The DC movie Aquaman finally has a sequel in the form of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which swam its way into theaters five years after the original was released. However, many fans are unsure if they want to see the latest Aquaman movie or not, considering that this is the last movie in the DC Extended Universe, a DC attempt to have a cinematic universe like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but was ultimately canceled after receiving poor reviews from fans. Despite this, is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom worth seeing?
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom picks up where the original Aquaman movie ended. Arthur Curry, played by Jason Momoa and commonly known as Aquaman, has claimed his birthright and become King of Atlantis after defeating his evil brother, Orm, played by Patrick Wilson. Now, Aquaman has married his lover, Mera, played by Amber Heard, and has had a child with her, Arthur Junior.
Everything is going perfectly for King Arthur, even if he finds the job of being King quite mundane. That is, until global warming threats begin to make a dangerous impact on Atlantis and the rest of the ocean. To figure out the cause of the increased global temperature, Aquaman must take a closer look at his enemy, Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
Black Manta has hated Aquaman ever since he killed his father. Since then, Black Manta has made it his mission to kill Aquaman and everyone he loves. After finding the Black Trident, Black Manta uses its power to speed up global warming to plague Atlantis with disease from ocean acidity. With the help of his formerly evil brother, Orm, Aquaman must take down his enemy and prevent Atlantis from crumbling.
While the concept might sound good, there are a few issues with the execution of the movie. For starters, many fans have been mocking the CGI featured in the film. After a beautifully shot underwater movie like Avatar: The Way of Water, a mediocre attempt at underwater CGI is a lot more obvious than it used to be. Despite this, the film still has some beautiful scenes; some scenes just didn’t get the same treatment.
Another issue fans have with the movie is the lack of the female main character, Mera. While Mera had a crucial role in the original Aquaman movie, her role in the latest one has been considerably reduced. With the court trials between Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp, DC made the executive decision to reduce the screen time Heard’s character has in the movie. Going from the warrior queen and main character in the first movie to a side character with barely any lines or screen time besides with her child, had many fans confused.
Without trying to spoil anything, an upset I had with the film was the ending. I was enjoying the story thus far into the film and was disappointed with how abrupt the ending felt. Plenty of movies recently have been on the longer side, and I genuinely believe that if the film makers gave the ending scene even just another five minutes it would be beneficial.
Despite the issues, there were still good aspects to this movie. The reluctant teamwork between Aquaman and Orm was humorous to watch as their relationship changed from hating each other to finally being the brothers Aquaman always wished they could be.
Jason Mamoa’s onscreen presence and overall charisma really portray Aquaman beautifully in a way that not many other actors could have while Patrick Wilson does an amazing job illustrating the internal battle Orm faces to trust his older brother or not. Both actors really shone throughout the film unlike any of the others.
To conclude, I did not find Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to be a bad movie like how I originally predicted it to be. In fact, I will say that I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to. Sure, it wasn’t the highest stakes superhero movie with the greatest visuals of all time, but it was humorous and something I wouldn’t mind spending another two hours watching again.
