WW84 review
WW84 sits the best movie I’ve seen in the last month; granted, it’s also the worst movie I’ve seen in the last month. Tragically (tragic for someone who’s addicted to the theater, but’s trapped in a Covid reality) it’s the only movie I’ve seen in the last month.
When we (my sister and I) arrived at the theater they said the targeted 6:05 showing was sold out. Rats, we’d wasted the entire day in preparing for this one do-nothing-justify event. What about the next available showing? They politely said tomorrow; we politely said damn.
Before waving the white flag, we decided to try the nearby, lesser-known sister theater. Sister, only in the sense that it was also a theater. Maybe this theatre wasn’t the accomplished, perfect child of the family, the ticket price set $3 cheaper reflecting the cleanliness you’d expect from the discount, it at least had the movie we wanted to see. The personable staff reassured us that the show wouldn't be sold out, but we’d have to wait two and a half hours for the 9:00 showing. Having waited until the end of the day to see the movie, we had no negotiating power, so we said “Yeah, that works.”
To pass the time, we went out for snacks. From the Winco bulk session we bought Swedish fish, Skittles, and chocolate covered malt balls. (Sometimes when asked my favorite food, I’ll say malt balls. The person asking will clarify they meant favorite meal food. Initially confused, I’ll pretend malt balls weren’t my intended meal plan and answer pretzels instead.) Then, carrying those snacks along with books we brought from home, we went into a Barnes and Noble and loitered for a few hours. Since we were both dressed well and white, no one questioned us.
Dumb thought aside: Is it insulting to the Barens and Noble establishment if we bring outside books into the store and read them there? My sister and I argued no; the struggling business had a plethora of empty tables so we (justifiably) weren’t stealing a spot from a real paying customer. Maybe if the store had been really busy, we’d have bought something. Maybe the irony of the situation was why there were multiple empty tables to begin with.
Dot dot dot, we returned to the movies, saw WW84 (the second Wonder Woman movie) then drove home. Here’s my review of the movie:
It’s refreshing to have a story with a convincing villain. The motivations behind the antagonist were reasonable and you felt for her depressed situation. In most superhero movies with a villain who’s pure evil, you sarcastically think to yourself, “This is believable; humans aren’t complex. If the characters aren’t making obvious, black and white moral decisions why would I even watch. Ok, did that hooded individual with the face scare just kick that puppy? Nice, that must be the villain; glad I didn’t have to invest any mental thought deciding that. Kudos to the director in accurately estimating my level of intelligence.” Anyways, shallowly developed antagonists are insulting to the viewer; this wasn’t the case for WW84.
Another element I liked was the crescendoing conflict. The stakes grew exponentially through the movie to a satisfying climax/resolution. Most stories done well, keep the dramatic tension going while continually building on it; WW84 is no exception. If you were studying plot, WW84 would be a good case study.
Overall, four out of five stars. Highly recommendable.
