After failing to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta wields the power of the mythic Black Trident to unleash an ancient and malevolent force. Hoping to end his reign of terror, Aquaman forges an unlikely alliance with his brother, Orm, the former king of Atlantis. Setting aside their differences, they join forces to protect their kingdom and save the world from irreversible destruction.
Director: James Wan
Cast: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison, Randall Park
Release Date: December 22, 2023
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some language.
Runtime: 2h 4m
James Wan's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a goofy, lighthearted adventure that delivers plenty of well staged, CGI infused action sequences which keeps things entertaining but the cobbled together script keeps it from being truly fun. To his credit, Wan creates a large, expansive world as his heroes move from massive set pieces to another. He borrows from a bevy of sources such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings which gives the proceedings a familiar feel from the start. His visual flourishes create a rather kinetic feel to all the action which prove to be the high points of the film. The combination of advanced tech, mysticism, villainous underlings dressed in matching uniforms and large men in garishly designed costumes might make people of a certain age think they've accidently stumbled into a Masters of the Universe film. The whole film has a Saturday morning cartoon come to life feel which would be more fun if the script hadn't been so painfully hackneyed. The first movie was sophomoric fun with its brotastic humor but it was smart enough to give its stars time to add a little depth to their characters. That's all gone here as each character is stripped down its most basic, simplistic version of itself. Jason Momoa's oversized persona and charisma are what made this character work but he's strangely muted for the majority of the runtime. Pairing him with Patrick Wilson for a straight man/wild card pairing ala Men in Black or 48 Hours should work far better than it does. The pair's chemistry just never works which isn't helped by an unbaked script that gives them some painfully bad comedic exchanges. Wilson is surprisingly stiff for the better part of the film while Momoa just sort of seems happy to be there. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who was a surprisingly engaging villain in the original, suffers a similar fate with the script asking him to look intense but little more. The strange thing is that even with its faults, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a surprisingly breezy, easy to enjoy mindless bit of superhero fluff even with its two hours runtime but it could have been a proper send off for the Synderverse if there was more time and care put into the characters and script.
C+
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