which obviously doesn’t always get championed like it should) but the character isn’t the most…relatable.

Audiences can easily put themselves in the mindset of Wiig’s Cheetah character who has spent a life time being viewed as second best as well as in Pascal’s Lord who has lost total focus over the important things in life.  They are both very similar and the theme of the entire film where “nothing good is born of lies” rests in their very souls.  It’s a very real struggle for the villains and it what makes the film more interesting because they aren’t “bad guys” rather just “misunderstood” ones.

Gadot does right by all of them as she plays Wonder Woman in the “Superman” mold but isn’t afraid to let the flaws of being an emotional person in the universe shine through.

The audio and picture on the 4K disc are top notch as you’d expect and the special features include some scene breakdowns, a making of WW84, a gag reel some behind the scenes featurettes and so very much more.

Ultimately this installment of Wonder Woman doesn’t quite live up to the original as we saw the birth of this very iconic character in film one, and here in film two; Wonder Woman 1984 we see the character coming to peace with the sacrifices that she has to make in order to be able to protect it.  It’s a film about being a hero, for those who need you to be one when you don’t really want to be one at all.