Wonder Woman 1984

There’s no need to worry about the DC Universe getting too dark for the kids. The studio goes full Super Friends with Wonder Woman 1984. You can’t blame director Patty Jenkins, though. The target audience for WW84 was barely born when 2007’s Spider-Man 3 ended with the main characters having a group therapy session. The folks at Marvel moved away from that nonsense, but Jenkins is determined to make enlightened (or, if you will, Very Special) superhero movies. That provided some twists in 2017’s Wonder Woman, but this sequel ditches any suspense with Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince saving the day as Wonder Woman. Pedro Pascal can’t do much to make Maxwell Lord interesting as an evil tycoon granting wishes with repercussions. A genie fashioned after Gordon Gekko would be fun, but this take on Lord was mainly created to goof on President Trump back when this film was set as a summer release. Kristen Wiig’s turn as a clumsy-gal-turned-superpredator is also wasted. It’s no spoiler that modern-Hollywood sisterhood can’t allow for a proper catfight as nerdy Barbara Minerva wishes herself into a disappointing version of The Cheetah. The good news is that the script’s worst idea almost salvages the bland ’80s mayhem. It should be pretty painful when Chris Pine returns as dead WWI hero Steve Trevor after Diana gets her own wish. Instead, there’s a wonderful 90-minute movie focusing on their romance while the supervillains stay in the background. We still get stuck with a surrounding hour of preachiness – including a moronic detour setting up how DC just can’t get the hang of a post-credits scene.

[PG-13]