![]() Lord, played with rather broad strokes by Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal (of The Mandalorian), does not acquire the aura of invincibility that could push Wonder Woman all the way against a wall and force her to tap into her unique strengths. Doesn't Lord remind us of a man who is about to demit office (in the same city that WW84 is set in) as the world's most powerful man? Actually, Maxwell Lord, whose ambition far outstrips his ability, reminds us of many other such clueless megalomaniacs running their nations ragged. The villain, Maxwell Lord, is a television personality selling gossamer dreams ("Life is good, but it can be better," is his favoured punchline), a failed businessman and a delusional hustler who, when he acquires the power he seeks, makes a complete hash of it. ![]() There is no room here for irony or cynicism, the staples of contemporary superhero movies, but there is ample social commentary. It hinges on the forces of truth, love, justice and true heroism - represented by Wonder Woman (Gadot) and Steve (Chris Pine), who has surfaced in the Cold World era after perishing heroically in World War 1 at the end of Wonder Woman - taking on a villain whose sole wish is to wield power over the entire world. Like all superhero movies, WW84 is a simplistic, morally earnest fairy-tale yarn. WW84 manages a decent take-off - it starts in the magical Utopian island of Themyscira in a flashback prelude that reveals a key rite of passage in Diana's evolution before it transports the audience to a consumer frenzy-driven Washington DC of the mid-1980s - but it never scales the dizzying heights of the earlier film.ĭespite several rousing action sequences and the high-drama licks, WW84 rests less on wind and air than on an ordinary-looking antique stone with extraordinary qualities - a Macguffin that propels the confrontation between Wonder Woman and her two principal adversaries. It passes muster because it the mix has the classic ingredients of a superhero film - a lot of drama, an emotional core, some wit, and a whole lot of wish-fulfilment that extracts a price from the onscreen beneficiaries and the audience (by way of a willing suspension of disbelief). The film proffers old-fashioned escapist entertainment that isn't exactly electrifying. WW84 (written by Jenkins with Geoff Johns and David Callahan) struggles to find genuine inspiration when Gadot isn't doing her number - swooping down in her red-and-blue Golden Eagle armour to save humanity, soaring above the mundane to peddle her super-heroics or reining in criminals with her glowing lasso of truth. Sturdy as that wing is - Gadot is doubtless in top form and she is backed up well by Kristen Wiig as the nerdy Barbara Minerva who acquires Wonder Woman-like strength but loses her humanity - a two-and-a-half-hour film needs much more. It floats on one wing - the returning Gal Gadot. Wonder Woman 1984 manages to be a smooth cruise only intermittently. But is that all there is to flying high? Certainly not when the flight path is as challenging as the one that Patty Jenkins' 2017 megahit Wonder Woman set for the sequels. All you need to know is how to catch it, ride it, and join with it. ![]() Here are the instances when Wonder Woman has killed in the DCEU.Flight is easy, says Steve Trevor, the dishy American pilot who is Diana Prince's love interest. While Batman and Superman have character arc-specific reasons for their kills, Wonder Woman never had a no-kill rule to begin with. As shown in Wonder Woman 1984, Wonder Woman does not kill or permanently injure conventional criminals or Egyptian and American soldiers who have fallen under the control of Maxwell Lord. When in a war zone or battling terrorists, Wonder Woman will kill her opponents, and she has no qualms about killing supervillains who threaten Earth itself. Wonder Woman’s stance on killing is comparable to those of Captain America and Iron Man in their respective comics and MCU films. Wonder Woman, like her comic counterpart, lacks a no-kill rule but nevertheless only uses lethal force in specific situations. For Superman, the desperate act of killing General Zod led to him adopting his no-kill rule, while Batman usually doesn't kill criminals outside of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Superheroes killing their enemies is a subject of debate and controversy in both comic books and their adaptations, with Superman and Batman’s DCEU iterations dividing viewers in their inconsistent use of lethal force. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman does not always resort to lethal force in the DC Extended Universe films, but there are several instances when she kills her adversaries.
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