WW84

More cliched and less exciting than the original, Wonder Woman 1984 just barely passes the high bar set by the original. Because this movie focused more on relationships, development of characters, and criticizing greed and excess, the result was less action and urgency overall. The movie drags itself on 2 hour and 31 min without giving a satisfying reason as to why the world needs Wonder Woman.

Since WW 1984 was more character rather than action driven, this film demanded more from her portrayal of Diana Prince. Gal Gadot, although disarmingly gorgeous, struggled to present Diana Prince in a more complex and multi-faceted light. Especially in the opening scenes, her character was clearly melancholy but nothing else. Her performance wasn't as authentic or moving compared to original. In the first film, she played Diana Prince terrifically: she had the drive, the anger, the wonder, and the vulnerability. But in this film, her character seems to lack the driven and headstrong personality she had in the first. In fact, her character occasionally seems bossy instead of assertive.

However, I do believe that both she and Kristen Wigg's quality of acting was restricted by their stereotypical characters: one seems to have it all and the other not at all. This unrealistic, Hollywood portrayal that everything is this or that, never this and that, makes their characters unbelievable and shallow. Unfortunately, this false dichotomy is essential to driving the film's plot.

Honestly, I think either Chris Pine and Pedro Pascal sold their characters the best. Chris Pine provided some duly needed emotional expressivity that Gal Gadot lacked. But since English isn't even her first language, I'm going to cut her some slack.

Overall, I was a little disappointed but it still might be fun to watch.