"You cannot be the winner, because you are not ready to win, and there is no shame in that. Only in knowing the truth in your heart and not accepting it. ... Like patience, diligence, and the courage to face the truth. One day, you'll become all that you dream of and more."
Set in the '80s, I have to say they did an amazing job with set and wardrobe designs from the way things were back then. The first scene of the '80s is the mall and it literally looks exactly like the '80s. It definitely felt a bit comic book cheesy but in a good way. that fits the movie perfectly.
We see Diana living her life quietly going to and from work at the Smithsonian and helping civilians in her spare time but in a low profile way. Although she is kind to co-workers, she doesn't appear to socialize with any of them outside of work. When we see her in her apartment, we see that there are pictures and items from her loved ones that are no longer with her. One of the main ones being Steve Trevor, the love of her life who sacrificed himself to save others in the first movie. There's a photo of him along with his watch he gave Diana. We can tell from this scene that she is a bit lonely and misses Steve greatly.
Back at the Smithsonian, we are introduced to Barbara Minerva, a shy woman who seems to be ignored and invisible to most. When she drops her briefcase and has papers flying everywhere, the only person to stop and help her pick them up is Diana. She immediately likes Diana and tries to invite her to lunch. Diana, not being very social, respectfully declines, and says maybe some other time.
Barbara is a geologist and gemologist and receives new artifacts from the FBI, including the mythical Dreamstone. It's rumored that the Dreamstone grants you one wish, but with every wish, there is a price to pay. Barbara thinks the Dreamstone is a fake, so when she shows Diana, not knowing that it's real, Diana wishes to have Steve back.
We're then introduced to Maxwell Lorenzano, a struggling businessman famous for his infomercials. He tries to flirt and charm his way with Barbara to secure the mythical Dreamstone that he's been searching for, forever, but Diana knows that something is off with him. She decides to go out to dinner with Barbara and they have a great time. On Barbara's walk back to the office she is harassed and attacked by a man and Diana is there to save her. When she's back at the office she has the Dreamstone in her hand and wishes to be more like Diana.
Little do both women know, their wishes are about to come true, but at what price? Steve is back but in someone else's body. Barbara is more confident and is noticed by men, women, just about everyone when she walks into a room. So when she interacts with Maxwell at a company party, he manipulates her into giving him the Dreamstone, which he then wishes to be the Dreamstone and turns into Max Lord. The greed is overwhelming and Max continues to grant people's wishes and in return, he takes power, money, soldiers, and anything else to make his life feel richer. While he's doing that, his son just wants to hang out with his dad.
As Diana and Steve try and stop Max Lord from taking over the world, they realize that the consequence of having Steve back is that Diana's powers are draining and she isn't as powerful or strong. We see Barbara team up with Max Lord because she doesn't want to go back to how things were, but one thing she is losing is her humanity. Diana has to take on both and in order to do that she must denounce her wish so that she can get her powers back fully, which also means she has to say goodbye to Steve again.
Although a slow start, I did appreciate the storyline for what it was, I wish there were more action scenes that gave me as much excitement as I had from the first movie, but I did enjoy Wonder Woman 1984 and absolutely loved the bonus scene after the credits. I won't spoil that for you, but a special someone makes an appearance.
I also love how the movie showed how much women were sexualized in the past. How we had to deal with cat-calling and men just walking up to women just because they found someone attractive and because they could, even if it was not mutual. I love that we're in 2021 and how this is not acceptable behavior anymore. It never was for women, but now more and more women and men are coming together as allies and calling other men out for behavior like this.
Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I received Wonder Woman 1984 on blu-ray at no cost for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
