Warner Bros, the studio that keeps on releasing films in cinemas in 2020, and they’re back again with the delayed sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman 1984. Staring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig, how does the 80s style superhero film stack up?

I think I should start by confessing that I don’t keep up with these DC Universe films. I’d only seen the 2017 Wonder Woman the morning before I saw this, so I went into this with that film fresh in my mind. However I never bothered much with the Justice Leage film, having heard nothing good about. But I  found Wonder Woman 1984 to be a real surprise.

Set, as it’s title suggests, in 1984, this film picks up around 70 years after the 2017 outing left off and with Patty Jenkins returning to direct. This film has a very strong and vibrant colour pallet and is imediately the most visually striking aspect. I expected nothing less, given how exciting the marketing around this was. Very quickly I was immersed into the 80s and its styles.

That’s probably the best thing that this film does, is creating the atmosphere and feeling of the 1980s. Costumes and set designs stand out amongst everything else. Very quickly I found myself smiling and laughing at all the little quirks. Wonder Woman 1984 serves as a great throwback to the times of old.

This is further helped by the choice to shoot on 35mm and even 15:70 IMAX film. It provides a great look and feeling with the noticeable grainy look. I love it! It felt proper old school, and reminded me of the beauty of simpler times.

However WW84 isn’t all nostalgia of the 80s. It does also have a neat albeit forgettable story. The opening of the film is great. We start off with some nice action scenes of Gal Gadot stopping a robbery at a shopping mall, followed by a young Diana on her home world comepeting in a Warrior competion against much older competitors.

This was a great way to reintroduce the audience to this world, and served as great character building. The scenes back on her home world were great insights into her character, and sets some really nice personal goals for her character for the narrative. And then nothing. The next hour of the film felt long, with a lot of expostion for the plot to be set up. We don’t even see our hero in costume until the plot has been set up and we’re away globe trotting.

This was really disapointing for me. I was expecting for a more established hero to have more costume screen time. However saying that, the more personal interactions Diana has and the friendship we see her build with Kristen Wiig makes their later conflict much more exciting to watch and experience.

Alongside Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal plays Maxwell Lord, who serves as the films main villain. He’s entertaining enough to watch, he doesn’t get much fist fighting action however serves more as the mastermind with Wiig as the muscle in the villain pairing.

What these villains do really well in is getting great character development in that first act. I certainly found myself siding with them at times, and they serve as some of the better and much more well rounded villains from the DC films I’d seen.

To summarise, WW84 is a really fun film. It stands out as one of the better offerings I’ve seen from DC in recent years, and served as a really great bit of escapism in the craziness that has been the month of December 2020.

In cinemas/ streaming on HBO Max now