We Finally Have Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom: A Review
It was a bumpy ride but, at long last, we finally have James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) may have taken his place as King of Atlantis, but the lingering threat of Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) means he must team up with estranged brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to protect the Seven Seas. Sounds like a great setup for another hilarious Thor: Ragnarok-esque sibling team-up, right?
Right! But not without a lot of caveats.
Cinematic Pace Issues
Sometimes, when a TV pilot doesn’t do its job of grabbing your attention, you’ll hear that you need to watch a few episodes before things get good. The first 30 to 45 minutes of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom are the cinematic equivalent of this phenomenon. Movies sometimes take a little while to get going, sure, but there’s a bit more than story issues going on here. The first Aquaman – and much of Lost Kingdom – works because while it’s not the best movie, Jason Momoa is having the time of his life so the audience has fun too. Let me tell you, it sure doesn’t feel like Momoa is having the time of his life in the first act.
Buddy Comedy Elements
Once you get past that first slog, though, things get fun for a stretch. Orm and Arthur have the exact begrudging brothers dynamic you’d expect, which yields quite a few funny moments thanks to Wilson and Momoa’s onscreen rapport. They’re the heart here, as was Wan’s intent from the beginning. None of this comes at the expense of Amber Heard’s Mera – she has a smaller role to play because Lost Kingdom is more buddy comedy than rom-com, but she’s still a key player in the story alongside Nicole Kidman’s Atlanna.
Storytelling and Visual Wonders
At the risk of beating the dead seahorse of The Lost Kingdom’s early struggles: Atlanna’s story is done in a way that left me questioning whether or not I was misremembering the end of Aquaman and she had simply chosen the sea over Arthur’s father, Thomas (Temuera Morrison). She didn’t, they’re still very much in love, but Atlanna and Tom’s story is one of several casualties of what I can only assume were late-in-the-game story adjustments despite The Lost Kingdom’s focus on family. Arthur and Mera, surprisingly, do not fall into this same trap, which only goes to highlight that a few establishing shots go a long way toward ensuring your audience understands a relationship while still allowing both characters to act independently without confusion.
…
It’s to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s credit that it has no interest in saying farewell to its own shared universe, a continuity that began with Man of Steel in 2013 and draws to a close with this movie in 2023. In fact, it mostly just farts at the DCEU on its way out the door. Say what you will about what this now-concluded chapter in DC cinematic history deserves or doesn’t, Arthur Curry going out on his own terms with a complete disinterest in wHaT iT aLl MeAnS fOr ThE fRaNcHiSe is both incredibly on-brand and objectively funny.