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Missed opportunities abound with barely disguised identity politics which border on caricatures. We were able to enjoy a strong female hero character the first time around even when she was surrounded by other characters of various strengths and weaknesses. The obvious selection of a myriad of negative gender stereotypes as the representation of all but one male character in the film didn't make her look better by comparison. Sadly it instead made her character look like it needed "extra" help to be something extraordinary, a trope that really does a disservice to a naturally strong female archetype. The surrounding characters don't need to be depressed for her to excel, she does that naturally by virtue of who and what she already is. Providing this unneeded assistance makes one wonder if the filmmakers have as much faith in her as her fans do. By what I saw, it certainly doesn't seem like that is the case. Other than that, it was a serviceable, if not particularly imaginable, popcorn fare. There were plenty of narrative holes, box checking problems, and lazy character tropes to justify not giving this the overwhelmingly positive review that it clearly wants and we all desperately wanted to give, but being honest about the film does not allow that outcome. It wasn't necessarily a "bad move" per se, it just wasn't a very good one. As stated before, missed opportunities abound. All in all the biggest question to be answered concerning the reception of this film is whether the industry and the filmmakers will accept the criticism that is most likely coming its way as constructive and a tool to be used moving forward, or if they will label those who didn't care for the film as whatever label they deem most likely to shift the blame for not delivering better. It is a shame that in this day and age one must wonder if they will be attacked for a motivation that is projected on to them. When instead, they just didn't like what was presented for concrete reasons that do not necessarily originate from a preconceived bias. Lowering the bar does not equal exceptionality as being better than bad isn't exceptional, just what everybody is supposed to do. That "normality" is supposed to be the baseline. To be exceptional is to be far and above better than the baseline. Wonder Woman is that type of exceptional and she should be allowed to show it on her efforts, not by comparison to cartoonish flaws and tropes saddled not just on the villain, but every other competitor for screen time imaginable. Okay, but could have and should have been way better.