AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM 😊

Before I dive into my review of AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM, I want to say that my movie-going experience was a 🤩, and the movie itself was a 🤮, which is how I got to this middle-of-the-road rating. Most of the time, I’d rate a film purely based on it alone, but most of the time I do not get to enjoy a movie with family members I only see once or twice a year. Was our theatre incredible? No. The seats needed updating, and the sound and screen were middling at best. But it was a massive theatre with hardly anyone at 8:30 pm on opening night. So I got to sit next to a family member and say things like, “Who’s voice is that?” and we didn’t bother anyone. We got to eat a huge popcorn and laugh at moments that were supposed to be serious, and you can’t put a price tag on that. 

So what’s to like about AQUAMAN 2? A celephod (aka Octopus) named Topo a long-time favorite from the comics. Topo provides a good amount of laughs throughout the movie, some possibly unintentional. Octopi are already known for being highly intelligent animals, but Topo takes it up a notch. Patrick Wilson’s return as Orm levitates in the film in ways it might not even deserve. Wilson is a better actor than Jason Momoa (Aquaman/Arthur Curry), and every scene with him in it is better because of him. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta is back, too, and he’s also great. His character (and Wilson’s) are given a silly script to work with, but he makes the most of it, even during otherwise stupid moments. Also, one of my favorite supporting actors from the MCU makes his DCEU debut in this in another supporting role. His arc is predictable, but he’s perfectly cast in this comedic action/adventure film. I hope you’ll be as happy to see him as I was. 

What doesn’t work about AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM? Just about everything else. There’s far more “tell” than “show” in a film that does show A LOT. Characters such as Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren) appear mainly to explain things to the audience, and unfortunately a big part of Wilson’s role is to explain things to the audience AND Aquaman. His presence adds a sweet, brotherly love vibe to the film, but Wilson is so strong that I wish he were the story’s focus instead of Aquaman.  

The underwater world that James Wan and the team have built is decent, albeit too over the top in special effects for me to ultimately work. The differences between this and, say AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER are substantial. It made me appreciate the detail James Cameron gives to his digital characters. They’re memorable as creatures, unlike those in the kingdom of Atlanta. The audience does not see the “lost kingdom” referenced in the title until late in the film. At that point, I wondered if any of the places within Atlanta that we had already visited were that kingdom itself. But the film does finally spell it out by saying “We’re going to the LOST KINGDOM”. Yes, it’s completely on the nose, but I’d almost forgotten what this movie was about at that point. Hera (Amber Heard) isn’t a huge part of the movie, but we’re told time and time again that she and Arthur are in love. We do get to see Aquaman act on the love that he says he has for her, but their chemistry is terrible. Wilson and Momoa have more chemistry and they’re playing brothers.  

Throughout the film, it never felt like anything real was at stake. This is a common complaint in superhero stories featuring a multi-verse. There’s none of that here. Yes, there is drama, and Black Manta still has a massive chip on his shoulder from the first film, but AQUAMAN 2 had plenty of opportunities to be more dramatic, darker, and lay into our emotions, and it never does. And I don’t mean Zack Snyder “darker” either. Just give us some depth. Make me care about whether a hero lives or dies. 

I can’t figure out what’s happening with Momoa in this film. I can’t tell if his heart isn’t into it, or maybe he’s so into it that it’s hurting the movie. He’s credited as a script co-writer, and maybe the producers gave him too much creative input. The character of Aquaman has been called “unserious” for decades thanks to goofy art depicting him riding his seahorse Storm, but this DCEU was supposed to change that. While AQUAMAN had heart and laughs, this loses a lot of the heart, and the laughs are often forced. Plus, there’s so much terrible dialogue. 

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM is playing exclusively in theatres, but if I were you, I’d wait until it inevitably hits MAX to stream.