1984, Washington D.C. Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) is working at the Smithsonian museum and leading a quiet life with the occasional outing as Wonder Woman. However when Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) steals a seemingly innocuous artefact from her colleague Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) the entire world is at risk. 

2017’s Wonder Woman was a breath of fresh air for the DC universe and it has been a longer wait than expected for the sequel. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic it has been postponed multiple times from its original June release date to Christmas time and now features a joint streaming and cinema release in the U.S. I also have to stress that I was lucky enough to see it in my local cinema before we entered another lockdown with cinema closures. Just like the original, the sequel features a sincerity and hopefulness that is a tonic in these strange times. 

The plot pits Diana against Maxwell Lord. One epitomises truth and the other lies. Set against the backdrop of the 1980’s, a decade associated with excess as well as being located within Washington, the seat of U.S. political power there are a lot of layers that you can read into. Or you can simply enjoy the humour, hope and action. 

Gal Gadot is excellent as Diana again. Building on her performance from the original she adds a layer of humanity with her feelings for Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) whom she loved and lost in the original. Speaking of which, there is an excellent plot device that I won’t spoil that returns him to us. In the original it was Diana who was the fish out of water. Now it is Steve’s turn and his genuine joy and excitement at what the world has become is enormously funny and entertaining. 

We then have two excellent new additions to the cast. Kristen Wiig’s Barbera Minerva is a lonely square who transforms into a powerful woman at the expense of her empathy. Wiig is a great choice for the role. Genuinely likeable and kooky to start with before convincingly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Pedro Pascal is also great as a man whose wealth and success is a smoke screen for the damaged individual he is inside. There are clearly some parallels to a TV personality who trades on his supposed wealth through lies and power. 

The action sequences are good fun although disappointingly all feature in some way in the trailer leaving little in the way of surprise. Perhaps that is more a statement on trailers and the regular delays the film faced though than the film itself. The biggest disappointment here though is that the final fight is a muddy CGI slug fest just like in the original, where as the rest of the films action sequences are gloriously bright and coherent. 

So whilst it’s clear that all the component pieces work really well and fit together nicely the biggest gripe is just the length of the film. At 151 minutes it does feel like it is a little overlong when the central theme is so pure and sincere. In a year where only one other blockbuster was released though it is a welcome change of pace. 

Wonder Woman remains the gold standard for the DC Universe. 

Be sure to wait for a mid credits scene.