This movie has been slated and sneered at - clearly we watched a different version!!! I loved it - perhaps it was the sadness of being shown yet another Bond trailer, with no Bond film yet; perhaps I'm just so keen for new, I've lost discernment!
There is much to like about this movie - it's as good as Bond movie in terms of action set pieces and thrills and explosions. It still has the charm and style of the first movie; the plot is original. There's a lot of humour as the '80s are revisited in all their shoulder padded and big haired horror; people are even saved and villains dealt with in fun ways. Diana misses a shoplifter in dealing with bigger fry, but guess even super heroes can't be perfect.
It's a film with ethics too - what if we could have everything our hearts desired, everything we wished for? What if there was a cost to what we wished for? What if to overrule our hearts desires, there had to be sacrifice? What if everyone wished to do what was right in their own eyes and hearts - what would that look like in reality - WonderWoman84 gives us a taste...
Nice to see a man and woman working together as a team; female friendship celebrated positively and the ethics of gender politics pushed back at us - is it justice if a victim behaves as badly and vengefully as the perpetrator in the name of empowerment? It also challenges us - how we use power, strength, privilege, talents matters - it can either benefit and protect others, or it can make us mean, cruel, self-serving. It causes us to think - what are the consequences of having our heart's desires on others around us and ourselves; it's almost a parable.
Above all, just enjoy this movie for what it is! Revel in the gold 'angel' armour; in the last minute saves of citizens in peril; in the terrible but very funny 80s man fash dash; in Steve's reactions to life in the '80's and in the invisible plane - almost Bond's car, but not quite!
The only flat note is Barbara's transformation into feline predator - this felt a bit of a waste of time, but I guess it's the ultimate expression of her desire to be noticed and powerful and not abused - she does lose a part of herself, her kindness towards those who aren't noticed. The part which could have done with a tweak was the reunion of the villainous dad and his steadfast son; in a strange role reversal, the child is the all wise one and the father almost seeking wisdom from his son; adult-children and child-adults are a bit creeepy, and just plain wrong; children aren't all knowing or fonts of wisdom in disguise, tho they appreciate and see things adults don't! But atleast the dad decided to stop destroying the world. Also lose the terrible British cafe scene with some cod Irish people and I swear someone was eating a fry-up wearing a bowler hat and pin-stripes as a red bus went by - less stereotypes please!
Overall, it didn't drag; it was well paced and the action just kept on coming - it is nicely resolved. Ignore the official reviews - completely satisfying and fun, (especially in Diana's complete avoidance of the '80's excess in her look)! It may also cause nostalgia for simpler times when nuclear weapons and Russians were the biggest things we had to worry about.
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