L ifestyles /C ulture
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Soars, Then Stumbles
FI L M
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
FANS OF ISRAELI ACTOR
Gal Gadot had something
big to look forward to this
Christmas when Warner
Bros. Entertainment released
“Wonder Woman 1984,”
the long-awaited sequel to
director Patty Jenkins’ wildly
successful “Wonder Woman,”
for streaming on HBO Max.

The film picks up some 70
years after the end of “Wonder
Woman,” with our undercover
Amazon protagonist working a
day job as archaeologist Diana
Prince and thwarting crimi-
nals anonymously in her spare
time. Despite her success, she is
still mourning the death of her
pilot boyfriend, Steve Trevor,
after he sacrificed himself
to protect humanity from a
deadly weapon during their
escapades in World War I.

While working at the
Smithsonian in Washington,
D.C., Diana meets new
colleague Barbara Minerva,
a social outsider played to
awkward perfection by Kristen
Wiig. When the museum is
asked to identify a mysterious
artifact, Barbara and Diana are
drawn into a greedy business-
man’s plot to grant everyone in
the world their deepest desires.

The first half of the film is
full of everything that made
the first movie delightful and
groundbreaking. The opening
scenes on the Amazonian
island of Themyscira, where
Lilly Aspell’s young Diana is
participating in an epic test of
strength and skill, are perfect
in every way. Jenkins’ use of
slow-motion once again avoids
the cliché that plagues action
movies because it highlights
the strength and agility of
the Amazons without overly
sexualizing them, which is
rare for women’s bodies on
screen. Gadot’s battle scenes
throughout the film are also
beautifully choreographed.

Jenkins is to be commended
for her attention to detail and
her commitment to conti-
nuity between the two Wonder
Woman films. She takes the
fish-out-of-water comedy that
served as the source of the first
movie’s charm and reapplies it
to Steve’s miraculous — and
kind of creepy — arrival in
the ’80s. Diana’s confusion at
restrictive Victorian women’s
fashion in the London depart-
ment store provided plenty of
laughs, and Chris Pine imbues
Steve with pure, hilarious joy
at things like escalators, fanny
packs and the latest in aviation
technology. Fans of the first film may
notice the visual parallels
Jenkins creates; in the original,
Diana’s shiny armor is a literal
bright spot in the muted
grays and browns of Europe’s
smog-smothered cities, besieged
towns, muddy trenches and
pallid soldiers. The striking
color contrast represents her
perseverance and hope, even
when all seems lost.

In 1984, which Jenkins
interprets as an age of glori-
fied greed, Diana’s timeless,
minimalist outfits in white and
navy are meant to be a tasteful
alternative to the neon pink
leg warmers and aqua workout
suits that the masses have
embraced. This time, her visual
presence advocates for moder-
ation in the face of excess.

The plot starts to get shaky
as the film develops its two
villains: Wiig’s Barbara, who
later becomes the blood-
thirsty Cheetah, and Pedro
Pascal’s Max Lord, the con
man desperate for success as
his pyramid scheme collapses.

Their insecurities drive them
to embrace the power of an
ancient, powerful stone that
grants wishes while exacting a
terrible price.

Wiig channels her comedic
chops to make the motivations
of insecure Barbara ring true
to anyone who has ever been
jealous of a more beautiful,
popular friend who appears to
have it all. Pascal’s Max is also
compelling, as his motivations
stem from a deep emotional
vulnerability that has to do
with his young son, Lucian
Perez’s Alistair.

The two villains together,
however, are just chaotic, and
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince in “Wonder Woman 1984”
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
their competing backstories
and character arcs are the
main reason the film runs a
whopping two hours and 32
minutes. Despite the length, many key
plot points feel glossed-over.

Audiences get a hint of this
problem when Diana enters her
flat for the first time. Jenkins
seems to have anticipated a
burning question raised by
the time gap between World
War I and 1984: What was
this superhero doing to stop
the atrocities of World War
II and the Holocaust? She
answers with a long zoom-in
of an old photograph of Diana
alongside men in striped
prison uniforms, suggesting
she played some role in liber-
ating concentration camps, but
we never get more information
than that.

This vagueness continues
when Steve magically returns.

The mechanism of his reani-
mation is given a short but far
from satisfactory explanation,
and the audience is expected to
run with it despite the multiple
troubling questions it raises.

The origin of the wishing
stone is equally vague, and the
consequences of wishes gone
amok happen so quickly it’s
hard to process the world’s
descent into chaos.

The movie is ultimately
worth a watch for the breath-
taking visuals and action
sequences alone, but fans of
the first film will feel some
storytelling magic is missing. l
“Auld Lang Syne in Yiddish,”
Jewish People’s Philharmonic
Chorus It goes without saying
that “Auld Lang Syne” is the
holiday’s defining tune. It also
goes without saying that this
year is markedly different
from those past. What better
way to honor tradition and
acknowledge the unusualness
of it all than “Di Tsaytn Fun
a Mol”?
“What Are You Doing New
Year’s Eve?,” Rod Stewart feat.

Ella Fitzgerald and Chris Botti
Having already knocked off
the iconic holiday song, time to
cue up “What Are You Doing New
Year’s Eve?” Written by Frank
Loesser, an Academy Award-
winning landsman responsible
for the music and lyrics to “Guys
and Dolls” and “How to Succeed
in Business Without Really
Trying,” the song is especially
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
A Playlist for New Year’s Eve
M USIC
ADAM REINHERZ | JE FEATURE
AT THIS POINT, you’ve
navigated 2020 and discovered
new ways to observe the Jewish
holidays through 10 months of
the pandemic.

Whether you reconfig-
ured your den to resemble a
sanctuary for Kol Nidrei,
spent hours scraping hardened
14 DECEMBER 31, 2020
honey from your screen after
a “sweet” multigenerational
digital Rosh Hashanah, or
jerry-rigged a tablet holder
from two books, a T-shirt,
three twist ties and an old
copy of the Jewish Exponent
so family members could enjoy
an optimal viewing angle of
you kindling your menorah
on Zoom, you marked 2020
through hard work. Now that
the secular New Year is upon
us, it’s time to celebrate.

You’re probably counting
down to midnight from the
same spot you spent much of
2020: at home. That’s great.

Whether you’re ringing in 2021
from your living room, dining
room or kitchen — forget
about a virtual ball drop, no
need for simulation — you’re
going to party. All you need is
a cell phone, tablet or musical
streaming device.

JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



L ifestyles /C ulture
a Grammy Award-winning
artist who catapulted to fame
after placing second in the
1983 Eurovision Song Contest.

Haza may have recorded more
popular numbers, but “Tfila,”
which translates to “prayer,” is
a must-play New Year’s ballad.

Both because of its synth-pop
beat and memorable lyrics,
you’re going to want to put this
one on loop.

Ten is a good Jewish number,
but 13 also works. Here are
three more honorable mentions:
A historic Jewish New Year’s postcard
From The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, University of California, Berkeley (magnes.berkeley.edu)
good when covered by Rod
Stewart. Why Rod Stewart? Why
not? Pre-pandemic, the septua-
genarian rocked 20,000 fans in
Tel Aviv. Post-pandemic, here’s
hoping he does it again.

on the Chronicle’s playlist and
faster tempos to come, “New
Year’s Day” hits a fitting chord.

In a COVID-19 world, certain
lyrics ring true: “Tomorrow
morning when we wake/ This
town will be a different place/
“Happy New Year,” ABBA
And the past will wash away like
If you have a karaoke coffee stains.”
machine, now’s the time to use
it. Apart from a sweeping chorus “New Year’s Day,” Bon Jovi
you’ll be singing the next three
Jon Bon Jovi isn’t Jewish. His
weeks, this song probably has keyboardist, and fellow Rock
the best video accompaniment to and Roll Hall of Fame inductee,
boot. Search “ABBA Happy New David Bryan is a member of
Year 1980.” Until the camera the tribe. Bon Jovi’s “New Year’s
pans out around the two-minute Day” is fantastic both because
mark, you too may believe that it invites what will certainly be
Agnetha, Björn, Benny and awful dancing from many and
Anni-Frid are celebrating the also because the New Year’s
fourth night of Chanukah.

Day” 2016 video weirdly looks
like social distancing restric-
“My Dear Acquaintance,” or tions were in place. It’s probably
“New Year,” Regina Spektor
safe to assume that all that livin’
For those who like to on a prayer granted the band
Spektify, either one of these some type of foresight.

ditties from proud Jewish
mom Regina Spektor works. “Raise Your Glass,” Pink
Born in Moscow and educated
Like a bizarrely large braided
in American Jewish day challah, you’ll probably find this
schools, Spektor is a Grammy- chart-topping single at most
nominated singer-songwriter b’nai mitzvah parties. That’s for
and HIAS supporter.

good reason. Released in 2010
by Doylestown native Alecia
“New Year’s Day,” Pentatonix Beth Moore, aka Pink, “Raise
Before founding member Avi Your Glass” celebrates under-
Kaplan left the a cappella group dogs while championing those
in 2017, Pentatonix recorded this who don’t always fit in (see:
catchy number. As a transitional most memories of adolescence).

piece between slower numbers
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM “One More Time,” Daft Punk
Lest one think this song
recalls the monotony of quaran-
tining, “One More Time” is
about continuing to dance and
celebrate without end. Hence, if
you have a strobe light, plug it
in. For those who don’t, your cell
phone will do. While gyrating to
blinking flashes, keep in mind
some relevant Daft Punk history:
Daniel Vangarde, the Jewish
father of Thomas Bangalter (one
half of French duo Daft Punk),
has worked to ensure WWII-era
French Jewish musicians receive
compensation they were denied
under Vichy rule.

“Opposites Attract,” Paula Abdul
Remember what was life like
before the pandemic? Now try
remembering what life was like
decades before the pandemic. Let
us help you: It was a time when
a suspender-clad cartoon cat
bopped step for step with Syrian
Jewish descendant Paula Abdul.

“This Is What it Feels Like,”
Armin Van Buuren feat.

Trevor Guthrie
This song is a roller coaster
in the best way. It starts off
really slowly, pulls you in with
sorrowful lyrics — “Nobody
here knocking at my door/ The
sound of silence I can’t take
anymore/ Nobody ringing my
telephone now/ Oh how I miss
such a beautiful sound” —
then jolts your body with an
electronic beat that will keep you
moving until the snow melts. l
“No More Tears (Enough Is
Enough),” Barbra Streisand
and Donna Summer
If you thought 2020 was
going to be great but ended up
being totally duped, this song
is for you (as long as you’re
willing to imagine that Babs
and the Queen of Disco were
referencing a bad year and not Adam Reinherz is a staff writer with
a bad boyfriend).

Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.

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“Sabotage,” Beastie Boys
Naysayers may argue this
song has nothing to do with
New Year’s. Au contraire. This
epic tune has everything to do
with 2020 and the path to 2021.

Looking back on the past year,
there’s a lot to lower your spirits.

Don’t fall prey to the “mirage”
— you have to stay optimistic.

It’s like what three hideously
mustachioed Jewish police
officers told us almost 25 years
ago: “’Cause what you see, you
might not get/ And we can bet,
so don’t you get souped yet.”
“Tfila,” Ofra Haza
Forty years before Gal
Gadot, Israel had a different
Wonder Woman: Ofra Haza,
JEWISH EXPONENT
DECEMBER 31, 2020
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