Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, and Kristin Wiig, it’s unfortunate that this is the follow-up to such a strong origin story.

I would try to summarize the plot, but there’s a lot to unload. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen a lot, maybe even too much. If it looked like there is a lot going on, you’d be right. And for a film with so much going on, there sure is a lack of action. While the setting is interesting, we’ve seen this theme a lot in the past few years, from Stranger Things, to the latest season American Horror Story to name a few. It’s fun to see an 80’s theme, but it doesn’t seem to be as strong a setting as the World War 1 period in the first movie. That was the perfect time for the story told in that film. Here, it’s sort of a backdrop.

The villains of the movie were fighting for screen time, each one taking away development from the other. All good performances, and Gal Gadot is still perfectly cast. But we are moving from one story to the next without an easy flow, and some mixed messages. It’s hard to say exactly when Barbara turns the way she does, or what the beginning lesson had to do with anything later. Some more background and attention to Maxwell could have been helpful too, but there was little time to spare.

There were some shining moments, like the very beginning with young Diana, and the opening scene with Wonder Woman coming to save the day. But I think this film was a cluster…not a beginning, middle and end.

It was hard to care about Diana and Steve’s chemistry when 1. Steve possessed the body of a stranger, and 2. his entrance and exit are so quick, and she didn’t have to earn or fight for him…she just wished.

Overall, somewhat fun if you watch with friends, but a disappointing follow up to a great film.

I have a YouTube review here.