Mom's Minute

 

 

 

 

Introduction to Wonder Woman 1984 HBO Max Movie Review

 

It was a long time coming, but finally, Wonder Woman 1984 movie starring Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman became available to watch on Christmas Day, December 25, 2020. 

 I waited a  few days after launch of the film to watch this movie mainly to see if I could save money by taking advantage of possible free trials available on any of the streaming services. By the way, the Wonder Woman 1984 movie is currently being shown in select theaters as well as via HBO Max.  My choice was to watch it free on HBO Max, as a Hulu add on 7-day trial.

It took awhile, but I finally went through the logistics of setting up my 7 day free trial of HBO Max, using the Hulu add-on. The major draw for me doing this was of course to watch the sequel to the 2017 blockbuster surprise hit movie  -- Wonder Woman practically free.  

 

Was Wonder Woman 1984 worth the wait? Check out my movie review to find out.

 

Synopsis of Wonder Woman 1984 Movie

 

 

Of course most superheroes’ main objectives involve solving crimes and defeating villains. This holds true for the Wonder Woman 1984 movie where there was not just one villain, but seemingly two that Wonder Woman had to contend with. The additional villain may have been one of the downfalls of Wonder Woman 1984 movie because instead of using screen time to showcase Wonder Woman’s superior skills, time had to be spent developing not one  but two villains.

 

Storyline of Wonder Woman 1984 Movie

 

 

As expected, Wonder Woman 1984 is set in the year 1984. Therefore, similar to the 2017 Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot that was released in 2017, the scenery was set in the 1984 time period. 

To get straight to the point, I think the storyline of Wonder Woman 1984 was sort of amateurish and did not lend itself to any creativity.  In fact the incidents that happened in the movie to cause the villain to have a certain power did not  follow common-sense logic. For instance, how could the villain absorb  powers of an object without either ingesting it or using some other means to make it a part of himself. To try to make sense of this villain's “transformation”, I guess I can surmise that maybe he inhaled dust particles from the gem object. 

However, since the plot had familiar comic-book type scenarios, it’s understandable that the storyline did not have to be realistic. That being said,  I think more thought should have been put into creating a creative, attention-grabbing Wonder Woman story that would showcase plenty of her powers because after all, the movie is above all about Wonder Woman.

 

 

 

Highlights of Wonder Woman 1984 Movie

 

 

I think I can count on one hand the highlights of the Wonder Woman 1984 movie using less than four fingers. This is in stark contrast to the 2017 Wonder Woman film that had so many epic scenes, it would be difficult for me to limit them to a few. 

In addition to not showcasing Wonder Woman’s many powers, the story did not center around her. Instead, plenty of screen time was given to the villains, which of course, took away from those scenes that could have involved Wonder Woman.

By the way, I would like to remind the writers that Wonder Woman has many superhero talents that are not tied to her lasso.  Spoiler Alert:  If you watch Wonder Woman 1984, you can't help but notice all the attention that was given to her “Spiderman'' like maneuvers using her lasso.  Even though the lasso's use was overdone -- due to the limited powers shown by Wonder Woman in this movie -- the lasso stunts actually stood out for me.

 

Quick Sequel to the 2017 Wonder Woman Movie

 

 

I give kudos to the writers, directors, actors and others who I believe worked  hard to bring the sequel to Wonder Woman to fruition quickly -- even though there were delays due to the pandemic.  However, I would have been satisfied to wait a few more months, or how much time that was needed to create a movie that was full-fledged focused on Wonder Woman.

On a positive note, the beginning of the movie was satisfactory, even though it gave the false pretense that Wonder Woman would be the main focus of the movie instead of others.

 

 

Assessment of Wonder Woman 1984 Movie

 

 

If there is another Wonder Woman movie or sequel developed and released, the plot should be centered around a story that would require Wonder Woman to showcase skills such as her strength, her fighting abilities, the use of her shield, her sword and yes -- her lasso. I believe that not showcasing these skills and having a weak storyline were major fails for the  Wonder Woman 1984 movie.

To put it bluntly -- Except for a few of the action scenes, the Wonder Woman 1984 movie was not worth the wait.

 

That being said, watching Wonder Woman 1984 was not a complete fail -- especially since I watched it on  HBO Max. As a result, I was able to check out other movies and offerings on this streaming app.

Plus by using HBO Max, I watched the 2017 blockbuster movie Wonder Woman again. When I did and watched the excellent story, the superb action stunts and more -- I instantly recalled why I saw this film multiple times when it appeared in the movie theaters.

I even watched a few of the original Wonder Woman television shows starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman on HBO Max.  I guess by now you can tell that I’m a Wonder Woman fan.

 

What’s Next for Gal Gadot

 

 

The movie, Wonder Woman 1984 obviously did not make the grade for me -- but I do believe in second chances. Hopefully the movie people will learn from their mistakes in making Wonder Woman 1984 and make another Wonder Woman movie that will be even better than the 2017 Wonder Woman.  I guess only time will tell.

Rating of Wonder Woman 1984 Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate the Wonder Woman 1984 movie three (3 ) stars.