Directing: B
Acting: B
Writing: B-
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B
Special Effects: B+

The majority of the events in the first Wonder Woman (2017) take place in 1918, which means the majority of the events in Wonder Woman 1984 are 66 years later. So, for me, the biggest burning question of this sequel is where we might go next: will the next installment, set roughly the same amount of time after that, be, say, Wonder Woman 2050? This seems relatively unlikely, but it sure would be fun. Or maybe producers of the next film will take a page from the Indiana Jones series and scrap linear timelines, setting the next story somewhere in between these two. Given the super-fun cameo that pops up in the credits, moving back to the seventies could also be a fun choice.

But, for now, 1984 is the year. Director and co-writer Patty Jenkins (who also did the first Wonder Woman) goes the typical route of making all world leaders fictional, but making it a period piece causes a bit of weird dissonance: the president is played by Stuart Milligan, but his character is never explicitly (or even indirectly) identified as Ronald Reagan. It’s basically this alternate history where all the major historical figures are different.

That wouldn’t matter so much, except that Jenkins really lays it on thick in earlier scenes when it comes to the mid-eighties aesthetic, introducing us to “present-day” Wonder Woman in a sequence set in the huge center atrium of a shopping mall. The 1980s gags come fast and furious for a good while, and then kind of disappear altogether, in favor of the inevitable onslaught of action. This all comes after an extended introductory sequence on Wonder Woman’s native island of Themyscira, just as had happened in the previous film, only this time the flashback sequence goes even further back in time, to her childhood. This allows us to see, once again, Robin Wright as Abtiope and Connie Nielsen as Hyppolyta, which is a kick, but nowhere near the thrill of the Themyscira sequence in the previous film.

This would suggest, especially in the early sequences of Wonder Woman 1984, a sense of diminishing returns typical of many sequels. But, this film makes up for that in other ways, producing a net result that makes it roughly as good a movie as its predecessor: which is to say, not great, but a nice bit of pure escapism entertainment. In another bit that’s typical of sequels, there are two supervillains facing off against our hero instead of one, and although they are still somewhat weak as characters, they remain better than how David Thewlis’s Sir Patrick villain previously faced off with her in a way that caused an eye-rolling amount of collateral damage.

This is what I like best about Wonder Woman 1984: although its climactic scenes do have a sense of global catastrophe, it’s more concerned with human connection than with literal destruction of the world. That said, although Pedo Pascal offers a compelling performance as Maxwell Lord, the villain who manages to use an ancient relic to turn himself into someone who can grant anyone their one greatest wish, I found Kristen Wiig’s Barbara Minerva character far more compelling (a bit less so once she fully transforms into “Cheetah”). This movie could have been both simplified and improved by focusing on just her as the villain, where Wonder Woman has a formidable foe with all the same abilities she has, but without putting the entire world (or the entire universe) at stake. The beats of these superhero story arcs are always so much the same, any genuine variance is absolutely welcome. Side note: if Cheetah is supposed to be “just like” Wonder Woman / Diana Prince in abilities, it makes little sense how Diana manages to weaken her in the end without doing the same to herself.

The aforementioned ancient relic is the McGuffin here, and as usual is a wildly oversimplified excuse for bestowing both power to characters and fuel for the plot. On the other hand, it also serves a a clever means for bringing back Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, which otherwise should have been impossible. Bringing him back again for any further sequels would truly be overkill so that seems unlikely, even in a superhero universe. For this time out, however, it’s fun to have him back, and also serves as a means for bringing Wonder Woman’s fabled invisible plane into play, almost miraculously without being corny about it. (Well, by superhero standards, anyway.)

Gal Godot remains absolutely the most interesting thing onscreen at all times, proving once again how well cast she is in the title role. She has a poise and grace well befitting the role, and even though these movies stil aren’t quite as good they could be, I do hope to see at least one more of them. I certainly don’t care about them being any part of a so-called “DC Universe,” and God knows both the Wonder Woman films are the only two in that “universe” (at least as conceived in the 21st century) that are even decent movies. Which is to say, Godot’s Wonder Woman has been a part of other films already, but I prefer to pretend those ones just don’t exist. It’s much more exciting to envision Wonder Woman with an eye on her own future.

*Wonder Woman soars to . . . about the same height really.*

Overall: B