For the last 12 months, the outlook on the slate of DC Extended Universe releases has been what could be called nihilistic – and it’s perfectly understandable. James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new co-CEOs of DC Studios, kicked off the year by announcing that the franchise was starting up a whole new era, and while the intention was generating excitement for the future, it also had the effect of rendering DC’s 2023 blockbusters as part of the past. David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, Andy Muschietti’s The Flash, Angel Manuel Soto’s Blue Beetle all arrived in theaters and audiences didn’t particularly care. Despite strong qualities in each, none managed to generate buzz, and die-hards have disengaged without the ability to meaningfully speculate about the future.
Release Date: December 22, 2023
Directed By: James Wan
Written By: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick
Starring: Jason Momoa, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, Martin Short and Dolph Lundgren
Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some language
Runtime: 124 minutes
That strange journey finally brings us to James Wan’s Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, which seems destined to become an oddity in blockbuster history. It was merely five years ago that its predecessor debuted in theaters worldwide, and it continues to reign as the big box office hit ever made based on DC Comics; now, it’s sequel appears ready to follow suit with the disappointing big screen runs of the last three DC releases. It’s a wild contrast that should fascinate industry nerds for years.
As such, it perhaps would feel more poetic if the movie were truly awful, or conversely, it might have been cool to see the DCEU go out with a big bang of excellence. Instead, it’s just another one of the many middle-of-the-road superhero features we’ve seen thus far in the 2020s. The talented cast successfully keeps the audience engaged, with the chemistry between Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson being a particular highlight, but it’s also so overstuffed with all-CGI chase and battle sequences that they eventually become monotonous – which doesn’t do any favors for the final hero/villain showdown.
Picking up in the wake of the first film, the story finds Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman (Jason Momoa) dealing with two major life changes, as he is a first-time parent with Mera (Amber Heard) and constantly stressed/bored serving his role as the king of Atlantis. Garnering a great deal of his attention is a widespread illness in the seven undersea kingdoms that is caused by rising ocean temperatures, and it’s discovered that the root of everything is a sinister effort fueled by the use of a destructive element called orichalcum.
The individual behind this sinister plot is none other than David Hyde a.k.a. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Since being rescued adrift at sea by Randall Park’s Dr. Stephen Shin (See: the Aquaman mid-credits scene), the two men have worked together to try and find Atlantis – with Black Manta’s aim being to kill Aquaman and everyone he loves in revenge for the death of his father. During a research mission, Manta discovers a broken legendary weapon known as the Black Trident, and we he assembles the two pieces, he brokers a deal with an ancient evil that offers to aid him in killing the movie’s titular hero in exchange for help escaping from an icy tomb where he has been imprisoned for centuries.
Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson make a fun duo in the two-hander adventure.
In order to find and stop Black Manta, Aquaman turns to the one person he knows who has had dealings with the villain in the past, his imprisoned brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), and this activates what turns out to be the best aspect of Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. The attempt at a Romancing The Stone vibe didn’t quite connect due to the lacking vibes between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, Momoa and Wilson have a classic Type A/Type B dynamic that serves the film well. Their antagonistic relationship in Aquaman didn’t allow that blockbuster to fully take advantage, but the sequel plays with an intriguing dynamic between them – both in that they have an unnurtured sibling bond as half-brothers and in that they have opposite view points on the Atlantean throne.
The evolving rapport between Aquaman and Orm ends up being its greatest strength, as it’s engaging to see them begin to accept each other’s viewpoints and mature as a result. Momoa and Wilson also prove to have matching comedic timing, with the latter regularly proving to be an enjoyable straight man opposite his scene partner.
The action in Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom ends up being overwhelming and lacks the flair one expects from James Wan.
The character work in Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is solid – and the film’s biggest flaw is the impression delivered that James Wan and screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick didn’t have enough confidence in it. Rather than ever letting us really sit with the heroes and villains, the movie seems to play to the lowest common denominator in regards to audience attention spans. I can’t say for certain because I wasn’t constantly checking my watch throughout my screening, but it certainly feels like no more than 10 minutes ever goes by without a fight breaking out or the protagonists fleeing from extreme danger.
It runs out of steam long before the big third act chase/battle, and while volume is definitely an issue, it’s also notable that the film doesn’t feature the same kind of visual panache as Aquaman. Reflecting on James Wan’s first comic book blockbuster, there are some brilliant long takes as the characters fight on rooftops in Sicily and chilling terror in the encounter with the monsters of The Trench, but there is ultimately only one scene in Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom that stands out with that kind of energy (a trident duel between Aquaman and Black Manta, which is awesome but far too brief).
There is some imaginative design work but simply too much VFX in Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom.
A significant part of the problem is an over-reliance on CGI. Aesthetically overall, there is some stellar design work in the world-building and props, and one can certainly appreciate the visual effects work that brings to life strange undersea characters like Storm the seahorse and Topo the cephalopod, but much of the film also feels artificial. Strides have been made, but as seen earlier this year with the live-action Little Mermaid, the industry still isn’t at a point where characters can be realistically featured “underwater” when water isn’t used on set. (James Cameron seems to be the only person in the industry who recognizes this).
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is not bad, but it is messier than desirable. It’s a strange title as the final chapter of the DC Extended Universe, and neither an argument for the canon to continue nor evidence of why the coming reboot is necessary. It’s a mediocre addition to 21st century comic book movies, and while it’s difficult to totally dismiss or hate, it is certainly underwhelming.
