Wonder Woman 84 is now out online. If you haven’t seen the other 83 movies before then don’t worry because we’re gonna be breaking it all down, pointing out the easter eggs and giving our thoughts whilst also providing some crap jokes to accompany the piece.
Film’s Opening
The film starts off with a flashback to Diana’s childhood in what seems to be a couple of years after she was permitted to train. At an Olympic-themed games event she shows that she’s far ahead of the adults and at one point dives off a platform in a way that’s a clear callback to the film in which she did something similar.
Not long after the character falls off her horse and takes a shortcut to get ahead. It looks like there’ll be no punishment for this but upon reaching the finish line she’s disqualified from the race by her Aunt Antiope in a move that’s certain to ruin Christmas.
Now though seemingly disconnected from what’s to come, this scene actually sets up a theme that is laced throughout the movie. From the introduction, we get the idea that if one is willing to cheat and take shortcuts to get what they want then that will lead to them losing a lot in the long run and it reflects the general motif of the Dreamstone and Maxwell Lord.
What is the Dreamstone?
The Dreamstone is pretty much the Maguffin of the movie and juxtaposing Diana’s lasso of truth, we learn that it’s powered by lies. They do an excellent way of bringing the Beautiful Lies theme over from BVS to tie this film in with the greater universe and it’s definitely one of the more intriguing plot devices in the DCEU. When holding it one can wish for what their heart desires, however it has a monkey’s paw effect and though it gives whatever the bearer wants, it also takes something in return.
Even the guy who just wishes for a Coffee burns his mouth.
Lord gets it at one point in the film and his greed makes him wish to become it in what is the Comic Book Movie equivalent of ‘I wish for a million wishes’ or let me be a Genie.
Who is Maxwell Lord?
Lord is very much based on Donald Trump and whilst I don’t want to go into my personal opinion on him, as far as the film goes it clearly portrays him as someone who promises a lot but in turn takes more than he gives. He’s a con man, a television personality who tells people what they want to hear and he works his way up to the presidency.
It’s about as subtle as Henry Cavill’s moustache, but the reality of the situation is that everyone loses out.
Fueled by a childhood in which his father made him feel poor and insignificant, he’s come to believe that materialism equals power and that the life he’s always dreamed of should be his no matter the cost. He was called a loser and doesn’t want to appear like one to his own son who becomes central to bringing him back from the brink.
I really appreciated the film’s tiebacks to the source material and in the comics, he originally started off as someone without powers but over the years he evolved into a character that could influence people telepathically. This brought on nose bleeds which too become present the further we get into it.
The film very much condenses his long and rich history into one arc and Pascal provides one of the best performances in the movie. What’s crazy is that Pascal featured in the failed Wonder Woman project from a couple of years back so ey, glad he sorted stuff out. They also have an appearance as Simon Stagg who you may know from Arkham Knight and DC comics.
Diana’s Whereabouts
Now the film obviously takes place for the most part in 1984 and we pick up to find Diana helping where she can whilst also remaining anonymous. She takes out security cameras and doesn’t brand people and though it’s not a foolproof explanation, we can understand why Bruce in BVS had never heard of her.
Diana has very much lived a life of solitude since the death of Steve Trevor and though we see that she kept in touch with her old unit, it appears that many of them passed on including Chief who we catch freeing Jews in the Holocaust and Etta who took a boat ride to what I believe is Metropolis.
Clark of course rode across the harbour to Gotham in BVS but ey might be reaching.
Diana stares longingly at planes that echo how he passed and she’s very much still grieving so I hope no one is a jerk and tells her to get over it.
Now though she likes DIANing alone…it’s not too long before she crosses paths with Barbara Minerva. The pair discover the Dreamstone after it’s brought in from a heist and when holding it they both make a wish. Diana wishes that Steve would return whilst Barbara wishes to be like Diana which of course brings a lot with it.
Steve Returns
Steve is brought back to Diana by possessing another man. Initially, all Diana sees is the original one but after concentrating she sees the true person within. Though they are together there is a trade-off of her powers and Barbara gains some but she loses her warmth and humanity.
Now the former aspect is very similar to Superman 2 in that Clark wished to have a normal life with the one he loved but in turn, he lost his abilities. I think DC is very much paying homage to that movie, especially throughout this and it works really well.
Now whereas in the first film, Diana was very much the fish out of the water, here it’s Steve and they even do a call back to the trying on outfits scene from that film with some updated Gear for the boy.
There’s also a train moment similar to how there was with her in the original and they are clearly referencing what came before with the callbacks.
Invisible Jet to Egypt
Now Lord becomes the Dreamstone and he works his way back from financial ruin, Diana and Steve attempt to take it back and they bring the invisible Jet across in a brilliant way.
Channelling the same magic that her father Zeus used to hide Themyscira from sight she turns the jet invisible and the pair arrive in Egypt for a big action scene.
They’re defeated and this is when Diana discovers she has weakened and this is where she learns about the truth of the object.
Reversing the Dreamstone Curse
They realise that if one renounces their wishes that things can return to normal but Barbara has other ideas and doesn’t want to fade into the background once more. I loved how she pretty much fits the 80s movie stereotype of the nerd girl turned hot and she actually makes for a brilliant baddie.
When Steve and Diana try and confront Lord again at the White House, Barbara attacks them and he’s able to get away with the influence of The President and access to his special communication device.
This global broadcast satellite allows every communication device to be taken over so that Lord is actually able to reach out and touch everyone on the planet.
You know I’m somewhat of a scientist myself and I had no idea how this actually worked but apparently because the particles touched people so that Lord could be connected with them.
Goodbye Again
Steve realises that the world is doomed if he doesn’t make her recount her wish and the two have a heartbreaking farewell in which he shouts farewell to him before soaring into the air.
Her flight here very much resembles Clarks in Man Of Steel and in some ways I see her connecting with Steve through the thing he loved which was of course soaring through the air.
Diana goes and gets the Golden Asteria armour and she travels to take down Lord which is when we discover that Barbara has transformed herself into an Apex predator with the help of Lord’s abilities.
Cheetah vs Wonder Woman
Everyone getting their wish causes the world to descend into chaos
We get a great Cheetah vs Wonder Woman showdown whilst Lord grants people’s wishes across the world, taking things from them to make himself more powerful than ever.
It’s a really climactic ending in which Diana busts Cheetah up.
Confronting Lord
Lord promises to give her back Steve if she stops and though she wants it more than her heart can bear she’s gone. She knows that everything has a price and that she isn’t willing to pay it to be happy.
Reaching out to the world she pleads with them to renounce their wishes for a beautiful lie saying that you cannot have it all, you can only have the truth which is enough. Everyone has things that they have that only they have and to want more is greedy which will just lead to the downfall of others.
She puts the Lasso of Truth around Lord so that he can no longer lie to the world and make them promises he can’t keep. In doing so the power of truth from the lasso also goes through him and into the communication device where it shines across the world, showing humanity what it can be.
Lord too sees the truth of the matter and that he’s destroyed the planet, and put his son in danger. Thus he renounces his wish meaning that he can be with his child.
The World Goes Back to Normal
This pattern of behaviour happens across the world and things revert back to how they were. Lord returns to his son and admits that he makes mistakes and is a bit of a loser but that his son will never have to make a wish to have him love him. He knows he’s nothing to be proud of but that he will try his best. His son fires back by saying he loves him unconditionally and I’m not crying…it’s the deadbeat dads that are crying.
The movie ends with Diana at Christmas witnessing the holiday cheer whilst getting smacked in the back of the head by stupid brats with snowballs.
The man who had his body taken over by Steve shows up and oh my god they’ve banged. Though they don’t hook up, he says that she made his day and the movie ends with us thinking that Diana could finally let Steve go and one day be happy again like he wanted her to be.
We see a world filled with joy and celebration and it feels like the perfect message of hope that we needed in 2020.
A child’s balloon floats up and Diana looks to the sky, much like how she did with the aeroplanes that reminded her of Steve and she flies through the sky which ends the movie.
Intro to Asteria
Well until we get the credits scene which sees Asteria being played by none other than Lynda Carter.
Throughout the movie, we heard legends of her and the last time that she was seen by the Amazonians, she was holding off Spartans in what could be a Zack Snyder 300 tribute.
Since then Diana believed that she may be out in civilisation lying low much like how she was and this is confirmed here. Asteria says she’s been doing this a long time and by that she likely means saving people.
I’ve already done a full breakdown on how this cameo came about and that it was sort of teased at DC Fandome.
However, in that video, I mistakingly said that I think this teased the next film taking place in the 80s with the pair meeting up.
Since then Patty Jenkins has come forward and clarified that the third Wonder Woman film will actually be taking place in the present, after the events of Justice League.
Now, though that’s the case it doesn’t negate my theory that Carter or rather Asteria will become somewhat of a mentor figure to Diana. I think due to the characters both being pretty much ageless that they can really set it in any time period and have the pair still work together.
Going forward I think Diana will track her down and we will learn the truth about where she’s been and what it is that she’s been up to since disappearing.
They do a great job of making her seem like Gal from behind and I think this has been done to suggest just how close the two will be linked.
Whatever year it’s set in I’m still hyped and I have to say that I really enjoyed Wonder Woman 1984.
My Review
I’ve been lucky enough to see the film twice now and for me, it’s better than the original movie which I think was let down by a weak third act that relied too heavily on CGI.
Here it’s more about the message and there’s a big feeling of hope which is strongly needed in 2020.
Wonder Woman is a great period piece and I think every actor does a lot with what they’re given.
I had a lot of fun with it and for me, it’s probably in the top 3 DCEU movies after Man Of Steel and the Extended Edition of Batman V Superman.
I’m hyped to watch it again and it gets an…
8.5/10
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.