DCU: Wonder Woman 1984

[Devilmaycare]

also, and maybe most egregious, the set pieces were VERY meh.

I’m still pretty stunned at how lame it was.

I hate that the rumors I had been hearing turned out to be true. I was really hoping this was going to be good. How does a movie with the best trailer ever (the Blue Monday one) turn out this bad??? First it felt a bit choppy like they took a 3.5 hour movie and randomly chopped it down to 2.5. It really seemed like they left story elements on the cutting room floor and left in un-needed stuff. And even with that cutting up it was still 45 minutes too long. I really wish we'd get back to movies in the 90-120 minute range. Most of these stories don't need 3 hours and end up with too much filler.

The other thing that really struck me is how bad the CGI and wire work was in this. It's almost like they brought in a crew from the 90s to do it. TV shows are have better effects now. The Expanse and Mandalorian run circles around it.

Warner probably did the film a favor by going to HBO and not the theaters. Now they can claim X people streamed it instead of having to show poor box office numbers.

 

[PDXChris]

Also... Ronald Reagan.

SERIOUSLY?! That was the BEST actor you could get for that role? It’s not a big deal or anything, but just REALLY weird. I mean that guy was AWFUL.

The credits just refer to him as POTUS, so I am not sure he is supposed to be Reagan.

 

[Covert Rain]

Also... Ronald Reagan.

SERIOUSLY?! That was the BEST actor you could get for that role? It’s not a big deal or anything, but just REALLY weird. I mean that guy was AWFUL.

I don’t think that was Reagan. In the movie the character refers to being somewhere else then suddenly in the White House.

I think the inference was that he was granted a wish as well to be President. It was not well written because I almost didn’t catch that.

Just a disappointing follow up with Jenkins that is cashing in right now. Rumor had it they already green lit WW3 with Jenkins.

 

[Town Drunk]

I don’t think that was Reagan. In the movie the character refers to being somewhere else then suddenly in the White House.

I think the inference was that he was granted a wish as well to be President. It was not well written because I almost didn’t catch that.

Just a disappointing follow up with Jenkins that is cashing in right now. Rumor had it they already green lit WW3 with Jenkins.

He wouldn’t have had another wish then to get more nukes, right? Or could you get more than one wish?

WW3 is a go with Jenkins returning. Not going to be looking forward to it after watching this train wreck.

 

[Covert Rain]

He wouldn’t have had another wish then to get more nukes, right? Or could you get more than one wish?

WW3 is a go with Jenkins returning. Not going to be looking forward to it after watching this train wreck.

No doesn’t apply. Watch the scene on the plane with Cheetah.

P.S. Jenkins should stick to directing verses writing these movies.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The credits just refer to him as POTUS, so I am not sure he is supposed to be Reagan.

that is equally as stupid. It’s a movie, set in the 80’s, where greed, breakdancing, ridiculous clothes, the Cold War, nuclear race and even the Star Wars Program is used as a major plot point and you get to the Oval Office and the Man who personified the 80’s more than anyone in the entire country ISN’T Ronald Reagan?

sorry that’s just bizarre.

 

[Devilmaycare]

No doesn’t apply. Watch the scene on the plane with Cheetah.

P.S. Jenkins should stick to directing verses writing these movies.

This is actually making me nervous for Rogue Squadron now. I had already had a little trepidation since she made it sound like it might be a repurposed script in the launch video. But if this is her writing for an action movie...

 

[Covert Rain]

that is equally as stupid. It’s a movie, set in the 80’s, where greed, breakdancing, ridiculous clothes, the Cold War, nuclear race and even the Star Wars Program is used as a major plot point and you get to the Oval Office and the Man who personified the 80’s more than anyone in the entire country ISN’T Ronald Reagan?

sorry that’s just bizarre.

It is completely bizarre but to be honest, having a bad impersonation of Reagan just would have made it worse IMO. Then again turning that character into a bad caricature may have been on point for how this turned out.

 

[Town Drunk]

No doesn’t apply. Watch the scene on the plane with Cheetah.

P.S. Jenkins should stick to directing verses writing these movies.

Yeah but she didn’t actually touch him though I don’t think on the plane. It was just a conversation. Regardless, it doesn’t matter.

 

[Covert Rain]

Yeah but she didn’t actually touch him though I don’t think on the plane. It was just a conversation. Regardless, it doesn’t matter.

They didn’t show that onscreen because of her transformation reveal later.

 

[Cheesebeef]

It is completely bizarre but to be honest, having a bad impersonation of Reagan just would have made it worse IMO. Then again turning that character into a bad caricature may have been on point for how this turned out.

yeah... that whole moment was and probably would have been bizarre any way you slice it.

 

[Stout]

No doesn’t apply. Watch the scene on the plane with Cheetah.

P.S. Jenkins should stick to directing verses writing these movies.

And this is another major problem. It's only supposed to be one wish a person. But Cheetah gets two. But when his son wishes for his father back, which SHOULD end things, you only get one again. Derp, which one is it, Patty? All of this on top of IT'S A STUPID FREAKING GENIE MOVIE? REALLY?

 

[Stout]

And how about the "Get Out" treatment of another person, literally stealing his body and shoving him aside in his own head, so WW can get some deep D-ing from her BF? Like, rape much? Like, PTSD much? Oh, but it's okay because she saw the guy at the end and he was so happy lol AWFUL writing.

This movie took all the right lessons from the first movie and tossed them out the window. I LOVE this review over on RT: "How does a studio decide that the Amazonian Feminist Warrior-Princess Superheroine should have her ENTIRE psychological background, emotional center, raison detre and main moral conflict just be 'Chris Pine's penis?'"

I said it somewhere else--Jenkins had no writing credit for the first one, but wrote this one. I'm totally out on #3 because she's writing that one, too. Zero interest.

 

[Town Drunk]

And this is another major problem. It's only supposed to be one wish a person. But Cheetah gets two. But when his son wishes for his father back, which SHOULD end things, you only get one again. Derp, which one is it, Patty? All of this on top of IT'S A STUPID FREAKING GENIE MOVIE? REALLY?

That’s right. I knew there was a one wish only dialogue somewhere in the movie. Makes it look even worse now.

 

[Devilmaycare]

And how about the "Get Out" treatment of another person, literally stealing his body and shoving him aside in his own head, so WW can get some deep D-ing from her BF? Like, rape much? Like, PTSD much? Oh, but it's okay because she saw the guy at the end and he was so happy lol AWFUL writing.

This movie took all the right lessons from the first movie and tossed them out the window. I LOVE this review over on RT: "How does a studio decide that the Amazonian Feminist Warrior-Princess Superheroine should have her ENTIRE psychological background, emotional center, raison detre and main moral conflict just be 'Chris Pine's penis?'"

I said it somewhere else--Jenkins had no writing credit for the first one, but wrote this one. I'm totally out on #3 because she's writing that one, too. Zero interest.

That scene didn't sit right with me or a lot of other people too. I've seen it mentioned in a bunch of user reviews on IMDB and twitter. The more I think about the more I'm amazed at how badly this was written and thought out. Maybe Patty didn't actually write it and it was really her son. It seem like something a 9 or 10 yr old would write.

 

[Covert Rain]

And this is another major problem. It's only supposed to be one wish a person. But Cheetah gets two. But when his son wishes for his father back, which SHOULD end things, you only get one again. Derp, which one is it, Patty? All of this on top of IT'S A STUPID FREAKING GENIE MOVIE? REALLY?

If you look at the running time the kid running through the building outside and into his father’s arms. So the kid did get his wish. Again, poorly executed writing. The script was a mess.

 

[Cheesebeef]

And this is another major problem. It's only supposed to be one wish a person. But Cheetah gets two. But when his son wishes for his father back, which SHOULD end things, you only get one again. Derp, which one is it, Patty? All of this on top of IT'S A STUPID FREAKING GENIE MOVIE? REALLY?

oh yeah... that’s really stupid.

almost as stupid as making a movie about the 80’s... WITH ZERO 80’S MUSIC IN IT!

 

[Stout]

If you look at the running time the kid running through the building outside and into his father’s arms. So the kid did get his wish. Again, poorly executed writing. The script was a mess.

Wishes granted happened immediately; that one didn't. The script was indeed a mess.

 

[Devilmaycare]

oh yeah... that’s really stupid.

almost as stupid as making a movie about the 80’s... WITH ZERO 80’S MUSIC IN IT!

And not all of the 80s took place in 84. They went way over the top with it and made it more of a parody than memberberries. Stranger Things captures the feel so much better. This was like when Fox tried to do That 80s Show as a spin off from That 70s Show.

@cheesebeef with all the work and headaches you have to go through when doing a pitch and writing your stuff, how does a script like this get green lighted and not forced to be reworked into something that's coherent? Understood if you can't answer. It just seems like stuff like this would drive you crazy. Shoddy work in my field can set me off.

 

[Chaplin]

And not all of the 80s took place in 84. They went way over the top with it and made it more of a parody than memberberries. Stranger Things captures the feel so much better. This was like when Fox tried to do That 80s Show as a spin off from That 70s Show.

@cheesebeef with all the work and headaches you have to go through when doing a pitch and writing your stuff, how does a script like this get green lighted and not forced to be reworked into something that's coherent? Understood if you can't answer. It just seems like stuff like this would drive you crazy. Shoddy work in my field can set me off.

Writing is hard. You are able to recognize that the writing is bad, but have you ever tried to write something like this? It's really easy to critique the writing, its yet another to actually write it. Add to that a script will read differently on the page than it does on the screen. It's a fine line, sure.

Also, a lot of people that are greenlighting stuff don't even pay attention. It's a sequel to a huge money-maker? Who cares how the script is, it will still make a ton of money, so who cares?

 

[Devilmaycare]

Writing is hard. You are able to recognize that the writing is bad, but have you ever tried to write something like this? It's really easy to critique the writing, its yet another to actually write it. Add to that a script will read differently on the page than it does on the screen. It's a fine line, sure.

Also, a lot of people that are greenlighting stuff don't even pay attention. It's a sequel to a huge money-maker? Who cares how the script is, it will still make a ton of money, so who cares?

I'm not saying that writing isn't hard. It's not in my wheelhouse. I'm much better at writing code than I am a script. It just always surprises me when I see big budget stuff like this that no where along the way it wasn't caught. With my work we always have at least one person, usually a couple, look over any code commit and then QA plays with it. We can be brutal in some of those reviews and it helps minimize issues. From an outsider it feels like this is a "the emperor has no cloths" type of situation.

 

[Stout]

Writing is hard. You are able to recognize that the writing is bad, but have you ever tried to write something like this? It's really easy to critique the writing, its yet another to actually write it. Add to that a script will read differently on the page than it does on the screen. It's a fine line, sure.

Also, a lot of people that are greenlighting stuff don't even pay attention. It's a sequel to a huge money-maker? Who cares how the script is, it will still make a ton of money, so who cares?

Good insights to the industry. Doesn't make a movie like this a massive disappointment, but what many people think/feel about Hollywood and the truth are vastly different.

 

[Chaplin]

Good insights to the industry. Doesn't make a movie like this a massive disappointment, but what many people think/feel about Hollywood and the truth are vastly different.

I would love if our industry was actually concerned with, you know, creativity, but the reality is that it's all about money with these types of movies. It's hard to quantify being against that because I work in the industry and I need Hallmark to make a ton of money on television so I can get my 5 figure bonus every year.

 

[Devilmaycare]

I would love if our industry was actually concerned with, you know, creativity, but the reality is that it's all about money with these types of movies. It's hard to quantify being against that because I work in the industry and I need Hallmark to make a ton of money on television so I can get my 5 figure bonus every year.

I'd love to see more concern with creativity and originality too. You say it's all about money which in many regards I think is true. Combining those two points is why I'm bored with stuff like the MCU. The creativity has dropped and it's on cruse control to make big money for Disney.

But the money factor is also one of the things that confuses me with letting something like WW84 get made and released. I'm willing to bet if it had hit the theaters it would have had a monster opening weekend, then cratered from word of mouth, and lost money. Pumping out stuff like it, Dolittle, Call of the Wild, Cats, Birds of Prey, etc. can't be good for the bottom line. They need to let guys like you and Cheese be more creative and give us good properties over a lot of the stuff they've been churning out over the last few years. Give me The Expanse and not a Save by the Bell or ***** Brewster reboot.

 

[Covert Rain]

Wishes granted happened immediately; that one didn't. The script was indeed a mess.

Cheetahs transformation wasn’t instant and the events that brought the dad back were set in motion. The wishes that were granted were not always what was intended. I didn’t expect the dad to poof back for example. The rules definitely were not clear, the plot all over the place, Steve was a tag along and the characters not very well written.

Word is now TWO new movies are a go. Please oh please let them bring in new writers.