Wonder Woman 1984: 5 things that make no sense
By Josh Baggins
4. Wonder Woman’s anonymity
A hundred mall patrons watch Wonder Woman whip around the concourse beating up goons, but all she has to do is signal to one girl to keep quiet and it is as if no one ever saw her. Diana even makes a point of throwing her tiara at the security cameras. Then news reporters announce that there were witnesses, yet all are baffled about who she is and do not have a single description; the bright red and gold outfit, the long dark hair, the magic lasso.
In Wonder Woman, Diana was fighting on the battlefields of Europe at a time when it would take many minutes to arrange for a single photograph to be taken. Now, she is running around a big shopping center and in the streets of D.C. during a time with polaroid cameras and somehow this maskless wonder of a woman remains a mystery to the general public. Thirty years after the events of this movie, the world’s greatest detective, Bruce Wayne, is caught off-guard by Wonder Woman’s entrance onto the metahuman scene. And all mastermind Lex Luthor has is a 100-year-old picture of her.
3. Steve Trevor’s return
Perhaps the best part of Wonder Woman 1984 is the cutesy reunion between Diana and Steve Trevor. That is why it is a shame that Steve’s actual resurrection is so contrived. After the success of the first film, one can picture the producers sitting around a conference table asking, “so, how can we continue Diana and Steve’s romantic relationship?” The answer – Diana wishes for him to come back from the dead, and her wish is granted. Even Aladdin’s Genie does not allow someone to return from the dead.
Of course, this plot device means we get more Chris Pine, but it somewhat negates the emotional ending in Wonder Woman. Her wish for him to come back to her feels like a cheap trick, even in a movie with magic wishes and invisible jets. Then the part that is hardest to swallow is how nonchalant they both are about Steve taking over someone else’s life. They’ll both comment on how the man seems like a good guy, yet make no mention that his friends and family might be wondering why he didn’t make it to dinner. And I guess he can kiss his job goodbye because his body is too busy flying across the globe to show up to work.