Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

 Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

3/10

Starring

Jason Momoa

Patrick Wilson

Amber Heard

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

 

Directed by James Wan

 

I do not know what this film was meant to be, but 'interesting' is not one of its qualities. It is boring and very hard to enjoy, as the film itself seems to be breaking all forms of continuity, and the story it is riding on seems half-baked.

Time wasted on building a brotherly bond, jokes that never seem to land, and the film wants so badly to be an action-fantasy comedy, but the comedy makes you yawn in disappointment.

I felt the first Aquaman (2018) was okay, but this sequel is boring to the max, and you can see very much that they cut off Mera (Amber Heard) out of the film as much as they could.

Jason Momoa's lack of comedy awareness or good landing is more of a problem with the writing than the actor himself. I have never been able to see him do comedy well, but when the story and crafting are well done, and all he needs to do is deliver the lines, he should be able to get it right.

The film starts with Arthur Curry (Aquaman, played by Jason Momoa) trying to live a normal human life as a father. Spending half his time on land and the other half running Atlantis as their king. We then see David Kane, who is trying to get himself together, fix the Black Manta armored suit, and go after Arthur in revenge for his father in Aquaman (2018).

David’s quest leads him to discover a trident that was crafted by the king of the lost kingdom. The trident overpowers David’s will, and even though killing Arthur and his family is still the focus of David, the trident wants to use this goal to free the king and the people of the lost kingdom.

This is the 15th and final film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). As Warner is planning a reboot of the entire franchise, which will be run by James Gunn, it will be called the DC Universe (DCU), which will kick off with Superman: Legacy in 2025

I wonder how the new DC Universe will play out with reboots of all the characters, and we can see if James Gunn can create around him a team that will match what Marvel has created in the MCU. I do not have that much faith in their capabilities, but I am very curious to see the films of the new universe.