Well there certainly haven't been many occasions to write a movie review lately, but with the deal reached with HBO Max and other streaming services, some blockbusters are now getting to us, and will continue through 2021.  WW84 came out Christmas Day.

I loved everything there was to love about the original in this series. I still think it's the best Superhero movie ever made. I am not huge fan of the genre, but I have seen and reviewed them all, and the original was simply different.  For me, it was just a good movie, not a good comic book movie.  It was set in an historic event, with a terrific look, a nice back story, with great characters and wonderful character development.  The writing was incredible on the first movie.  Gal Gadot and Chris Pine were perfectly cast, and their chemistry was palpable to us.  The story, although fiction, set in WWI was genius, and the toys, bells and whistles of the special effects were sensational. It was a movie where the star of the movie -  was the movie! I wish this had the same feel, even remotely.

WW84 is set in 1984, and without going into huge detail about the story lines, I will say the big problem here is that this simply feels like just another run of the mill Superhero movie, where the first one did not. This is way, way too long and drawn out especially at the end. The story is very ho-hummy, but there are some fun characters introduced here, like Kristen Wiig's,  who is a villain of sorts, and her transformation and journey to that place is fun and interesting.  But her slick performance can't save this.

This lacks the passion of the original. It lacks the slow burn between Diana (Gadot) and Steve (Pine).  This lacks really smart movie making that director Patty Jenkins was so insanely skilled at on the original.  It also lacks an historical event that was smart, paramount and different, as this simply chronicles an era, and does not capture the real essence of that era.  It is also too far of a jump for me from 1918 to 1984.  There is plenty of action of course as I'm sure test audiences of Superhero fans begged for more, and they get it.  But as far as standard movie goers are concerned, that just makes it another CGI fest, and not a better movie.  Like singing, louder is not better -  better -  is better.

This does not capture the charm, fun or smarts of the original in any way.  Gadot and Pine are fine together, but that's not what we want. We want great, but they are handcuffed by a script that was laden with far too much loud action, and not enough compelling or thought provoking story telling that we cared about and was the star of the first.  All of what's wrong here, is in the script.  This movie also is void of a powerful signature scene.  In the original when Diana emerges from the war torn trenches and challenges the Germans in No Mans Land, is as great of a scene in these kind of movies you can have.  None of that here.

This Is A Great Example Of What WW84 Lacks - This Scene And Others Propelled The Original To GREAT Heights!

Is this a bad movie? No.  It's just not in the same breath as the first, and that's a shame.  I caught it on HBO Max and you can too, and that's a fair way to see it. 

Wonder Woman 84  I wanted great again.  We got, just OK.