With minimal press and a whimpering box office slate in 2023, Warner Bros / DC’s final entry into their shared universe repeats the same problems that led to such an abysmal state of affairs.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Directed by James Wan
Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Runtime: 2 hours, 4 mins
Synopsis
Arthur Curry / Aquaman (Momoa) deals with the everyday issues of running the kingdom of Atlantis while an old foe in Black Manta (Abdul-Mateen) threatens to destroy everything he loves. Forced to team up with his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), Aquaman will track down an ancient kingdom that reveals Manta’s newfound power and goals for domination, and how to stop him.
Unbelievably Boring
In the first Aquaman (2018), despite the plot being fairly predictable and middle of the road, there were some great action set pieces. Particularly, the chase sequence between buildings in Sicily that weaves a floating camera between windows, alleys, and rooftops as Momoa and Heard run around stood out as superb. It really showcased Wan’s eye for developing an action scene that was distinct from his work in the horror genre (series including Conjuring, Annabelle, and The Nun to name a few) and showed his action work in Furious 7 (2015) wasn’t a fluke.
None of those accolades can be applied here.
The fights were fairly pedestrian, with perhaps the finale fight standing out only for including the key characters in a final bout, not for its creativity and ingenuity. None of the amazing fight choreography and pacing from the first film can be seen, almost like the cast and choreographer phoned this one in because the writing was on the wall for the DCEU. But action, despite how gaudy or spectacular a director may make it, will always fall flat if there’s no story to resonate with.
Every comment, story, social media ribbing that I’ve seen surrounding this film asks a similar question…
Why Are We Here?
It’s no secret that DC’s movie universe hasn’t exactly won the hearts and minds of its fan base or the general public. Aside from a few recent hits with Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022) and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021), Warner Bros has largely been trudging on like there haven’t been large swaths of problematic behavior, either from Joss Whedon’s toxic takeover on the Justice League (2017) reshoots, Snyder fans bullying Warner Bros executives into giving them a Justice League-version (2021) that never existed, or those same executives forcing every film onto then HBO Max (now just Max) without consulting a single director or production team.
And that’s just what happened before 2023…
Shazam: Fury of the Gods woefully underperformed the promise its debut film showed, The Flash should have never been released given the accusations and police reports on Ezra Miller’s erratic behavior, and while Blue Beetle was the strongest of the bunch, WB so thoroughly botched the marketing that few people knew it was coming out (along with the actor’s strike preventing its key stars from helping promote it).
Credit: Warner Bros / DC
Even the prior billion dollar success that Aquaman experienced couldn’t save it from all of these issues.
And maybe…just maybe… if the story was good, we could have found something to enjoy or dissect. But unfortunately, none of that can be found here. The story feels like elements of other large world building stories you’ve seen before that were done much better. Films like Black Panther (2018) and Wonder Woman (2017) come to mind immediately and even if there might be issues with their sequels, those were generally more enjoyable experiences than the canned story we received here.
To be clear, there is definitely the makings of a story that should have worked.
Aquaman dealing with the aftermath of taking the throne could have been compelling, but it expounds on the weakest elements of the previous movie. His desire to be king wasn’t really fleshed out in the previous film, but the other elements like the action and supporting character dynamics won the day. However with Lost Kingdom, when we need to understand why Arthur Curry would want to defend the same nation he’s barely grown up in or wanted to be apart of, it feels bizarre spending so much time there. Since I invoked Black Panther, there’s a great scene between T’Challa and various members of the Wakanda that make it very apparent why he would risk his life to save the people. Even if we see more of the royal family than the actual populace, we get the sense that he’s fighting for more than just them. Diana / Wonder Woman may not regularly go back to her home island to defend it, but we understand her desire to help humanity, at least in the first film, is rooted in a sense of naiveity that dissolves as she becomes disillusioned by the horrors of World War I. Both of those examples were more engrossing than anything you’ll hope for with Aquaman.
Credit: Warner Bros / DC
Black Manta could also been more compelling, especially given the revenge plot that the previously film established when Arthur refused to save his villainous father. Now, Abdul-Mateen does a fantastic job with what he’s given, but since there’s little interactions between him and Momoa as a result of the plot…the strong reactions or fights we would expect between the two simply isn’t there or never materializes. This isn’t like Killmonger and T’Challa having words in the throne room or Loki and Thor having their many heart to hearts that may inevitably result in a betrayal or timely assist. The chemistry either isn’t there or isn’t given a chance to blossom, which is truly a shame for two great actors. Momoa just came off a great villain performance earlier in 2023 for Fast and the Furious 10, so it’s baffling to think that these two didn’t get a chance to truly ramp the energy up.
Credit: Warner Bros / DC
The one bright spot is between Arthur and Orm (Wilson); once they retrieve Orm from his imprisonment, but the middle portion of the film really starts to pick up. Wilson and Momoa have some genuine chemistry playing half-brothers, and while it’s eventually marred by too many head scratching plot decisions, they come out looking as the strongest connection this film can muster.
Conclusion / Recommendation
Without the partially-developed, connective tissue seen across various DCEU projects or a strong vision from James Wan and crew, Aquaman flounders and revels in it’s failure and hopes we won’t notice how much Warner Bros wants this era of their superhero legacy to be over. And mercifully, it finally is.
Avoid it. I could say more, but the diehards have likely already given this film their time and dollars and you have better things to do today.
Score: 4 out of 10
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