Wonder Woman 1984, which was filmed in part at the empty Landmark Mall, opened Christmas Day to mixed reviews.
The movie is open in some theaters and is streaming on HBO Max through Jan. 25. It is free with an HBO Max subscription.
Here in Alexandria, Alexandria Living Magazine readers mostly said "meh" on Facebook. (Read the reviews here.) One reader appreciated Kristen Wiig's performance and another said Landmark Mall looked great — but others weren't impressed with the movie overall.
Rotten Tomatoes, which crowdsources reviews into a “fresh” or “rotten” score gave Wonder Woman 1984 a rating of only 65% fresh. Criticism included a lack of authenticity and the movie’s script being “narratively messy.” But fans said it was “fun” and was a good escape.
The New York Times’ critic Manohla Dargis wrote, “The sequel to the 2017 hit finds Diana Prince, a.k.a. Wonder Woman, pining for love and saddled with a movie unworthy of her.”
However, Variety’s Peter Debruge wrote, “For nearly two hours of its 151-minute runtime, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ accomplishes what we look to Hollywood tentpoles to do: It whisks us away from our worries, erasing them with pure escapism.”
The $200 million movie’s release was delayed several times due to concerns about coronavirus — it was not released as a summer blockbuster, as planned, because so many movie theaters were closed for health and safety reasons. With only some theaters open, the movie chose go add streaming to maximize audience.
The movie will be the last view inside Landmark Mall for most Alexandria residents. The Landmark Mall property may be redeveloped with a new Inova Alexandria Hospital and Trauma Center in the next few years.
Wonder Woman 3 will be in production soon. "As fans around the world continue to embrace Diana Prince, driving the strong opening weekend performance of Wonder Woman 1984, we are excited to be able continue her story with our real life Wonder Women — Gal (Gadot) and Patty (Jenkins) — who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy," Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. said in a statement, according to news reports.
