Would Wonder Woman 1984 have worked better as Wonder Woman 1994 or Wonder Woman 2004?
The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord, was right: "Life is good, but it can be better." And, I'm not wrong or the only one to think/say: Wonder Woman 1984 is good, but it could / should have been better.
I blame the choice of the year, first and foremost. And, what does the tech have to do with it? Well, judge for yourself.
WW 1984
1984 was a great year when it comes to music and movies. However, we can't say the same for technology. The only shining spot was the Macintosh. OK, we all get it, George Orwell's "1984" delivered the message. I personally felt as if I watched the extended version of 1984 Apple's Macintosh ad:
Maxwell Lord was the right villain in the right place, but unfortunately for him and the movie, not at the right time. That's why he needed that Dreamstone, which was nothing more than the more practical version of Aladdin's Magic Lamp. Again, if you're asking me, I found the Dreamstone to be more believable and acceptable than the whole concept of the messy super secret satellite broadcast system. C'mon, was that the best you could come up with? Unfortunately, yes. You got stuck in the wrong year and the movie paid the price.
As you travel forward in time, you become less dependent on the Dreamstone to tell a story that makes sense.
WW 1994
In 1994, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. I couldn't possibly agree more with the author of the article I just provided a link to:
1994 was a momentous year for the tech industry. It was the year the World Wide Web was born, a.k.a. the Internet as we know it today.
Who needs the Dreamstone when you have the Internet? OK, it was the early dawn of the WWW and the options were limited. But, don't forget that cell phones were available in 1994. They were ugly and very expensive. However, when you combine these two tech gems in 1994, you get a better story and a more convincing villain who stands a decent chance of controlling our minds with no need to use that hocus-pocus stone.
Wouldn't be better to pay homage to the father of the Internet - Tim Berners-Lee, than the father of the most notorious dystopian future prediction - Orwell's "1984," in this movie? Please don't get me wrong. This isn't a popularity contest between an author and an inventor. Also, for a movie to work, you don't go after what's more likable, but rather more realistic.
Oh, but without the Dreamstone, Wonder Woman couldn't bring back the love of her life. Yeah, that guy was essential for the story. She can jump on clouds, but she needs a pilot. C'mon, give me a break.
WW 2004
Finally, we're in the year of our movie Lord, Maxwell - 2004. There's more than just one "tech Dreamstone" available. Facebook, Skype, and Bluetooth are at our villain's disposal. Let me remind you that Blog was crowned Merriam-Webster’s word of the year in 2004.
So, all Pedro Pascal had to do was to become an influencer and take the whole world by tech storm. What about Wonder Woman standing in his way? Well, her superpowers would be useless against the power of fake news. Maxwell Lord would wipe the floor with her with the Facebook ads. OK, I admit it. I got ahead of myself a bit, but I made the point, didn't I?
What's Going To Be With Wonder Woman 3?
Are we going to see WW 2014 or more likely - WW 2024? What's this movie going to be about? Who's going to be a villain? It's hard and even pointless to make movies about superheroes, now when our lives have become stranger than the wildest fiction.
I don't know what Wonder Woman could possibly do in 2021, but I'm pretty much sure that Lord Maxwell wouldn't lift a finger. Why? He would have said something like, oh boy, your world is so f... up that's not worth taking. Actually, I think he would be so shocked and sickened that he would become the greatest philanthropist our world has ever seen. Of course, he would have to change his punchline:
Life is bad, but it could get worse, much worse, so...