NOBODY 2 : Tuesday 19th August 2025.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'NOBODY 2' earlier this week at my local multiplex, and this American action thriller film is Directed by Timo Tjahjanto who first burst onto the scene in 2009 as one half of The Mo Brothers with their feature length debut with 'Macabre', which they would follow up with 'Killers' in 2014, and 'Headshot' in 2016, and then in his own right 'May the Devil Take You' and 'The Night Comes for Us' both in 2018, 'May the Devil Take You Too' in 2020, 'The Big 4' in 2022 and 'The Shadow Strays' in 2024. This film was released in the US and here in Australia last week, has so far grossed US$19M off the back of a US$25M production budget and has garnered generally positive critical reviews.

Here then, this sequel to 2021's 'Nobody' sees suburban husband, father and workaholic assassin Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk who also Co-Wrote the screenplay and Co-Produces here too) is forced to take on assignments for 'The Barber' (Colin Salmon) as an assassin to pay off a US$30M debt he owes after destroying a Russian obshchak. 

His relationship with his family has grown distant as a result, especially with his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen). Wanting a break to re-bond with his family, he plans a family trip to Plummerville, a somewhat outdated amusement park which he visited when he was much younger with his brother Harry (RZA) and father David (Christopher Lloyd), promising Becca to leave his life as Nobody for the duration of their holiday.

While at an amusement arcade at Plummerville, his teenage son Brady (Gage Munroe) gets in trouble after a teenager, Max Martin (Lucius Hoyos), destroys a plush toy meant for his younger sister Sammy (Paisley Cadorath). This results in the whole family being kicked out. When an employee slaps the back of Sammy's head, Hutch impulsively beats up the staff, drawing the ire of both Wyatt Martin (John Ortiz), the owner of the amusement park, and Abel (Colin Hanks), a corrupt sheriff. Wyatt wants Hutch and his family kicked out, but Abel secretly tells his men to kill them. 

The next day, on a river boat, Hutch is attacked by some of Abel's men, losing the tip of his pinky finger in the process. He soon finds out from his brother, Harry, that Plummerville is a bootlegging route, while The Barber informs him that the route belongs to Lendina (Sharon Stone), whom Abel works for, and Wyatt has to pay off. When Wyatt tells Lendina this is his last payment and that his original debt is now cleared, she has Abel kidnap his son, Max. 

Hutch, wanting to de-escalate the situation, tells Abel that he and his family will leave town. But, when he sees the kidnapped Max bound and gagged, he decides to rescue him and burns a stack of Lendina's money and drugs, and blows up their warehouse in the process, scarring Abel for life.

Hutch and Max head to an old lodge where David was staying, and Brady and Max reconcile their differences. While Becca is angry that he couldn't keep his promise of not getting into more trouble, she tells him that she's not going anywhere, and he must fix it. He and Wyatt reconcile and prepare the amusement park for Lendina's arrival, with help from Harry and David.

Later that night with the theme park cleared of all tourists, Abel saunters up to Hutch and Wyatt and delivers them an ultimatum while Lendina and her small army of henchmen look on, saying that they can accompany him and risk their fate, or stand and fight and face certain death. Needless to say Hutch and Wyatt decide to stand their ground and as Abel turns and walks back he is executed at Lendina's command for being an annoyance, while most of her men are killed by Hutch and Wyatt. 

Harry kills Lendina's henchmen at the lodge, while Wyatt is shot in the leg, and David is knocked unconscious. Lendina attacks Hutch, but is tranquilised first in the shoulder and then in the eye by Becca. David recovers just in time to blow up the park, killing Lendina and the remainder of her men in the process. 

Hutch and Becca embrace and then dive headlong into a water feature to escape the burning explosions all around them as the park erupts in a ball of flame. After being interrogated in an unknown hangar, Hutch and Becca are freed on orders from an anonymous source. Later on, the family watches a visual album of their Plummerville holiday.

'Nobody 2' is B-movie action fare writ large, which packs a punch (pun intended) when Hutch's back is against the wall, and there are a couple of genuine laugh out loud moments to be enjoyed here. Bob Odenkirk does a fine job of playing the somewhat down at heel suburban, yet nonetheless loveable, dad and family man masking a cold hearted killer when he's doing his day job as a latter day hero. Sharon Stone turns in an all too brief role as the main antagonist here arriving on the scene well beyond the half-way mark, and Connie Nielsen get's her moment in the sun when she takes out Lendina with a tranquiliser gun. However, this film follows the formula of most sequels and fails to deliver the story we all hope for, instead opting for cartoonish action sequences delivered by half baked cookie cutter characters. All of that said, this film lacks the originality and the polish of the first film, but it is serviceable yet easily forgettable, and at an 89 minute runtime it doesn't leave you wanting either. 

'Nobody 2' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

GLADIATOR II : Tuesday 19th November 2024

I saw the M Rated 'GLADIATOR II' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this US and UK co-produced epic historical action film is Co-Produced and Directed by Ridley Scott and is the sequel to Scott's classic 'Gladiator' from 2000. That film grossed US$465M off the back of a production budget of US$103M and won five Academy Awards from twelve nominations among a total awards haul of sixty wins and a further 104 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. This film cost US$210M to produce, has so far grossed US$99M, was released here in Australia and New Zealand last week, in the UK on 15th and the USA on 22nd November, and has generated largely positive critical reviews. A further sequel 'Gladiator III' is reportedly in the early stages of development. 

Set sixteen years after the events of 'Gladiator', Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) living under the name Hanno, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and Maximus (Russell Crowe from the first film), lives with his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen) and child in Numidia - a province on the North African coast. Roman soldiers led by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) invade, killing his wife and declaring that Numidia is now a Roman province captured for the glory of Rome, while burning the dead, among them many women and children. Lucius is forced into slavery, boards a ship with other barbarian slaves and sent to Ostia, the port of Rome. 

To promote the slaves as potential gladiators, the Romans pit them against feral baboons in an enclosed arena. Lucius savagely kills a baboon, watched on by an impressed stablemaster Macrinus (Denzel Washington). Although Lucius has no desire to be a gladiator, Macrinus promises him an opportunity to kill Acacius if he lives long enough and rises victorious from his fights. Macrinus sees that Lucius has a rage and a fury inside him, which he says are key attributes that will see him win his freedom.

When Acacius returns to Rome a hero, the twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Herchinger) arrange gladiatorial games in the Colosseum to celebrate his victory. Although the disillusioned Acacius requests a welcome and deserved break with his wife, Lucilla, (the daughter of the late Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Maximus's former lover), the emperors refuse, greedily plotting to conquer Persia and India with all haste. Later Senator Thraex (Tim McInnerny) hosts a party for the emperors and the elite, and arranges a gladiatorial duel as entertainment between Lucius and the emperors #1 gladiator, which Lucius wins. When Geta tries to make small talk with Lucius afterwards, Lucius contemptuously recites poetry by Virgil at him, so demonstrating that he has received a Roman education.

Lucilla and Acacius accompany the emperors to the Colosseum to see Lucius and other gladiator slaves battle it out against a giant rhinoceros ridden by a hulking gladiator hell bent on killing every one of them. After watching Lucius copy Maximus's tactics in the Colosseum, Lucilla realises that Lucius is her long-lost son and the imperial heir, whom she sent away for his protection after the death of Maximus when he was just nine years old. The next day, a naval battle is staged in the Colosseum, with Lucius taking the Macrinus team to victory, and in the ensuing chaos, he fires a crossbow at Acacius narrowly missing him with the arrow becoming embedded in the back of the chair where the emperors sit. After the battle and under cover of darkness, Lucilla visits Lucius in his prison cell. He angrily rebuffs Lucilla saying that he resented being forced to flee to the desert while his mother lived in luxury, and he is upset that her new lover caused his wife's death.

Lucius learns that Macrinus and his team doctor, Ravi (Alexander Karim), are both former slaves who won their freedom in the Colosseum. However, they both took very different paths following their freedom. Ravi, married a Roman woman and believes that Rome can be a multicultural republic. He shows Lucius the shrine to fallen gladiators and Maximus, the people's champion, which preserves Maximus's gear, including his steel breast plate and sword. Macrinus conversely tries to reclaim his standing by building his power base with the emperors and sees no conflict between being a freed slave and enslaving others.

Lucilla and Acacius conspire with Senators Thraex and Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to overthrow the emperors and restore the Roman Republic. Acacius also agrees to rescue Lucius from slavery. However, Thraex reveals the plan to Macrinus who he is heavily in debt to, and who in turn tips off the emperors. The couple are arrested for treason, and Macrinus is appointed an imperial advisor.

Macrinus assigns Lucius to kill Acacius in the arena, watched on by a shackled Lucilla. However, after gaining the upper hand Lucius declines to execute him. The imperial guard are all told by the emperor's to execute Acacius anyway and he is shot by a dozen arrows. This leads the commoners to riot. Macrinus visits Lucilla in her cell, revealing that despite her father's idealistic beliefs, Marcus Aurelius hypocritically enslaved Macrinus. Macrinus announces that he will avenge himself on Rome by becoming Emperor. 

Macrinus plans to end the imperial dynasty, and begins by manipulating Caracalla to kill Geta. After Caracalla names his pet monkey Dundas as Chief Consul, Macrinus convinces the Senate to overthrow him. Macrinus also persuades Caracalla to use Lucilla as bait in the Colosseum, with only Lucius to defend her against a small army of Imperial Guard. His plan is for Lucius and Lucilla to be mercilessly slaughtered, which he knows will incite another riot, with the Senate ordering the execution of Caracalla in order to diffuse the situation and bring peace once again.

Lucius and Lucilla reconcile their differences to overthrow Macrinus. Lucilla tells Lucius that he is Maximus's son and gifts Lucius his father's ring with his name engraved on the inside. Lucius sends Ravi with the ring to meet Acacius's legions stationed just outside Rome, requesting military assistance. Lucilla is brought into the Colosseum shackled to a post along with the senators with whom she conspired. Lucius rallies the gladiators to revolt. Armed with Maximus's armour and sword, he leads the gladiators into the arena to defend Lucilla from execution. Gracchus is killed in the onslaught, while Macrinus kills Lucilla with an arrow fired into her chest, and then stabs Caracalla through the ear with a six inch needle. Macrinus flees the rioting city on horseback with Lucius in hot pursuit.

Acacius's army of some 5,000 men and Macrinus's army of 6,000 meet outside Rome and come to a halt either side of one of the city's gates. To prevent a battle between the two rival factions, Macrinus and Lucius fight it out. Although Macrinus nearly kills Lucius in a river by repeatedly stabbing at his breast plate with his sword, which does not penetrate due to its steel construction, Lucius kills Macrinus by first beating him across the head with a rock he grabbed while under the surface, then chopping off his lower arm just below the elbow before slashing him across the stomach so that his entrails spilled out. In a rousing speech after clambering out of the water, he reveals his true identity as the imperial heir and persuades the Praetorians to allow him free passage into Rome, where he mourns his parents in the now empty Colosseum.

With 'Gladiator II' Director and Co-Producer Ridley Scott has crafted a fitting sequel to his epic 2000 offering that continues the story arc admirably while also paying homage to Russell Crowe's Oscar winning role of Maximus. The film certainly looks the part in transporting us back to ancient Rome with its extravagant sets and costumes, the action set pieces are well choreographed, there is plenty of bloodletting, the cinematography is quite beautiful and Paul Mescal gives a convincing turn as humble farmer turned hero gladiator, and Denzel Washington chews up every scene he's in with gusto. This film is not quite up there with the 2000 original, but nonetheless should be enjoyed by those with a penchant for swords and sandals epics, big action sequences, drama and emotion. My only criticisms of the film is Connie Nielsen's performance is a little stilted in places, and the use of CGI sharks in the Colosseum naval battle sequence was way to obvious for my liking and why would Ridley bother with making up this element when more often that not he has come to rely on historical fact than fiction.

'Gladiator II' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

NOBODY : Tuesday 6th April 2021.

'NOBODY', which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week, is an MA15+ Rated American action thriller Directed by the Russian musician and filmmaker Ilya Naishuller whose only previous feature film was 2015's 'Hardcore Henry' for which he also Produced, Wrote, acted in, composed the music for and also lensed. Released in the US on 26th March, the film has so far grossed US$22M off the back of its US$16M production budget and has generated favourable Reviews. Apparently in March of this year Naishuller discussed the potential of a crossover film featuring Nobody and the 'John Wick' franchise, expressing interest in the possibility based on the films' similar tones. It should be noted that David Leitch Co-Directed the first 'John Wick' film with Chad Stahelski and also Produces here, and Derek Kolstad who wrote this film and Executive Produces, also wrote the first three 'John Wick' films too.

And so, here Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a seemingly ordinary man - he has two children with his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen), has an unremarkable job as an office worker mulling over the books every day at his father-in-law Eddie Williams (Michael Ironside) metal fabrication business, and generally keeps to himself. The tedium of his life is slowly grinding him down, he and his wife have not been intimate in years, his teenage son Blake (Gage Munroe) has no respect for him as a father, and only his younger daughter, Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) shows him any affection.

One night while Hutch can't sleep he goes downstairs and disturbs a pair of black clad burglars who have broken into his house, hold him at gunpoint and demand cash. Hutch gives them his wrist watch, but when the now identified man and woman try to leave, Blake tackles the man to the ground. Hutch is about to attack the girl with a golf club, but at the last second stops himself from doing so and lets the pair get away. Blake cops a black eye in the process. The incident causes more of a rift between Blake and his father, and everyone in Hutch's life, from his neighbour to his brother-in-law at work, asks him why he did not try to stop the burglars. Hutch contacts his supposedly deceased half-brother Harry (RZA) on a hidden radio in his office and explains that he saw no reason to intervene as the burglars were using an unloaded gun anyway.

When he comes home later that day, Sammy asks her father for help finding her kitty cat bracelet, which Hutch believes the thieves took. Without saying a word, he goes to see his elderly father David (Christopher Lloyd) who lives in a aged care home, and borrows his old FBI badge and gun to track down the burglars by a distinctive tattoo on the girls wrist which Hutch observed during the night of the burglary. After visiting three tattoo parlours he is eventually led to their apartment and threatens them, but when he realises they robbed him to get money to pay for their sick baby's medical treatment, he leaves in shame and beats the crap out of a brick wall instead. 

The bus he takes home is stopped by a gang of drunken Russian thugs, who crash their vehicle by the side of the bus, and decide to hitch a ride. They start by antagonising the other few passengers on board who all abruptly leave except for a young girl and Hutch. Hutch escorts the bus driver out of the vehicle taking her mobile phone and placing it on the dash board, before closing the door behind him. Standing at the entry to the bus the five Russians thugs all turn to look at Hutch as he says 'I'm going to fuck you up', at which point the antagonists all begin to laugh. Hutch takes out his frustration by savagely beating up all of them, leaving them all severely bloodied and broken, but not before sustaining a knife wound to his side and also copping a beating, leaving him battered and bruised. 

Harry then sends his brother to see a man known as 'The Barber' (Colin Salmon), who provides Hutch with intelligence about one of his victims, Terry (Aleksandr Pal) the younger brother of Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), a notorious Russian mob boss and enforcer. Although Yulian despises his brother, he feels obligated to avenge him and sends a crew led by his right-hand man Pavel (Araya Mengesha) to attack Hutch at home after deducing his identity via his misplaced Metro card. Hutch hides his family in their secure basement and kills most of the attackers before Pavel subdues him with a taser and puts him in the boot of a car to take him to Yulian. Coming round handcuffed, Hutch dislocates his thumb to be able to slip his hand through the handcuffs. He finds a fire extinguisher in the boot behind the rear seat, and uses it to blindside his abductors, causing the car to crash headlong into a pole and to flip on to its roof landing upside down, killing Pavel and the two others in the front seats. 

He returns home to find his family still hidden in the basement. He sends Becca and the children away to a safe location. With four of the antagonists still alive (albeit barely) Hutch has them lined up on the sofa in his basement while he recounts his story, before they all die of their injuries. Hutch explains that he is a former 'auditor', an assassin employed by intelligence agencies to kill people who were considered untouchable, too hard to arrest, or living outside of the law. He was very good at his work and performed it diligently until one day, he let a man he was supposed to kill for stealing U.S. government funds go free. Returning a year later, much to his surprise Hutch found the man had built a new life and family for himself and was living the straight and narrow. Seeing this and wanting a life similar to his, Hutch decided to retire against the wishes of his superiors, and since then has done everything possible to downplay any recollection of his former life. Until now! 

With the four all dead, he finds his daughters missing kitty cat bracelet under the sofa before leaving the basement saying that it will burn at 3000° where human bones burn away to nothing at 1500°, so destroying all the evidence. He torches the room and burns his house down to destroy any indication of the carnage that went down therein.

After giving Eddie a stash of gold bars to buy his company from him which is accepted on the spot, Hutch closes down the business until further notice and sets about rigging up numerous booby traps inside. Hutch then goes to Yulian's extensive private art collection and the stash of cash money he was protecting for the mob and torches it all, killing all of the Russian's goons in the process. He leaves with an original Van Gogh tucked under this arm - the only remnant of Yulian's priceless art collection. 

Hutch then goes to Yulian's private club and sits down and eats a steak while the Russian is singing and dancing on stage. When Yulian is done he siddles up to Hutch with all of his henchmen in tow. Hutch though is not phased by this and under a napkin reveals a Claymore mine pointed directly at the Russian mob boss, attached to a hair trigger attached to his thumb. Hutch has a civil conversation with Yulian after all the goons have been ordered from the room, and tells him that he can either choose to come after him or he can take what he has left and flee with his nice little nest egg and open up a bar somewhere in the Caribbean having changed his appearance somewhat.  

Yulian needless to say chooses the former option and angrily calls up every man on his payroll and pursues Hutch to the factory, where David and Harry show up to help Hutch take down the gangsters using a variety of weapons and deadly traps that Hutch had set up previously. They kill all of the gunmen with the exception of Yulian, who shoots and wounds Harry in the shoulder. Hutch charges him with a Claymore mine attached to a bulletproof shield and detonates it, killing Yulian, whilst affording Hutch a degree of protection.

He lets his father and brother escape, and is arrested by the Police. Sitting in the interview room being questioned by a male and female officer, Hutch produces a kitten from under his jacket and a can of tunafish which he opens so that the cat can eat. He is asked by the officers who he is, at which Hutch replies 'I'm nobody'. At this point the officers mobile phones ring simultaneously. After they both hang up they have a look of disbelief on their faces and Hutch is quickly released with no charges filed. 

Fast forward three months, while checking out a new house to buy with Becca, Hutch receives a call via the Real Estate Agents mobile phone suggesting that his services are still required. In a mid-credits sequence, Harry and David are shown driving to an unspecified location along an ocean highway in a mobile home filled with guns.

At a brisk 92 minutes run time, 'Nobody' does not leave you wanting. Make no mistake, there are plenty of touchstones here straight out of the 'John Wick' playbook, but there's nothing wrong with that given that in Bob Odenkirk we have a new action hero who kicks, punches, gouges, stabs, shoots and blows up a small army of Russian bad guys using a very particular set of previously dormant skills - and what's not to like about this kind of stylised violence. Odenkirk is perfectly cast as the very ordinary man at the outset thrust into extra-ordinary circumstances by the end and he plays it with all the downbeat charisma and relateability that plays to the actors strengths. And as for the now 82 years old Christopher Lloyd, he just looks like he was having so much fun as the gun totting octogenarian on a day out from his aged care facility reliving past times and the good ol' days. This is fast paced, brutal, emotionally charged and at times laugh out loud funny too that doesn't reinvent the genre but provides 92 minutes of pure escapism , and adrenalin fuelled entertainment that for lovers of this fare will tick all the right boxes. 

'Nobody' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online

WONDER WOMAN 1984 : Tuesday 5th January 2021.

'WONDER WOMAN 1984' is the M Rated ninth instalment in the DCEU which finally arrived in Australian cinemas on 26th December 2020. This sequel to 2017's 'Wonder Woman' which grossed US$822M off the back of a production budget of about US$140M, is once again Directed by Patty Jenkins, and has been the subject of numerous delays to finally get us to this point. Originally announced for release on 13th December 2019, before being moved up to 1st November 2019, then it was delayed to 5th June 2020 and delayed again to 14th August 2020 while the world rode out the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, a further delay saw the film's release pushed to 2nd October 2020, before it was moved to this Christmas date. The film also streamed on HBO Max in the US and through Premium VoD in Canada from the same day as its theatrical release in those countries, while the rest of the world can enjoy the big screen cinematic release from anytime between Christmas 2020 and the end of January 2021. Costing US$200M to make the film is not expected to be profitable, needing to take US$500M to break even after marketing costs are factored in. That said, this sequel has generated mixed or average Reviews, and at the time of writing has grossed US$119M. A third film in the franchise was greenlit on 27th December 2020 set in the present day with Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot returning. 

The film opens up with the young child Diana Prince (Lilly Aspel) taking part against much older Amazon contestants in an athletic race on Themyscira. Looking on, but secretly not holding out much hope for her young daughter is the Queen of Themyscira, Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) and her sister Antiope (Robin Wright). After being knocked off her horse having led the race up to this point, Diana takes a short cut to make up for lost ground and to remount her horse which has run on ahead, riderless. However, just as Diana re-enters the stadium and is about to throw the final javelin through a target making her the winner, she is grabbed from behind by her Aunt, Antiope, and lectured that any goal must be achieved through honest effort and truth comes above everything else.   

We then fast forward to 1984 and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot who also Co-Produces here) works at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. In between her routine work at the Institute she also saves and rescues people often from life threatening situations, wearing her WWI outfit. One such set piece comes in a busy shopping mall when a gang of four thieves rob a jewellery store of various ancient artefacts, but are quickly foiled by Wonder Woman. 

Following this Diana introduces herself to the hapless Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) - a highly insecure geologist and gemologist recently started at the Institute, who most of her co-workers ignore because she is socially awkward, unassertive and just plain. Barbara befriends Diana whom she comes to admire and envy because she represents everything she isn't. The next day Barbara is asked by the FBI to identify several stolen and recovered artefacts from the robbery that Diana had foiled at the Shopping Mall. Barbara and Diana notice one artefact in particular which contains an inscription written in Latin claiming that anyone holding it will be granted one wish. Diana unknowingly uses the stone to wish her deceased lover Steve Trevor back to life, while separately having been saved by Diana from an attempted sexual assault, Barbara wishes upon the stone to become like Diana. 

Meanwhile failing businessman Maxwell 'Max Lord' Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal) visits the Smithsonian Institute under the guise of being a wealthy donor. He had previously arranged for the stolen artefact with the Latin inscription, known as the 'Dreamstone' to be delivered to him in the hope of using its power to save his struggling oil company, BlackGold Cooperative. Diana uncovers a connection between Max and the stone and attends a gala at the Smithsonian to investigate. There, she is reunited with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), whose soul inhabits another man's body, but only Diana can see him as Steve. 

Attending the gala himself, Max seduces Barbara to gain access to her office and steal the Dreamstone. With the Dreamstone now securely in his possession he later that night uses the stone to 'become' the stone and gains its wish-granting powers, along with the ability to take whatever he desires from others in return. Max very quickly becomes a successful and powerful figure whose oil business takes off, and who is hell bent on assuming control of his competitors oil business, ultimately taking over half the world's oil production. In his wake however, he leaves a trail of destruction and chaos and his powers create instability on a global scale. 

With Barbara's help, Diana and Steve discover that the Dreamstone was created by Dolos, the God of lies, treachery, deception, and mischief and is referenced in various historical records down through the ages. The stone grants a user their wish but exacts a toll, and the only way to reverse the exchange is by renouncing the wish or destroying the stone. As the stone crumbled to dust when Max was granted his wish to become the human embodiment of the stone, there is no chance of now destroying it. Steve quickly comes to the realisation that his existence comes at the cost of Diana's power, while Barbara's newfound life has taken away her humanity. Neither woman is willing to renounce her wish.

With every wish that Max grants, so his new found powers begin taking a toll on him physically as his body slowly deteriorates. He bleeds form the nose, the ears and the eyes and his behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic and unhinged. He learns from the President of the United States (Stuart Milligan) of a satellite system that broadcasts communication signals globally, using a technology that touches every electrical communications device on the planet - telephones, computers, televisions. Max plans to use it to grant wishes to the entire world simultaneously to rid himself of his power and restore his health. Diana and Steve confront him at the White House, only for Barbara to joins forces with Max. She defeats Diana, allowing Max's escape. 

Steve convinces Diana to renounce her wish and to let him go, restoring her strength and discovering an ability to fly. Diana returns to her apartment and dons the gold winged protective suit of armour of legendary Amazon warrior Asteria. She then heads to the satellite headquarters and confronts Barbara, who has mutated into a cheetah-like creature after wishing to become an 'apex predator'. After defeating Barbara in a closely fought battle, Diana confronts Max and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, convincing everyone to renounce their wishes. She also shows Max visions - first of his own unhappy childhood, then as a teenager at College and then of his young son, Alistair (Lucian Perez), wandering the streets crying for his father amid the chaos he has created. Max renounces his wish and reunites with Alistair, promising to be a better father, and one day to make his son proud. 

Some months later, in a street market at Christmas time, amidst a light flurry of snowfall, Diana encounters the man whose body Steve possessed, providing her with some closure and a determination to continue safeguarding humanity. Meanwhile, in a mid-credits sequence Asteria (Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the 1970's television series) is revealed to be secretly living among humans, having saved a young child from a falling power pole, and saying to the startled but grateful mother that it's only weight displacement and she has years of experience.

'Wonder Woman 1984' suffers from sequel-itis as it fails to live up to the expectations set so handsomely in the 2017 first instalment. Sure many of the usual characters are there for the purposes of continuity and familiarity, and they all perform their respective roles with aplomb as do the two baddies in the piece played by Wiig and Pascal who both add weight to the storyline which at times falls into cheesy territory. The action set pieces are well choreographed, the look and feel of 1984 is reasonably well recreated, but I was left wanting to see more action from this woman of wonder and less corn (after all she learns she can fly in this sequel - a la the man of steel, and, render inanimate objects - as large as a jet fighter - invisible just by rubbing her hands together!!) 'WW84' is entertaining enough even if it does plod along in places labouring in at an elongated 151 minutes run time, and it has enough emotional heft and escapism to be engaging, but the storyline leaves much to be desired and we have seen it played out many times before in both the DCEU and MCU when nefarious ne'er do well megalomaniacs try to take over the world and eventually succumb to our trusty superhero/ine who is on hand to save the day beyond the eleventh hour and restore some semblance of status quo.  

'Wonder Woman 1984' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a possible five claps.       

-Steve, at Odeon Online-