Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Look, I wanted to love this one. Wonder Woman was solid, and Gal Gadot is perfect in the role. But WW84 is a mess that somehow manages to waste 151 minutes on a story that goes absolutely nowhere. The whole wish-granting premise feels like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon, and Pedro Pascal chews so much scenery as the villain that I'm surprised there's any left. The action sequences are weirdly floaty and fake-looking, especially compared to the brutal World War I stuff from the first movie.

The 80s setting should've been fun, but it feels more like dress-up than an actual time period. And don't get me started on Steve Trevor's return - the logistics of how that works are so weird and creepy when you think about it for two seconds. Kristen Wiig starts off interesting as Barbara but turns into generic CGI cat-lady by the end. The movie takes forever to get going and then doesn't really go anywhere worth the trip.

There are a few decent moments here and there, mostly when Gadot gets to just be Wonder Woman without all the convoluted wish nonsense. But this feels like they had no idea what story to tell for a sequel and just threw a bunch of ideas at the wall. Most superhero sequels at least try to top the action from the first one - this one somehow has less.

This is what happens when you let a good movie get a sequel it didn't need.