Wonder Woman 1984: More Is Less (HBO Max)

The original 2017 "Wonder Woman" was a fantastic superhero movie.  This sequel shares many of the same features that made the original great, but its excessive length (151 minutes), with a predictable ending, makes it about 45 minutes too long. The film starts out with a bang!  Diana (Lilly Aspell) is a young girl, competing in a spectacular and thrilling competition with full-grown women on the island of Themyscira.  However, Diana cheats and is taught a lesson about truth, which is a core theme of the film. The film fasts forwards to 1984.  Diana (a.k.a. Wonder Woman – played by Gal Gadot) is working at the Smithsonian.  She meets a shy and awkward new employee, Barbara Ann (Kristen Wiig), who is an artifact expert.  Barbara Ann has been asked by the FBI to investigate a particular artifact featuring a Latin inscription on it saying that the holder's wish will come true.  As the cliché goes, "be careful what you wish for," since a wish from this artifact comes with toxic strings!  Diana wishes for the return of her deceased true love, Steve (Chris Pine), while Barbara Ann wishes to be like Diana. A seemingly-wealthy museum donor, Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), then steals the object, makes a wish, and all hell soon breaks loose. The film's core theme – about the destructive nature of greed, as well as wanting "more, better, and different" than what you have now – is well-conveyed, but you don't need 15 examples to make that point. The acting by the three leads is excellent and there are still plenty of terrific scenes, but the last 45 minutes drag until the film finally comes to its inevitable conclusion. At the risk of ruining my life, I wish the movie was much shorter!