Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has finally arrived in theaters worldwide. In this sequel, Arthur Curry is teaming up with his brother and the first film's villain Orm for a new underwater adventure to save their world from Black Manta's revenge-fueled scheme. Is the final offering from DCEU worth the hype?
Also Read: Jason Momoa Casts Doubt on Aquaman Return
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a Downgrade from the First Film
The first Aquaman film in 2018 was loved by the audience and the majority of the critics (it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 65% after all) for its entertainment value and grand spectacle with its depiction of an underwater world that initially looked silly but James Wan found a way to make it effective in the end.
However, looking back, Aquaman's visuals look bland now with the existence of Avatar: The Way of Water, which arguably has the most beautiful-looking CGI underwater world in cinema and we suspect that James Cameron might improve that even further in future sequels.
Despite that, Aquaman is still a feast because it was simply fun and they embraced the silliness of having a talking Kraken voiced by Julie Andrews, an octopus who is playing drums, and the unapologetic needle drop of Pitbull's reimagining of Toto's "Africa."
Unfortunately, Lost Kingdom didn't capture the magic and fun of the first film. While it still had the grand epic scope, the messy and convoluted storytelling, its bland humor, and jarring creative decisions made it such a downgrade.
The film dealt with multiple storylines that interconnect with one another, but it didn't effectively work out due to the tonal shifts and imbalances that make it not cohesive.
It's also supposed to tackle the issue of climate change, but none of them mattered in the end even though they tried to push the idea as a major issue in its world and we never actually saw the consequences (except the news footage that is playing on TV) to make us feel the stakes.
Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson's Chemistry is the Highlight of the Movie
The best part of the film is easily Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson's wonderful chemistry as they have a great love-hate budding brotherhood that reminds you of the classic buddy cop movies that it is inspired by.
Wilson's Orm is the "straight man" while Momoa's Arthur is the goofball that makes jokes and annoys the other during a trip. They are at odds with each other and yet it's a wonderful pair to watch on screen.
However, it also opens up a major issue that suffers the film in its entirety as they dialed up the humor and infused a lot of jokes and funny quips that are corny and cringe (although your mileage might vary on that) and their attempt at doing humor ala-Thor: Ragnarok became unsuccessful.
The middle of the film (specifically when Arthur and Orm were in a certain forest location all by themselves) showcased its problem with humor as it had a jarring tonal shift to being a bad '90s comedy with corny jokes and failed punchlines.
It also felt like they adapted Momoa's real-life personality to the character of Arthur which became jarring and you can't help but think about the actor himself instead of the character that we should be invested in.
The Lack of Intriguing Character Arcs
Another flaw of the film is the lack of effective arcs for any of the characters resulting in messy and convoluted storytelling and you wouldn't be able to care for their journey aside from very few exceptions.
As already revealed in the trailer, Arthur has become a father when we see him in the film. While it was an interesting part, there was no actual depth exploration of how fatherhood has affected his heroic life.
Wilson's Orm had the strongest arc out of all characters to the point that it made you wonder whether they were course-correcting their decision on the first film.
Amber Heard, who was embattled in a controversy in the years leading to the release of the film, had a sparring screen time, but she was still part of a lot of action.
However, the character was downgraded to being the "wife" and she doesn't have any arc or significant moments at all. Most of her dialogues are techno-babble exposition or telling her husband about a meeting that he has to attend.
Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, and Temuera Morrison were also back in the film and they each have a significant presence. Just like Heard, they didn't have any arc to play with and most of them were there to either participate in the action or spout some jargon for exposition reasons.
Surprisingly, Randall Park's Dr. Stephen Shin has a major role in the film and it's interesting to see him play a character in a superhero universe that is a contrast to Jimmy Woo. Weirdly enough, he also has one of the strongest arcs among the characters.
Last but not least, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Black Manta also has his own showcase as the main villain, and, for the most part, he had an interesting arc that continued his revenge-fueled quest from the first film. However, his fate in the end was questionable and it didn't serve what was set up with him.
Is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Worth Watching?
As a piece of entertainment, there is something to recommend with the film since it delivers the spectacle that most audiences might be looking for and it is serviceable enough despite the issues it has.
However, it remains to be deeply flawed and some of its creative decisions and storytelling may be jarring for you even if you may find yourself having a fun time watching it on the big screen.
The visual effects were also such a mixed bag overall, with some sequences looking decent and striking, but there we also some moments that have baffling awful CGI that may ruin your suspension of disbelief.
In the end, given that it is the final DCEU movie, it may or may not matter for some fans since it won't have any ramifications for the new DCU and you can only enjoy it as an entertaining standalone entity with no stakes.
It is unfortunate though that this iteration of the franchise ended this way (although to be fair, the film was not meant to be its finale). It's not necessarily a terrible last installment, but it's also not an ideal way to end it.
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