This was a movie I was very excited for both because I thought the first Wonder Woman was an almost excellent movie (if the ending had changed somewhat), and because I had the means to see it through HBO Max. Unfortunately, only a few minutes into the movie I was already getting a worrisome feeling about the quality of the movie. The CGI wasn't quite up to par and Wonder Woman was feeling very "floaty" for lack of a better word. When she jumped around and slid along the ground, it didn't feel as though there was any weight to her. It made many of the actions scenes lose their gravity. Further into the movie and some aspects of the story just weren't quite sitting right. Why did Steve Trevor have to come back in another man's body? Based on everything else the wishing stone did, was it really outside of the stone's power to just bring him back from the dead? It seemed as though the rules surrounding the stone weren't very well fleshed out and changed to whatever was deemed necessary for the plot.
One major issue with this story was with Wonder Woman herself. Pedro Pascal is in this movie, and he is undeniably a very strong actor. He gives what he was given to work with his all, and truly makes for a sympathetic villain. This unfortunately has the adverse effect of making Wonder Woman either fall flat or be forgotten entirely at times. I was having a much more fun time watching his character run around frantically granting wishes and losing himself to the endless power. I enjoyed his character to the point where I would legitimately forget Wonder Woman was in this movie.
Overall there were just too many questions that the movie would rather ignore than address. Why can nuclear weapons just appear but Steve had to take the place of some other guy? Why bring Steve Trevor back at all? It feels way too early to pull a move like that (a problem DC has had before with characters like Superman). Why was this movie set in 1984? It didn't change much of anything for the movie. I could have been told this movie was set last year and I would have believed it. No 80's music, barely 80's fashion, no commentary specifically on why this movie had to be set in the 80's. What was up with the invisible jet scene, it felt totally unnecessary? How was Steve, who last flew planes in World War 1, able to fly a modern jet that was apparently fully fueled at the Smithsonian to Cairo and back? Every aspect of that felt like too much to suspend disbelief. Did millions of people really renounce their wishes? Nobody wished the nukes, that were coming to destroy life as we know it, would just disappear? What was up with the kids running out in front of a very obvious convoy and not moving? Who approved the shot of Diana rolling with the kids after saving them when the kids are very clearly mannequins? Why introduce the golden eagle armor just for it to get torn up immediately by Cheetah? How was Wonder Woman able to electrocute Cheetah in the same water she was in without electrocuting herself? Why can Wonder Woman fly in this movie, but apparently forgets how in Justice League? What was the point behind the entire opening scene in Themiscyra?
In the end, so much of this movie seemed like it was pointed towards making a cool trailer and selling toys. It was so amazingly disappointing as this was one of DC's strongest live-action superhero. In the end this movie felt lazy, greedy, and unbelievable. It's unfortunate this is probably the last we'll see of Wonder Woman for some time.