Wonder Woman 1984 is helmed by Patty Jenkins.Gal Gadot’s superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984 has finally hit Indian screens. A sequel to the 2017 smash hit Wonder Woman, WW84 is the ninth film in the DC Extended Universe. The Patty Jenkins directorial has already impressed several critics, and now it remains to be seen if it has the same effect on the audience.
We have already seen the trailers of Wonder Woman 1984, so we do know that Robin Wright’s mentor character and Chris Pine’s affable Steve are making a return. But how Jenkins is resurrecting them will be interesting to see since the duo were killed off in the original movie. New additions to the Wonder Woman world include Pedro Pascal’s flamboyant baddie Maxwell Lord and Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah aka Barbara Minerva.
Pedro Pascal, who was recently seen in the popular Disney Plus series The Mandalorian, drew parallels between both the characters and told AP, “Max Lord has such an exterior armour with hair products and power suits … which is such a mask with so much going on just beneath it, that contradicts so much what sort of physical message he’s portraying with his persona. It’s a lot like the Mandalorian.”
Kristen Wiig, on the other hand, is primarily known for her comedic chops. But in Wonder Woman 1984, fans will see her in a never-seen-before avatar. Talking about the same, the actor said “I think Diana does see something in Barbara that she’s missing in her life: Barbara’s sort of openness and desire to be a part of society, because Diana’s so alone, too. I think they connect over that in a big way.” Wiig also spoke about her bond with Gal Gadot and stated, “We really hit it off, much to the crew’s dismay because we were making up songs and singing and laughing all the time… Gal is just a great scene partner and friend and I loved working with her.”
The Indian Express' film critic Shalini Langer wrote in her review, "Wonder Woman 1984 (there seems no real reason to go to 1984 except that it brings in “the Soviet Union”) doesn’t have the freshness of an origin story. But sadly, it doesn’t have the heft of a sequel to a successful hit either." READ MORE
Actor Lilly Aspell, who plays young Diana in Wonder Woman 1984, posted a video on Instagram, revisiting her role in the Gal Gadot-starrer.
Wonder Woman 1984 actor Chris Prine, in an exclusive transcript shared with PTI by Warner Bros, called Patty Jenkis an actor's director.
“Patty and Gal are a really awesome duo. What I love most about Patty is that I can entrust her with being an actor’s director. Like a true actor’s director. Some actors like to come with a fully realized character, and others, like me, prefer to share that responsibility and really collaborate with their director. And she loves doing that," the actor said. READ MORE
In a tweet, Hrithik Roshan had expressed how he enjoyed watching Wonder Woman 1984 in the theatre.
Pedro Pascal, who rose to fame with his The Mandalorian series on Disney+, stars in Wonder Woman 1984 as Max Lord. Talking about the role, the actor told AP, "Max Lord has such an exterior armor with hair products and power suits … which is such a mask with so much going on just beneath it, that contradicts so much what sort of physical message he’s portray with his persona," Pascal said. "(It’s) a lot like the Mandalorian."
Wonder Woman 1984, a sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman, brings back Gal Gadot in the titular role aka Prince Diana of Themyscira.
The film is set in the 1980s, as the title suggests, and is going to be largely an independent film. Apart from Gal Gadot, the Patty Jenkins' film stars Kristen Wig as Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord and Chris Pine as Steve Trevor.
Wonder Woman 1984 sees Diana take on two formidable foes: Max Lord, played by Pedro Pascal, and The Cheetah aka Barbara Minerva, essayed by Kristen Wiig.
Director Patty Jenkins told PTI that she knew she wanted The Cheetah as a villain, but the way the story unfolds she needed Max Lord too.
She said, "Cheetah is physically more powerful than her, but Diana's mind is what makes her win. She understands it's not just about prowess. As a result, she is able to wear Cheetah out until she wins the fight. Diana tricks her into letting her believe that she has the upper hand, but she doesn't."
"Max Lord is someone who seizes ultimate power, no one can stop him. It really comes down to who you are and what you believe in. At the end of the day, the conversation is about changing minds and inspiring someone," Jenkins added.
Patty Jenkins said Gal Gadot is at "the top of her game" in Wonder Woman 1984.
The director told PTI, "She has tremendously grown as an actor and that's not to say that she wasn't a great actress before. Some of the performances she does here are one of the best I've ever seen."
“I love Kristen Wiig. She is a super-talented performer, actress, comedienne – you name it… The most amazing thing about working with her is her ability to transform; one minute she’s super vulnerable and shy and then, when she plays Cheetah, you look in her eyes and Kristen’s not there anymore, it’s a whole new thing. She’s brilliant,” Gal Gadot said in an exclusive transcript shared with PTI by Warner Bros. READ MORE
Kristen Wiig, who plays Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984, said she bonded instantly with Gal Gadot over their “similar sense of humour”.
“We really hit it off, much to the crew’s dismay because we were making up songs and singing and laughing all the time… Gal is just a great scene partner and friend and I loved working with her,” Wiig said. READ MORE
“That first film was a birth of a hero,” Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins told AP. “Now I wanted to do something with that hero.”
She added, “I don’t believe that sequels always have to be bigger. And I think you can get in a lot of trouble doing that. But in this case, I was actually aiming for a very specific thing, which is the type of ’80s movies that I saw that were colossal extravaganzas for the whole family and joyful on every level.”
MMA artist Brandon Davis credits Pedro Pascal for the success of Wonder Woman 1984. In a tweet, he mentioned, "Yo, Pedro Pascal is so good in #WonderWoman1984. Performance, possibly the best. Michael Shannon was great as Zod, Ewan McGregor is fantastic as Black Mask... this one's different. It's tough. He's really excellent lol a lot of the story doesn't make perfect sense but it's really entertaining, largely thanks to Pascal as Max."