REVIEW: ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ Gets Lost at Sea as the Final Movie in the DCEU
Jason Mamoa returns as Aquaman in Warner Bros. final installment in the “current” DC Extended Universe, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In the new movie, Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman is now King of Atlantis. Though that is not his only title. He is also a husband, having married Mera (Amber Heard), and a father to their son, Arthur Jr. As Arthur attempts to juggle his many titles, a new threat begins to reveal itself. David Kane, aka Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), has returned and has set his sights on destroying Arthur and his family. Alongside scientist Stephen Shin (wonderfully played by Randall Park), the two seek out any, and all Atlantean artifacts that will assist in the Curry family’s demise. When Kane comes across the mysterious Atlantean black trident, he quickly becomes possessed by the spirit of Kordax, a former member of the Atlantean Royal Family, that lives within the trident. With the spirit guiding him, Kane and his team begin stealing the hidden reserves of orichalcum, which when used properly, will emit dangerous levels of greenhouse gases all over the world. As these gases rise, global warming increases significantly, weather across the world has become unstable, and the ice caps are melting at a rapid pace, including those that are currently keeping Kodax captive. To prevent the destruction of his family, Atlantis, and the surface world, Arthur enlists the help of his exiled brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), to stop Kane, and Kordax, before it is too late.
As the final movie in “current” DC Extended Universe, I had hoped that the cast and crew would have put a little more effort into their creation, but I was wrong. It was as if the whole team phoned it in. Screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick wrote a film that essentially was two different storylines fighting for the number one spot, instead of two storylines intertwining to create an overall good story. The first storyline focused on Arthur as a father and the second focused on Arthur as a brother, which on the surface seems like a good idea. But the stories never come together. There was never any connection between the two. It felt like I was watching two movies at the same time. Instead, Director James Wan jumped from scene to scene with no real direction. This may be because of all the reshoots the movie had to go through, or it could be because the team no longer cared.
The best part of the movie were the scenes that focused on the brothers. Mamoa and Wilson’s back-and-forth banter featured a number of laugh out loud moments. You could tell the two enjoyed playing alongside each other in this movie. Their witty dialogue also helped flesh out the characters’ storyline, but there wasn’t enough time spent on this storyline. This is the storyline the writers should have focused on rather than the father storyline. The father storyline didn’t have enough juice or emotion to it. I honestly believe this was the original storyline they wanted to tell, but with all of the reshoots required it was scrapped for the brother path. Which is a tad bit depressing, because when all was said and done, two characters were greatly underused, Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman’s character, Atlanna. Both could have been left out of the entire movie, and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Mamoa’s take on the Aquaman has never been an issue. He brings a gruff, but fun demeanor to a character that is rather serious in the DC comics series. He takes what was given to him in this movie and tries to make the best out of it, but in the end it isn’t enough. Aquaman and the Last Kingdom could have been a really good movie, but this version should have been released on MAX. It’s not worth the money, nor the time to see it in theaters. If you want to see the movie, wait until it is released to MAX in 2024.
Grade: D