Wonder Woman 1984 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Wonder Woman 1984 Blu-ray Movie Review

Washington DC.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 26, 2021

Easily the most bloated DC flick since almost all of them, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 is an exercise in patience that will test the Goddess of Truth's most forgiving fans. This long-awaited sequel to the director's 2017 film promises another epic adventure featuring Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) that's set roughly 66 years after the first one. Yet after its rousing but ultimately self-indulgent opening scene, modern-day Diana has hit a roadblock: still lamenting the death of her great love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), she keeps a somewhat low profile working at Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian Institution while fighting crime as you-know-who on the side. (Way on the side. Like, six hours a week.)

One such crime, a foiled black market robbery at a local mall, circles back to Diana when the Smithsonian's acquisition of precious artifacts includes what turns out to be a Dreamstone and the FBI gets involved. Awkward new gemologist Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig), eager to emulate her glamorous and confident co-worker, makes a throwaway wish and experiences almost immediate results. Diana also succumbs to temptation, wishing for Steve's return and likewise getting it... in one form or another, at least. A third party also seeks the Dreamstone's considerable power: Maxwell Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal), the charismatic head of failing oil company Black Gold Cooperative -- and an obvious Donald Trump stand-in -- who preys on Barbara's insecurities to get it. Not surprisingly, the gem's physical and psychological side effects prove to be a poor trade-off for temporary happiness, but Diana and Barbara's attempts to confront Max -- and eventually, each other -- are severely compromised by their unwillingness to renounce those wishes.

That's the most efficient (and spoiler-light) summary I could muster for a film that has no interest in efficiency. It's a potentially slick and breezy adventure thwarted by its own running time, which has been padded to 151 slow-moving minutes and wears out its welcome with an hour to spare. Frustratingly, many of the first film's strengths are still here, but some are in very limited quantities: Gadot shines ever-brightly as Wonder Woman, who is clearly not the focus this time around, while its action scenes are still well-shot and, for the most part, thrilling. Hans Zimmer's score adds a lot too, although a handful of cues are eerily similar to his earlier work. Even the film's lightly pandering nostalgia charmed me a lot more than expected, which I blame on many a childhood trip to D.C. during that same era.

WW84's lack of focus begins and ends with the dreaded "two villain" syndrome that most comic film sequels succumb to and doesn't work here either. Not that its primary villain is especially great, mind you: Pedro Pascal's ultra-hammy performance is the film's most immediate weak point... aside from, of course, the much-maligned creep factor of Steve Trevor's out-of-body return. But even those don't hold a candle to what ultimately cripples Wonder Woman 1984: the gnawing sense of boredom that only comes from an 80-minute film being stretched to almost twice that.

I'd be guilty of the same self-indulgence by padding this review's word count, so I'll stop there. Needless to say, I'm not swimming against the current with a lukewarm take, which was similarly expressed in Brian Orndorf's theatrical review and echoed by the majority of critics and fans. Wonder Woman 1984 is now available for purchase after its pandemic-delayed theatrical launch, which eventually happened last Christmas; simultaneously, it was available for streaming on HBO Max and watched by pretty much everyone. Fittingly, an almost embarrassing number of home video options have been offered by Warner Bros., apart from of course the usual standard Blu-ray and 4K editions: these include separate variants found at Best Buy (a 4K Steelbook) and Target (an alternate slipcover, Blu-ray only), the elusive rogue outsider 3D Blu-ray (!), and even condensed 4K and Blu-ray two-packs pairing WW84 with the superior first film.

Wonder Woman 1984 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Though it obviously comes in a second to its dazzling 4K counterpart, Warner Bros.' Blu-ray package is a capable effort that flirts with the format's technical boundaries. Its 80s-specfic color palette looks great with bold saturation and no apparent bleeding, while black levels and shadow detail hold up nicely in nighttime scenes and low-lit interiors. WW84 sports a clean appearance with a light, natural grain structure, giving it a smooth but not waxy visage that fits its sleek source decade just about perfectly. Black crush is not an issue here, although many of the film's brightest scenes are somewhat noisy, such as the sky-lit mall chase and a few effects shots. This is a capably authored disc but I also noticed compression artifacts here and there -- not surprising, given the total HD content on this dual-layered Blu-ray clocks in at Four hours. Perhaps a second disc for the extras would've helped?

Wonder Woman 1984 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Wonder Woman 1984's Dolby Atmos audio mix is also mighty impressive, making its presence known from the very first scene and rarely letting up along the way. Highlights include that opening Themysciran athletic contest, the mall chase, Diana and Steve's plane takeoff and the subsequent July 4th fireworks flyover, their pursuit of Max through in Egypt, a battle at the White House, the Lasso of Truth, and of course the final showdown. Surround channels and low frequency effects are put to good use during these scenes and more, most of which also include strong panning effects and effective use of the height channel. Of course, those without an Atmos-enabled setup will be perfectly happy with the (automatically scaled-down) Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix, which sounds virtually identical to the Atmos track without the additional height. Dialogue is clean and crisp throughout, with very good placement during crowded scenes and more good use of the rear channels for echoes in larger locations and outdoor locales. Not surprisingly, Hans Zimmer's score sounds terrific as well, offering a mix of traditional orchestral cues and lightly 80s-centric instrumentals. Much like WW84's refusal to beat us over the head with "Remember that?" nostalgia, I appreciate the balance here.

For whatever reason, Warner Bros. has also included a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, as if receivers don't automatically scale down 7.1 tracks. At least it's not the default track, but I thought they stopped doing this a long time ago.

Wonder Woman 1984 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc combo pack ships in a dual-hubbed keepcase with attractive cover art and a Digital Copy redemption slip. The extras below, all of which can be found on the Blu-ray, are decent in number but mostly surface-level.

• The Making of Wonder Woman 1984: Expanding the Wonder (36:21) - The lone outlier is this fairly in-depth featurette that covers most of the typical behind-the-scenes topics including location scouting, stunt work, special effects, casting and supporting characters, shooting at famous D.C. landmarks (including, of course, the Smithsonian), set design and construction, rebuilding Alexandia's Landmark Mall, and the special cameo by Lynda Carter. Plenty of (pre-COVID) first-hand interviews add a little more context, including those featuring director Patty Jenkins, producer Chuck Roven, Gal Gadot, Kristin Wiig, Chris Pine, production designer Aline Bonetto (Wonder Woman, Amélie), set decorator Anna Lynch-Robinson, and several others.

• Gal & Kristen: Friends Forever (5:10) - Gal Gadot and Kristin Wiig briefly talk about their characters' curious connection and of course, their own off-screen friendship.

• Small But Mighty (10:44) - A quick overview of the opening scene starring pint-sized Diana (Lilly Aspell, who returns from the first film), which includes a glimpse of her 2015 audition tape.

• Scene Studies - Short breakdowns of two of the film's more complex action scenes, including Diana and Steve's Fury Road-like pursuit of Max's entourage in the Egyptian desert and that colorful first-act chase scene at Landmark Mall, both of which include a few comments from Patty Jenkins and others.

• The Open Road (6:11)
• The Mall (5:04)

• Gal & Krissy Having Fun (1:10) - A fun little dance number, presumably sung by the two actors.

• Meet the Amazons (21:28) - This virtual roundtable interview, moderated by actor Tiffany Smith, was recorded at last year's DC FanDome event and features director Patty Jenkins along with Lilly Aspell (young Diana), costume designer Lindy Hemming, production designer Aline Bonetto, and Themyscira Amazons Brontë Lavine, Briony Scarlett, Jade Johnson, Miranda Chambers, Moe Sasegbon, Gwendolyn Smith, Doutzen Kroes, Jessie Graff, and Jenny Pacey (the trainer and Amazon performer for the opening games).

• Black Gold Infomercial (1:38) - A VHS-grade version of Max Lorenzano's famous TV appearance.

• Gag Reel (6:26)

• Wonder Woman 1984 Retro Remix (1:36) - This fun piece mixes the the original Wonder Woman opening theme with panned-and-scanned clips from WW84 to create a nice little animated tribute.

Wonder Woman 1984 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 is the padded sequel to her well-received 2017 film, guilty of the "more is more" trappings of almost every comic book movie follow-up. Much like Aquaman, it starts off strong but just refuses to end, asking viewers to sit through over two and a half hours for a showdown that could've easily arrived 45 minutes earlier. Although it certainly has its moments and Gal Gadot shines in the title role, her screen time is ironically diminished here and that doesn't help matters, either. Regardless, Wonder Woman 1984's simultaneous theatrical and streaming debut last year almost guarantees you've made up your mind already... and if you liked the movie more than I did, you'll love Warner Bros.' new Blu-ray edition. Featuring a decent A/V presentation and a pretty enjoyable mixture of extras (most of which don't suffer from "Zoom Call Syndrome"), it's clearly Recommended to DC disciples... but if you've got the proper setup, the separately- available 4K package is definitely worth the extra cash.