Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Starring Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman
Directed by James Wan

"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" was sunk even before it premiered due to two underlying factors: superhero fatigue and the demise of the DCEU. Both happened near the beginning of 2023 and both helped in making the previous DCEU films that came out this year - "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" and "Blue Beetle" - bomb terribly. There was little to no hope for Arthur Curry and his adventures as the fabled Aquaman, resulting in less-than-stellar reviews and reception. While it wasn't as bad as it could've been, it safely tread the waters of superhero movies that serves as to why there's this fatigue: there's no stakes, no excitement, and no real reason for it to exist.

Arthur Curry, better known as Aquaman (Jason Momoa) is the king of Atlantis and resides with his wife Mera (Amber Heard) and their newborn son Arthur Jr. While Aquaman is king, he doesn't relish the title, and would rather be a maverick than a leader. All that changes when Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) returns seeking revenge for his slain father, and does so by acquiring the mythical Black Trident that belonged to a disposed king who was trapped in a hidden chamber so he and his army of the dead can't wreak any more havoc.

Yet every time Manta uses the Trident it changes him, making him stronger but also leaving him open to the whispers of the lost king who needs the blood of royalty to free him from his prison. Aquaman knows he can't stop this new Manta on his own, so he enlists the help of his brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), whom was imprisoned for crimes committed against Atlantis previously. Aquaman breaks him out and the estranged brothers embark on a journey to stop Manta, save Atlantis, and save the world from Manta's ultimate plan to create global catastrophe.


The Good:
As I said earlier, "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" treads the safe waters of predictability, providing everything you'd expect from a superhero film without it being too off-putting. The action is there, the CGI is there, the actors are there, Everyone and everything is present to make a suitable, if not forgettable, superhero action movie. There's worse superhero movies out there, and this one is just safe.

Jason Momoa was the most charismatic actor to play in the DCEU, giving Aquaman his own unique blend of humor and heart that elevated the first film to becoming the highest grossing DCEU movie. He has some of that spark here as well, and the connection he shares with Patrick Wilson is acceptable. They play off each other well, with Arthur's sarcastic nature and Orm's no-nonsense approach to everything clashes in humorous ways. Again, you've seen this type of relationship before, but here they pull it off to acceptable standards.


The Bad:
Basically this is "Thor: The Dark World" for the DCEU in more ways than one (most notably both being lauded as terrible sequels). Much like "Thor: The Dark World," this film features our hero breaking out his villainous brother to help fight a bigger foe (there's even a humorous nod when Aquaman calls Orm "Loki"), and that foe is someone who's bent on revenge (which, I guess, is more applicable to "Thor: Ragnarok," but I digress). The whole story, really, is generic. Bad guy seeks revenge against good guy for stopping their bad guy father by acquiring a mythical weapon that really controls the bad guy into doing something even badder than he wanted to while he also seeks revenge. Nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing daring - just acceptable.

Although Momoa still exhibits his unique charm and charisma, he seems to be lacking it more this time around, like he didn't want to be there most of the time. He cracks jokes and fools around, but not as much as the first, and it feels more forced here.

The CGI is terrible, but lately that's to be expected in superhero movies. It's laughably bad though, and really hard to get into.

There seems to be a different story that director James Wan wanted to tell, and you can sense the deep annoying involvement of production companies in the final product. Wan is no stranger to delivering amazing films ("Aquaman," "The Conjuring," and so on), but this feels like it was directed by a director fresh out of college with no cohesive plot. I wonder if there'll ever be a "Wan Cut" of this film, and wonder more if I'd waste time watching it (the answer to the last is "no").

Amber Heard sucks. That is all I'm saying to that.


The Summary:
While it treads the safe waters of predictability, "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" proves why there's superhero fatigue in that it has no real stakes, offers no real excitement, provides shoddy CGI, and ultimately is just acceptable and something you wouldn't mind watching - once.


The Score: C-