Finally there is another big film that we can watch in theaters. Wonder Woman 1984 (WW84) which quenches our thirst for blockbuster films. It was postponed a year from the initial schedule for broadcasting in July 2019 to July 2020, then postponed again due to the pandemic to December 16, 2020. And for those of us in Indonesia, we should be grateful because we were able to watch 9 days earlier than Hollywood, which only aired widely on December 25. 2020 later.
WW84 is the first sequel to the origin film which was released in 2017 and is still a prequel to the first and second appearances through BvS: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). Gal Gadot and Cris Pine are still filling their respective roles like the first film. And the two main villains are played by Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig. Patty Jenkins is also back in the director's chair with a screenplay that she also wrote with the help of Geoff Johns and David Callaham.
40 years after the second world war, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) has merged with the lives of the people around her. Diana in 1984 had worked as an anthropologist at an institute which brought her to meet Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig), a fellow anthropologist who is very intelligent but has problems with self-confidence. 40 years is a long time and it has not been possible for Diana to let her lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) die and make Diana never have a relationship with another man.
But all things changed when an amethyst that had a legend granted a wish and its origin was unknown to the surface. Diana and Barbara who do not realize the power of the stone make each other's wishes that they did not expect to come true. But any granted request has consequences on something within them in its stead. The situation gets even worse when oil tycoon on the edge of bankruptcy Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) discovers the power of the stone and uses it for something much bigger for himself. And the consequences of request after request being granted could now threaten to destroy the world more quickly.
WW84 explores Diana Prince's character even further. If in the three previous Diana Prince/Wonder Woman films (BvS, Justice League and Wonder Woman) we only saw the figure of a tough superhero, through WW84 we will be brought to recognize another side of Diana. Namely her figure as a fragile woman who has not been able to let go of the death of her lover. Until finally his wish came true with the consequence of the loss of the one of him that could save the world. This "want vs need" theme was brought to WW84 which made it much more interesting than the first film. Even a tough and strong superhero is very difficult to beat himself.
The two main villains played by Pedro Pascal and Kirsten Wiig also managed to give color to this WW84. Each villain also has to fight with his own "want vs need" which is very troublesome for our Wonder Woman. Especially for Kristen Wiig, who previously we saw more of a comedic role, could provide a strong enough performance for her character.
WW84 has a very strong scenario that can be interpreted well by the players. Even if there are feelings of weakness, there is a portion of the action that is not as massive as the first film. Again, WW84 focuses more on the "want vs need" plot on the characters, which makes us no longer focus on the action, but on the characters. This immediately reminds me of Spider-man 2, directed by Sam Raimi, which feels very human. For me, who wasn't overly impressed with the first Wondr Woman film, WW84 was a surprise that made me include this film as one of my best superhero films.
