Butler's Cinema Scene

Gal Gadot

“WONDER WOMAN 1984” My rating: C (HBO Max)

151 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

Perhaps the most telling commentary on “Wonder Woman 1984” has come from a critic who observed that the only way to enjoy the movie is to imagine that it is actually a relic from 1984.

Yeah, that works.  Kinda.

Had we seen this movie back in the Reagan years we’d have been blown away by the special effects — WW’s sinuous glowing lasso, that suit of golden armor in which she confronts the bad guy at the end, the flying, etc.

Pedro Pascal

And we’d have forgiven its grievous dramatic shortcomings — the utter lack of psychological realism, the plot holes big enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier, the ever-meandering and overly complicated narrative — because 30 years ago superhero/comic book movies were, for the most part, pretty awful. We didn’t expect anything better.

(Although, the first Christopher Reeve “Superman” from 1978 remains imminently watchable…not for the eye candy but for its wit, its celebration of a cultural icon and the genuine affection it exudes for its hero and his world.)

Anyway, this latest from director Patty Jenkins is most noteworthy for its utter lack of style.  There’s no edge, no real humor aimed at anything that matters (we’re supposed to get off on Chris Pine’s wardrobe  of ghastly ’80s fashion).

Which comes as a surprise since 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” also helmed by Jenkins, oozed style and attitude.

Gal Gadot, Chris Pine

Moreover, the recently concluded Marvel “Avengers” trilogy (along with “Black Panther”) set a remarkably high bar for the superhero genre.  It’s almost as if Jenkins and co-writers Geoff Jones and Dave Callahan despaired of ever duplicating those successes and gave up even trying.

Too many elements of this film — from its overlong prologue set in Diana’s Amazon childhood, to the blah villain (Pedro Pascal) to a largely wasted Kristen Wiig — are utterly underwhelming.

Yeah, I’ve still got a soft spot for Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince (the words “Wonder Woman” are never uttered), a cool beauty navigating a world of ridiculous humans.  And Pine offers a few flashes of humor as love interest Steve Trevor, who died in the first movie but is resurrected here thanks to a phallic-looking chunk of quartz that has the ability to grant wishes. He has a few nice fish-out-of-water moments as a WWI aviator deposited in a world of jets and computers.

I suppose the film does provide a good role model for young girls. And it’s crawling with political subtext (Pascal’s baddie has  a Trumpish thing going)…but all that cultural/political commentary is just frosting looking for a cake.

Here’s my bottom line: I had to force myself to watch “Wonder Woman 1984” to its conclusion. There just wasn’t much of interest unfolding on the screen.

| Robert W. Butler