After the success of Patty Jenkins' 2017 first outing. I was intrigued to see how the sequel would fare, as the original was one of the few films within the DCEU that I would happily own a copy of or watch again.
After the pretty cool prologue, the start did have me fearing the worst. While it was cool seeing the mid 80's portrayed on a cinema screen in 2020, the campy tone did have me getting similar vibes of 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'.
But it did also feel like it was paying homage to those silly 80's comedies. So I remained hopeful that there would be a payoff.
I felt I eventually got something that was worth watching. The narrative and its themes is definitely something we've all experienced on another film or TV show. But I felt the execution was solid enough and the timing of this film made it somewhat refreshing and welcoming.
What made it work for me was that I could feel the stakes and threats involved and able to accept most of its moments of quirkiness and disbelief.
Gal Gadot still proves how great of a casting choice she was as Wonder Woman. Her perfect mix of beauty and strength continues to be ideal. Seeing Chris Pine reprise his role will have many questioning the reasoning for this despite how his character ends in the first film. But I felt it eventually made sense and again paid homage to those hammy comedies of the time period. Pine might have partly lacked that charisma you usually get from him. But it was perfectly function for what his character had to do in this one. Kristen Wiig is basically playing a role we've seen Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey and Uma Thurman do in similar superhero films. But I felt Wiig did well with what she was given. Her development was solid, there were moments where I felt she was a good match for Gadot until at the very end when her transformation felt sudden and almost undeserving and incoherent. Pedro Pascal was a nice surprise given his character is over-the-top. His transformation was well executed and I think he eventually fitted the tone rather well.
There is a nice little touch to end on during the mid-credits scene. It certainly put a smile on my face and I can see a certain chunk of audience enjoying it.
From the technical side, the production, costumes and make-up are as high-quality as you would expect. The 80's period setting was right on the money. However, the pacing felt uneven for the most part and I would say its 2hrs 31mins is far too long for what it was trying to say.
As for the script, while it wasn't anything spectacular, it was perfectly fine for the vibe Jenkins seemed to be going for.
So to conclude, yes the type of story and its themes is something we've seen done by several films of TV shows and people will see this plot device as lazy. But I still felt fairly entertained by it. The characters felt well developed. I could feel the stakes involved and some iconic parts of Wonder Woman that were introduced on the big screen for the first time were great moments.
I agree that it is nowhere near as thrilling or meaningful as the first Wonder Woman and it doesn't reach the same heights of emotion. But sometimes, films don't need to match those heights and I still felt entertained by this.
There is definitely a homage to quirky 80's comedies. With the added themes, this film felt like a mix of Bruce Almighty, the quirky comedic side to Richard Lester's Superman features, the romantic side of Richard Donner's Superman from 1978 and even one scene that is straight out of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. That last sentence won't work to everyone's tastes. But it certainly will appeal to certain demographics. In an age where people expect seriousness to their superhero films, it was nice to get a reminder of the superhero films of the 80's that were successful and weren't afraid to be quirky at times.
It will be interesting to hear other views of this. Quite a lot of people did give the previous installment a lot of high praise. I can expect some disappointment as the tone is fairly different and its more light-hearted then you might expect. So while it may come across that I'm trying to defend the film. I'm actually saying that there is definitely an audience for this.
Rating: 7/10
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