Star of wonder, star of light
The big releAse WONDER WOMAN 1984
12A
COULD it be? Was it true? Did I really return to the IMAX last week to be swept up on the wings of Wonder Woman 2? Yes! Given every blockbuster release, bar Tenet, has been held back until 2021 or beyond, I didn’t expect Wonder Woman 2 (aka WW84) to hit cinemas this side of Christmas. But Gal Gadot’s rope-twirling Glamazon is back with a bold, beautiful sequel that leaps Wonder Woman to a whole new level.
As with its $822million-grossing original, a thrilling opening flashback, set on Wonder Woman’s home island, is a highlight. Here, a Hunger Games-meets-Quidditch arena competition sees a young Diana learn the film’s key message – a victory gained by greed and cheating is no victory at all.
Flash forward to Washington DC, 1984, and Diana (Gadot) is feeling lonely. Until, that is, her friend (Kristen Wiig) shows her a strange gemstone with the power to grant a wish. Diana wishes only for her lost love, Steve (Chris Pine, hilariously channelling his inner Hemsworth), and – tah-dah – he’s back! But when a megalomaniac called Maxwell Lord (a brilliant Pedro Pascal) gets his mitts on the gemstone, all hell breaks loose.
Shot with heart and humour, this is an ensemble show and the baddies threaten to steal it. Lord, with his blond hair and gold office ranting about ‘the conspiracy against my success’ is clearly President Trump yet the script allows Pascal to show us the void in his heart.
Through it all, Gadot slides and glides and dropkicks around the screen with the strength, poise and self-contained sexiness that only a female lens can truly capture. And returning director Patty Jenkins displays far more assurance over the action set pieces this time round – with Wonder Woman’s warrior cry ‘uh-ah-aahh-aaaaahhhh!’ theme guaranteed to get you foot-stomping.
The 1980s setting and Gadot’s Christopher Reeve-like perfection and innocence are not the only things that remind you of the old Superman movies directed by Richard Donner (Lethal
Weapon, The Goonies). Despite exposing the ugly face of capitalism, WW84 is really all about providing a shining beacon of hope and truth in a dark world.
There are flaws – most glaringly the wish logic (or lack thereof) and Wiig’s Cats moment – but this is
the blockbuster we need right now. A blast of pure superhero joy, I absolutely adored it with every molecule of my movie-loving heart.