Wonder Woman 1984: 5 things that make no sense

2. Wonder Woman’s new powers

In this movie, Wonder Woman has powers that she does not have in the future, or inexplicably does not utilize when facing apocalyptic threats. In case you forgot, this tale takes place in the 1980’s, it is even in the movie’s title. During the proceedings, Diana learns how to make objects invisible and, more importantly, she learns how to fly.

So Wonder Woman flies in the 1980s – something that may have been useful against either Doomsday in Dawn of Justice or Steppenwolf’s Apokolips parademons in Justice League. Should we assume that Patty Jenkins forgot those movies take place after her films, or are the DC producers simply giving up on the shared universe?

It is frustrating how blatant a move this is, that it’s obviously not an overlooked mistake and the filmmakers think they can do whatever they want because audiences are either too dumb to notice or are so passive about the franchise that it doesn’t even register for them. It is difficult to care about a series that doesn’t care about itself. The Marvel Cinematic Universe uses opposite tactics when crafting their narratives and that is a big reason why they are the most successful film franchise ever.

1. Maxwell Lord’s master plan

The villain in Wonder Woman is the God of War, so in order to dial it down a little for the sequel, the main antagonist this time around is a Gordon Gekko wannabe. As Maxwell Lord, Pedro Pascal taps into an urgent sense of desperation that accompanies one’s struggle for success in the financial arena. In a better film, he could have transcended into a truly sympathetic character instead of an over-the-top caricature. But I guess that comes with the territory when, instead of working hard to build up his business, Max searches for a mystical ancient artifact.

When Max Lord finally gets his hands on the wishing stone, he wishes for… more wishes. Seriously, has no one involved in making Wonder Woman 1984 ever watched Aladdin? The actual wish he makes is to “be the stone”. How did he know that he wouldn’t turn into an inanimate rock that would get locked away in archival storage? He might as well have went full Dr. Evil and exclaimed his wish to be “ONE MILLION WISHES”.

Okay fine, so let’s say we are on board with the mechanics of Lord’s wish since it is essentially a loophole where he can get other people to make their wishes for him. The part where Lord goes full-on bonkers is when he plans to use air waves to “touch” others, allowing millions of souls to grant wishes. Hearing Lord explain how people no longer need to come into contact with him to make a wish, because having them watch him on TV can substitute for physically touching him, sounds utterly ridiculous. The Riddler’s brain wave box in Batman Forever is a more plausible plan.

After a decent fight scene between Wonder Woman and Cheetah, the climax with Max is regrettably weighed down by preposterousness. Similar to the contrasts in bad guys between the first and second movie, it is clear that Patty Jenkins did not want to repeat the former’s overly excessive final battle. Despite that concession, Wonder Woman 1984’s big finale is just as much of a let down as the rest of the movie.

What did you think of Wonder Woman 1984? Did you think some of the events that took place didn’t make any sense when put in context with the wider DCEU? Let us know in the comments below!