Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), All You Want To Know & Watch About A Great Movie
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Diana must contend with a work colleague and businessman, whose desire for extreme wealth sends the world down a path of destruction, after an ancient artifact that grants wishes goes missing.
Wonder Woman 1984 (also known as WW84[1]) is a 2020 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Wonder Woman. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Atlas Entertainment and The Stone Quarry, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman and the ninth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
Directed by Patty Jenkins and written by Jenkins, Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham from a story by Johns and Jenkins, it stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, alongside Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen. Set in 1984 during the Cold War, the film follows Diana and her past love Steve Trevor as they face off against Maxwell Lord and Cheetah.
Discussion of a sequel began shortly after the release of the first film in June 2017 and the decision to proceed was confirmed the following month. Principal photography began on June 13, 2018, with filming taking place at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England, as well as the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia in the U.S., London and Duxford in England, Tenerife and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands and Almería in Andalusia, Spain. Production wrapped on December 22, 2018, after a six-month shoot, with additional filming in July 2019.
Wonder Woman 1984 was originally scheduled for a wide theatrical release on June 5, 2020, but was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film premiered on December 15, 2020, via the DC FanDome virtual platform, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 25, 2020, both theatrically and via the HBO Max streaming service. Critics praised its depiction of the 1980s, escapist qualities, and Jenkins’s direction, but criticized the plot and screenplay.
The film grossed $169.6 million worldwide against a production budget of $200 million, failing to break even due to limited theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic but became the most-watched straight-to-streaming film of 2020. Two follow-ups are in development: a sequel with Jenkins and Gadot returning and a spin-off produced by Jenkins focusing on the Amazons of Themyscira.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Trailer
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Reviews
Too often, though, the instinct in evoking that period is to wallow in obvious nostalgia—popped collars on pastel Polo shirts, a Centipede game at the arcade, a B. Dalton Bookseller at the brightly-lit, triple-decker mall. There’s even the obligatory trying-on-clothes montage to allow Chris Pine’s resurrected World War I pilot to marvel at the ridiculousness of parachute pants. (Also: breakdancing! What is that all about?) We’ll get to Steve in minute, and to the potentially intriguing idea his return represents.
But what’s also disappointing about the “WW84” screenplay is that it feels like it belongs to a movie that actually came out in the ‘80s. Its plot-driving device would be right at home in a high-concept comedy: an ancient stone that immediately grants you whatever you wish for, resulting in both wacky hijinks and massive catastrophes. It’s a banal notion along the lines of “Weird Science” and “Zapped!,” a cautionary tale in which fantasy fulfillment ultimately doesn’t deliver the satisfaction its characters expect.
Far more compelling is the film’s opening sequence, a flashback to a pivotal moment in the life of young Diana, years before she’d become Wonder Woman. As a girl on the magical island of Themiscyra (played once again by the poised and perfectly cast Lilly Aspell), she competes in an arduous challenge of strength and skill against women twice her age and height.
This whole section soars—the camerawork and editing put us right in the middle of the action, and Hans Zimmer’s score sweeps us along. The memory also efficiently establishes Diana’s fearlessness and ability as well as the important lesson she learns about the nature of truth that will become relevant down the road. It is the film’s high point; nothing else will match it in terms of visual cohesion or emotional impact.
So when mousey new co-worker Dr. Barbara Minerva arrives and meekly asks if she’d like to have lunch, Diana doesn’t quite know how to respond because she doesn’t really have friends. But the two soon hit it off, because Barbara is also a misfit in her own way. Kristen Wiig is subtly hilarious in these early scenes as the sweetly goofy, warmhearted researcher.
The chemistry she and Gadot share when they meet for drinks at happy hour, the Washington Monument gleaming behind them in the distance, made me wish they were starring in a mismatched buddy comedy instead. The role allows Wiig to deliver her lines with the sly, self-deprecating deadpan that’s her trademark; it seems effortless but actually requires pinpoint precision.
But watching her stretch and develop into a villainous figure as the film progresses has its own joys. It’s a huge change of pace for the comedian, and she rises to the occasion both physically and emotionally.
The bulk of the overlong “WW84” running time is devoted to the chaos that ensues when wish fulfillment runs amok. The script meanders awkwardly between all three of these characters as they either explore their newfound powers or the consequences of their choices. Along the way, the rules for wishing on the stone keep changing in whatever way is convenient to keep the plot chugging along.
But some genuinely thrilling moments emerge along to the way to the generically shiny, noisy climax, including a heart-pounding chase across the Egyptian desert that allows Diana to reveal both her resourcefulness and her kindness. And Barbara’s transformation from unassuming scientist to ass-kicking seductress is a pleasure to behold, mainly because the evolution of her clothes and hair are so great and she seems to be having the most fun of anyone on screen.
(The same cannot be said for Gadot and Pine this time, whose connection is weirdly inert despite the potential poignancy of being reunited with your one true love.) Sure, Barbara eventually turns into the comic book villainess Cheetah and resembles a refugee from “Cats,” but until then, her arc is the most interesting element of the film.
At the end of this Dumpster fire of a year, though, “Wonder Woman 1984” does deliver a welcome escape, as well as a much-needed message of hope. We’ll take such diversions where we can get them these days, either spread out at a theater or from the safety of your couch at home. It’s fine. Sometimes, it even soars. But it could have been wondrous.
- Christy Lemire – Roger Ebert
- Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series “Ebert Presents At the Movies” opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Credits
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
151 minutes
Cast
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
Kristen Wiig as Barbara Ann Minerva / Cheetah
Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord
Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta
Robin Wright as Antiope
Director
- Patty Jenkins
Writer (based on characters from DC Wonder Woman created by)
- William Moulton Marston
Writer (story by)
- Geoff Johns
- Patty Jenkins
Writer
- Patty Jenkins
- Geoff Johns
- Dave Callaham
Cinematographer
- Matthew Jensen
Editor
- Richard Pearson
Composer
- Hans Zimmer
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Plot
As a young child, Diana participates in an athletic competition on Themyscira against adult Amazons. After being knocked off her horse while looking back at her opponents, Diana takes a shortcut and remounts, but misses a checkpoint. Antiope removes her from the race for cheating, explaining anything worthwhile must be obtained honestly, while her mother Hippolyta advises her to be patient in her pursuit of glory and honor.
In 1984, Diana is working at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., while secretly performing heroic deeds as Wonder Woman. New museum employee Barbara Ann Minerva, a shy geologist and cryptozoologist, has trouble getting noticed by her co-workers, but quickly finds a friend in Diana.
After the FBI asks the museum to identify stolen antiquities from a robbery that Wonder Woman recently foiled, Barbara and Diana notice one of the artifacts, later identified as the Dreamstone, has a Latin inscription claiming to grant the holder one wish. Neither openly takes the inscription seriously, but Barbara wishes to become like Diana and unintentionally acquires the same superpowers, while Diana yearns for her deceased lover Steve Trevor.
He is resurrected in another man’s body; the two are reunited at a Smithsonian gala. Failing businessman Maxwell “Max Lord” Lorenzano steals the Dreamstone, hoping to use its power to save his nearly bankrupt oil company. His wish is to “become” the stone and gain its wish-granting powers; whenever he grants someone else’s desire, he is able to take what he wants from the wisher, resulting in worldwide chaos, destruction and instability.
Diana discovers that the Dreamstone was created by Dolos/Mendacius, The God of Lies, also known as the Duke of Deception. It grants a user’s wish, but exacts an equally strong toll unless they renounce the wish or destroy the stone. Although Diana’s powers and Barbara’s humanity begin to diminish, neither is willing to renounce their wish. Max visits the U.S President at the White House, who wishes for more nuclear missiles to cow the Soviets, which brings the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Max also learns of a new and secret satellite system that can broadcast to anyone in the world; since his powers are causing his body to deteriorate, he plans to grant wishes globally to steal strength and life force from the viewers and regain his health. Diana and Steve confront him, but Barbara betrays Diana and knocks her down, escaping with Max on Marine One.
Steve convinces Diana to renounce her wish and let him go, restoring her to full strength. Donning the armor of Asteria, greatest of all Amazon warriors, Diana flies to the satellite headquarters and again battles Barbara, who has transformed into a humanoid cheetah after wishing to become an apex predator. After a brutal fight that ends in a lake, Diana electrocutes Barbara, then pulls her out of the water.
She confronts Max and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, persuading everyone to renounce their wish. She then shows Max visions of his own unhappy childhood and of his son, Alistair, who is frantically searching for his father amid the chaos. Max renounces his wish and reunites with Alistair, and Barbara returns to normal.
Sometime later in the winter, Diana meets the man whose body Steve possessed. Meanwhile, Asteria is revealed to be secretly living among humans.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Box office
Wonder Woman 1984 grossed $46.8 million in the United States and Canada and $122.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $169.6 million.[5] In January 2021, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film would likely lose the studio “north of $100 million.”[147]
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside News of the World, Promising Young Woman and Pinocchio and was projected to gross around $10 million from 2,150 theaters in its opening weekend.[148] It ended up debuting to $16.7 million, finishing above expectations and with the best total of the COVID-19 pandemic, but 87% less than the first film’s opening weekend.
Over 10,000 private screenings of the film were held, accounting for about $2 million (12%) of the opening weekend total.[150] It fell 67% in its second weekend, grossing $5.5 million.[151] In its third weekend the film fell another 45% to $3 million, with Deadline Hollywood saying it “continued to emulate the legs of a horror movie”.[145] The film grossed $2.6 million in its fourth weekend, finishing second behind newcomer The Marksman.[152]
Internationally, the film was expected to debut to around $60 million from 32 countries.[153] In China, the film had a disappointing first-day opening, only grossing $4.6 million, compared to the local film The Rescue, which grossed $8.9 million its first day.
Global projections were subsequently lowered to $35–40 million and the film went on to debut to $38.2 million, including $5 million from IMAX screens. China was the largest opening with $18.8 million, followed by Taiwan ($3.6 million), Thailand ($2 million), Brazil ($1.7 million), Japan ($1.6 million), Mexico ($1.6 million), Singapore ($1.3 million), the United Kingdom ($1.2 million) and Spain ($1.1 million).
In its second weekend of international release, the film made $19.4 million from 40 countries. Its largest markets were Australia ($4.5 million) and Japan ($2.5 million), while China’s running total reached $23.9 million.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Critical reception
Slate called Wonder Woman 1984‘s critical response “lukewarm”,[157] while Newsweek described it as “mixed”.[158] The Washington Post reported that the response changed from “early praise to precipitous decline”.[159] Critics praised the film’s “escapist qualities” and Jenkins’ take on the 1980s, but many commentators found it “overindulgent or cliché”.
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 58% of 440 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “Wonder Woman 1984 struggles with sequel overload, but still offers enough vibrant escapism to satisfy fans of the franchise and its classic central character.”[162] Upon the initial drop of the review embargo, the film achieved a 90% positive review score; this score gradually dropped until it ended up at 59% after the release.
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.[165] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B+” on an A+ to F scale (lower than the “A” received by its predecessor), while PostTrak reported 78% of those gave the film a positive score, with 67% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a “B” and wrote “Wonder Woman 1984 is all about playing with magic and wishes and desires, only to see them lead to horrible ramifications, instant gratification and the revelation that lying is never without consequence. Those are some big swings and not every single one lands, but the ones that do are both joyous and genuinely worth pondering.”
Adam Graham of The Detroit News gave the film a “C” and wrote that “the result is far from wondrous, a reminder of the limitations of the superhero genre and the ways its escapist trappings sacrifice key storytelling elements (narrative, characters, dialogue) for empty spectacle.”
Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, saying, “To be sure, we get a classic comic book movie storyline about a megalomaniacal madman intent on taking over the world, but there’s often a relatively light tone to the proceedings. This is a throwback piece of pure pop entertainment.”[168]
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, wrote that “Patty Jenkins is behind the camera again, but this time without the confidence. Certainly some of the problems can be pinned on the uninterestingly janky script, a mess of goofy jokes, storytelling clichés and dubious politics.”
Alonso Duralde of TheWrap said: “Even if the notion of wishes — making them and then takesies-backsies — isn’t quite a cinematic enough concept to support Wonder Woman’s final face-off with Lord, Wonder Woman 1984 still brings a freshness and a wit that’s often lacking in these gargantuan costumed-hero sagas.”[170] Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, “Gadot is terrifically imposing, while Kristen Wiig is the scene-stealing antagonist in Patty Jenkins’ epically brash sequel.”
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised Gadot, saying, “Her performance here has dignity and earned emotion” and called her the best thing about the film and “She was the best thing in the first installment, too, but that was an excellent movie. This one isn’t.” LaSalle concludes “Often, it’s a beautiful-looking film — but it’s beauty without substance.”[27] In her review for RogerEbert.com, Christy Lemire wrote, “The quality that made the original film such a delight has been squashed almost entirely.”
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Accolades
| Award | Ceremony Date | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | January 27, 2021 | Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/ Fantasy Film | Hans Zimmer | Nominated | |
| Hollywood Critics Association Awards | March 5, 2021 | Best Blockbuster | Wonder Woman 1984 | Nominated | |
| Best Stunts | Nominated | ||||
| Critics’ Choice Movie Awards | March 7, 2021 | Best Visual Effects | Nominated | ||
| Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards | March 13, 2021 | Favorite Movie | Won | ||
| Favorite Movie Actor | Chris Pine | Nominated | |||
| Favorite Movie Actress | Gal Gadot | Nominated | |||
| Set Decorators Society of America Awards | March 31, 2021 | Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Science Fiction or Fantasy Feature Film | Anna Lynch-Robinson and Aline Bonetto | Nominated | |
| Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards | April 3, 2021 | Best Special Make-Up Effects in a Feature-Length Motion Picture | Jan Sewell & Mark Coulier | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | April 4, 2021 | Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture | Wonder Woman 1984 | Won | |
| Art Directors Guild Awards | April 10, 2021 | Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film | Aline Bonetto | Nominated | |
| Costume Designers Guild Awards | April 13, 2021 | Excellence in Fantasy Film | Lindy Hemming | Nominated | |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards | April 16, 2021 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects & Foley for Feature Film | Jimmy Boyle, Richard King, Michael Babcock, Jeff Sawyer, Rowan Watson, Lily Blazewicz, Kevin Penney, Peter Burgess, Zoe Freed | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Underscore | Gerard McCann, Ryan Rubin, Michael Connell, Timeri Duplat, Chris Barrett, Adam Miller, Alfredo Pasquel | Nominated | |||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | April 24, 2021 | Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel | Wonder Woman 1984 | Nominated | |
| Worst Supporting Actress | Kristen Wiig | Nominated | |||
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | May 16, 2021 | Best Hero | Gal Gadot | Nominated |
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) Movie Info
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