Time: 115 Minutes
Age Rating: M – violence & horror
Cast:
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Patrick Wilson as Orm Marius
Amber Heard as Mera
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane/Black Manta
Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin
Dolph Lundgren as Nereus
Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry
Nicole Kidman as Atlanna
Director: James Wan

Aquaman was a hit when it was released back in 2018. I would consider it one of the better movies in the DCEU, following the Zack Snyder trilogy and Birds of Prey. So I was interested in watching a sequel with the same crew returning. Things have changed over the next 5 years though. While the franchise continued forward, there were a number of stumbles including regime changes. As for the movie itself, there were reports of bad test screenings, multiple reshoots and constant delays. To top it all off, not only is it releasing at the end of one of the worst years for comic book movies, but also would be the official end of the DCEU and before the incoming reboot from James Gunn. So I wasn’t exactly excited for the movie, so it was surprising that the movie was actually alright.

The movie gets off to a really bad start in the first 10 minutes. The fast paced and jarring editing, the bad jokes, the unfinished effects, all of it reeks of reshoots and last minute changes. That paired with the narration and the use of “Born to be Wild” reminded me of Thor: Love and Thunder and that’s not a good thing. Thankfully, once it reaches the title card, it picks up in quality, but only slightly. The plot is very straightforward, and it benefits from largely not having to introduce new main characters for the plot. The movie is weirdly short at 2 hours and length, and considering the very odd pacing and the fact that the last movie was 2.5 hours long, there’s no way this movie wasn’t hacked down. The plot isn’t the most interesting; it felt like it was relying on the actors and the visuals/action to carry the movie. The attempt at including global warming themes felt half baked, and came off like a worse version of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. You really don’t feel the stakes, not on a larger global scale, and not even on a smaller personal scale. It just jumps from one location/section to the next.

Even after the movie clears its very awkward first 10 minutes, the first half is pretty slow. It really picks up when Orm is brought into the plot, and it becomes a buddy team up movie with him and Aquaman. From that point it was more consistently entertaining. Something I appreciated about the first Aquaman was its sincerity. It would’ve been easy to make fun of itself considering the silliness, and it walks the fine line between taking itself too seriously and not taking itself seriously enough. The first movie is pretty balanced on this, The Lost Kingdom however tips towards the latter a bit too much. Still, I suppose it’s nice seeing a comic book movie committed to its goofiness. The humour was hit or miss in the first movie and it’s more miss than hit in the sequel. You don’t really need to stay for the mid credits scene, but it is sort of funny if you consider how it’s technically the ending of the DCEU, though the pre credits ending scene isn’t much better. Considering all the reshoots, they easily could’ve ended things on a satisfying note, for the franchise and the characters. But instead, much like The Flash movie, it added jokes at the end and called it a day.

Jason Momoa returns as Aquaman/Arthur Curry, and while I liked him in his precious appearances, his charisma just isn’t as entertaining as before, and is more patience trying in this movie. Patrick Wilson as Orm is one of the best parts of the last movie, and it’s the same here. He was the villain of the last movie, and in this is teaming up with Aquaman. It’s a shame that it takes the movie 40 minutes to bring him in, considering that this is when the movie picks up. He nails the drama and even the comedy better, definitely one of the highlights. Momoa and Wilson share a lot of good chemistry together, and that carries much of the movie. Other actors like Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren and Randall Park are good in their parts.

Much has been debated about Amber Heard’s screentime here, and how much of a role she was originally going to have. After watching the movie, I couldn’t tell for certain whether she originally had a much larger role and much of her scenes were cut out, or if she originally had 5 minutes of screentime before reshoots slightly increased the number of her scenes.  Either way, it’s clear that her role was notably reduced, no doubt because of the Heard and Johnny Depp trial, the studio (and possibly filmmakers) in a cowardly move lessened her role. While she does has a notable enough part in the movie, she’s not given many lines, and most of her scenes relegates her to hovering while the other characters do all the talking. At least there was more of her than I was expecting, and she has some great action moments. But considering how key she is to Aquaman (being the co-lead in the last movie), she should’ve had a more involved part. Finally, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II reprises his role as Black Manta, who was a supporting antagonist in his last appearance, but is now the main villain. He gets to shine more here, and Yahya thankfully plays up the hammy and villainous aspect, making him entertaining and in sync with the occasionally cheesy tone. Despite this, the plot somehow finds a way to undermine his character, specifically with his motivations.

James Wan’s direction was one of the highlights of the previous movie, and while his stylish flair is very present in the sequel, it does feel a little watered down. Rewatching the first Aquaman, I found that the visuals were a little inconsistent. Some of the CGI scenes are gorgeous, and others were very off. The sequel is even worse in that case, in some moments it surpasses the first movie, at other points the visuals just look unfinished (the very first shot of Jason Momoa being an example). One thing you could at least say about the first movie is that there were a variety of locations, the sequel doesn’t have as interesting locations unfortunately. Thankfully the action is still very entertaining and kinetic as expected, with the dynamic camerawork and creative moments. I also appreciate the little moments of horror that Wan injected here, like he did in the first film. Rupert Gregson-Williams’s score for the first Aquaman was great, epic, triumphant and memorable, and thankfully he returns to deliver some more solid themes in the sequel.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is uneven, messy, visually inconsistent, and isn’t as good as the previous movie. However, it is still generally entertaining, helped by the action and style. With this movie, the DCEU doesn’t end with a bang or a whimper, but rather a shrug. If it’s any consolation, it’s not among the worst of the DCEU nor the worst of 2023’s comic book movies. You probably won’t get anything out of this movie if you didn’t like the first one. Otherwise, it’s an enjoyable enough standalone sci-fi action adventure superhero flick that you’ll probably forget about within a month.