‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Clangs and Crashes [Review]

Here’s the thing about ”Wonder Woman 1984,” it starts off like gangbusters only to whimper out into CGI overkill in its final hour. That’s the sad truth about director Patty Jenkins’ ambitious 2 1/2 hour sequel – it damn-near pummels you to submission by the time its climax is over with. Until then, this sequel to the 2017 mega-hit “Wonder Woman,” for the most part, works.

Stylishly directed again by Jenkins, “Wonder Woman 1984” gets its kicks in hammering down some feminist power, maybe less so than the original. And Gal Gadot, surprisingly, delivers a good performance (did she get acting lessons?). The Israel-born actress brings the kind of humanity to her paper-thinly written superheroine that I didn’t see coming from her.

If you remember, in the first film, set in Europe during World War I, Diana/Wonder Woman fell for American pilot Steve Trevor (a very playful Chris Pine), and then he died. This sequel, set 40 years after Steve’s death, has Diana working in antiquities at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., but still thinking about her former beau. That’s when she discovers the Dreamstone, an ancient citrine artifact that can grant a wish to anyone who touches it. Diana wants Steve back. You do the math. Cheap gimmick? Sure, but having Pine there adds some much-needed humor and adventure to the proceedings.

Since this is a DCEU blockbuster, there has to be a villain, and here it’s Maxwell Lord, a TV star/mogul (hammily played by Pedro Pascal of “The Mandalorian).” Max wants the stone, he gets the stone, and, ensuingly, he turns into a demigod. Although well-intentioned in its Trumpiaj parallels, the new villain in the “Wonder Woman” franchise turns out to be a dud, you don’t really hate him, you’re indifferent to the character’s pathetic desperation and that, in itself, distanced me from truly caring once the stakes were raised up a notch during the climactic battle scene.

Another bout of successful casting resides in Kristen Wiig, playing Barbara Minerva, Diana’s nerdy co-worker at the Smithsonian. It doesn’t take long for Barbara to also encounter the stone, with her hope of being as hip as Diana fulfilled. Too bad the script has to turn Barbara into a villainous figure, teaming up with Lord to, of course, take over the world. That’s when your ears start ringing and my mind, disillusioned by the colossal barrage of CGI-driven apocalypse on the screen, started to wander to such mundane thoughts as what I should buy for groceries after the movie was done.

And that’s really too bad, the machinations of this being a major tentpole franchise result in wall-to-wall action that feels forced and only inserted in for fanboys to revel in the childish anarchy. Snipping an hour from “Wonder Woman 1984” could have maintained the joy of its setup, when the characters were relatable and not drowned out by clangor, crash, and cliches.

Score: C+