I did not know what to expect when walking into Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Even though the first movie grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, it still feels like Aquaman is a bit of the underdog these days. It could be due to the general superhero fatigue, production issues, legal controversy for one of its major stars, less than stellar test audience scores or the fact that it’s the final movie in the beleaguered DCEU as we know it. Regardless, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is here, and while it isn’t the disaster that many people expected, it isn’t anything great either.
Set several years after the 2018’s Aquaman, we find Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and his now-wife Mera (Amber Heard) splitting their time handling royal duties as rulers of Atlantis, as well as handling parental duties doting to their newborn son, Arthur Jr. Meanwhile, Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), still harbouring an intense grudge against Curry for his father’s death, comes across a Black Trident; a powerful weapon founded by a cursed Atlantean kingdom. Manta uses the Trident and sets a plan to destroy Atlantis by accelerating climate change effects, putting Aquaman in action to protect his family, his kingdom, and the rest of the world.
As much as the DCEU had ups and (numerous) downs, Jason Momoa’s casting as Aquaman is still one of its best decisions. Momoa’s bro-ified version gives the character an infectious charm that’s hard to replicate. The strongest parts of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom came courtesy of the chemistry between Aquaman and his estranged half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), who was sent to a desert prison after being overthrown by Curry in the last film.
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, while not a disaster, fails to stand out due to a bland story and action.”
Although Wilson was another serviceable-yet-forgettable villain role the first time around, the Lost Kingdom finds the pair reluctantly teaming up for most of the movie to stop Manta. These scenes in the second act finally give Orm an actual personality, and the personality clash between the brothers lends itself to some of the movie’s bigger laughs – even if it’s clearly taking cues from Thor and Loki in Thor: Ragnarok (which the movie almost acknowledges with Momoa name-dropping the latter).
The problem is, there isn’t that much in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom that stands out otherwise. While Yahya Abdul-Mateen II doesn’t deliver a bad performance, the script doesn’t give him that much to do beyond sneering at his assistant. The first Aquaman felt knowingly ridiculous and revelled in it, and while there are a few moments where it recaptures that tone (namely Martin Short as the crime boss Kingfish and the appearance of Aquaman’s octopus sidekick Topo), it feels a bit more bland than the last time.
Director James Wan is normally great with action, and there is a fairly exciting final fight between Aquaman and Manta, but none of the action feels visually inventive. The big battle scenes boil down to yet another laser light show, which has also gotten pretty tiring after seeing dozens and dozens of superhero flicks do the same thing. Also, I would recommend not seeing it in 3D, as it made a lot of the visuals look really muddled.
When it comes down to it, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is merely a forgettable final footnote in this version. When it centers on the relationship between the two brothers, the movie finds much-needed life. But otherwise, the bland story and action sink the movie before it can really swim. That being said, I’d be disappointed if this is the last time we ever see Momoa pick up the trident. He’s simply having too much fun not to want another underwater adventure with him at the helm.
