Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) *

 

I feel like I've been seeing Pedro Pascal everywhere. He played Oberyn Martel memorably on Game of Thrones. He starred in the excellent movie "Prospect." He's been making a sensation next to Baby Yoda on “The Mandalorian.” His career was just getting better and better. Now he shows up in “Wonder Woman 1984,” a role which is not going to win him any accolades. I suppose if someone offered me a gig in a blockbuster movie with a couple of hotties like Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig, I wouldn't scrutinize the script too much, either. He should have taken a closer look.

The film picks up about 65 years after the events of 2017's "Wonder Woman." Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) has spent the years fighting injustice, saving lives, and pining for Steve Trevor, the WWI pilot who introduced her to the greater world. Steve is long gone, while Diana, as an immortal demigoddess, remains ageless, but incredibly lonely. She works at the Smithsonian, where a colleague shows her an interesting artifact, a crystal with a Latin inscription claiming that it grants wishes. Turns out the stone is real, and a shady businessman named Max Lord (Pascal) gets it, ultimately putting the entire world at risk.

There's nothing wrong with this plot framework. It doesn't come directly from the Wonder Woman comics; rather, it cobbles together a number of characters from the series into a new story, which is fine. The basic plot is sufficiently comic-y, and there's no reason the movie has to follow the comics. The problem is that the film is cobbled together poorly, with plot holes, bad acting, and cheesy cinematography. It's truly a waste. This is a talented cast, but the movie is bad, and they are bad in it. I would say Kristen Wiig comes the closest to making the best of a bad movie. Everyone else, especially director Patty Jenkins, needs to just hope that “Wonder Woman 1984” is forgotten.

Actually, I noticed that Pedro Pascal shaved his trademark beard for the role, which may have been a smart move. If he's lucky, most people won't recognize him in this turd of a movie.

1 star out of 5