Vibrant ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Soars onto 4K Ultra HD [Review]
[Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided Halloween Daily News with a free copy of the Blu-ray reviewed in this article. The opinions the author shares are his own.]
Wonder Woman 1984 has landed on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, bringing the vibrant and weird fun of the film home on physical media for the first time.
Once again directed by Patty Jenkins, this sequel to 2017’s phenomenal Wonder Woman is full of bright and rousing visuals and some truly awesome action sequences. The opening flashback to Themyscira is outstanding, and the rolling military convoy scene is excellent.
Gal Gadot continues to prove that she is without doubt The Perfect Wonder Woman. She’s likeable, funny, and fittingly badass when she needs to be. Gadot is more confident in the role in what is her fourth time suiting up (following Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, and Justice League), as Diana herself would be much more confident by now, almost 70 years after first venturing into the world of men.
Played once again by Chris Pine, Steve Trevor doesn’t just come back from the dead, he does so in the body of another actual person, which begs the obvious questions like “What happened to that dude?” and “Was he ‘dead’ while Steve was in his body having sex with Diana?”, but the biggest question I’m left with is “Why is the ultimate independent woman still so hung up on her dead boyfriend so many decades later?” I totally get that he was the one true love of her life and that she never got any real closure, which 1984 gives her, but I feel like it would have been better if it had been revealed in the final act that Steve was never really there at all, and it was just Diana’s hopefulness manifesting inside her head.
But Steve is actually there, thanks to a magic crystal that grants the wishes of anyone who possesses it. This Dreamstone inevitably falls into the wrong hands, and it’s up to Diana to somehow reverse the damage from too many unchecked, world-altering wishes. It’s a plot that could easily be lifted straight out of any of the DC comic books the characters are based on.
Kirsten Wiig is always great, and her performance here as Barbara Minerva, who later becomes the supervillain Cheetah, is no exception, the only downside being that we see far too little of her in the film, as she divides Diana’s time with 1984‘s true bad guy, Maxwell Lord, a corrupt businessman played by an almost unrecognizable Pedro Pascal.
My favorite part of the movie is near the end, during a climactic moment, when a distinct music track from Zack Snyder’s 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice takes over the soundtrack, at once uniting these tales of the Justice League that are seemingly separated by decades and directors, and also hitting home the recurring themes that each of these god-like heroes experience in trying to do the right thing against seemingly unbeatable odds.
While it lacks much of the emotional grandeur of the 2017 origin film, the cinematic spectacle of 1984 packs a more than powerful punch and further solidifies Wonder Woman as the brightest light in DC’s movie universe. And there’s a welcome mid-credits cameo appearance that fans will certainly find wonderful.
The bonus content on the Blu-ray disc (which comes with with the 4K pack) includes a surprisingly well-rounded 36-minute featurette “The Making of Wonder Woman 1984: Expanding the Wonder,” showcasing the cast and crew with on set interviews and behind the scenes footage. There is also a 10-minute featurette called “Small but Mighty” spotlighting Lilly Aspell, who plays young Diana and who amazingly performed all of her own stunts in the awe-inspiring Amazon Games opening flashback sequence.
The 21-minute “Meeting the Amazons” featurette was first aired during DC’s online FanDome event last summer and includes interviews with Jenkins, Aspell, and many of the real life athletes and stuntwomen who portrayed Themyscira’s Amazons.
There is also over six minutes of bloopers in the “Gag Reel,” as well as Maxwell Lord’s full 90-second Black Gold infomercial, a five-minute “Scene Study” of the mall action scene and a six-minute “Scene Study” dissection of that amazing open road scene, a five-minute featurette called “Gal and Kristen: Friends Forever” that focuses on the chemistry between Gadot and Wiig, and a one-minute video of “Gal and Krissy Having Fun” with the stars dancing and singing and otherwise having fun.
Quite possibly my favorite of all the bonus features is the 90-second “Retro Remix,” in which images from 1984 are set to the iconic Wonder Woman theme song from the 1970s TV series starring Lynda Carter.
The Blu-ray disc also graciously includes the killer teaser for The Batman and the announcement trailer for The Suicide Squad, both of which debuted at DC FanDome.
It’s as weird as it is fun, much like the 1980s itself, and its bubblegum charm is an undeniable treat. Now I’m hoping Jenkins drops Gadot’s Diana into the grunge era for a 1994 film next.
Wonder Woman 1984 is available now on 4K Ultra HD, as well as Blu-ray (including 3D) or DVD, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
You can view the cover art below.
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