★★1/2 (out of 5)
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has lost nearly everything that made the first movie enjoyable. Sure, it has its moments, but overall it is a disaster of a movie. I didn’t mind the first movie, but with this one, it’s like they forgot how they made it. It’s pure visual noise - a dumb, forgettable, “kitchen-sink” kind of movie that lacks substance. Aquaman 2 suffers from nearly every issue currently plaguing the superhero genre, such as an over-reliance on goofy comedy, a weak script with a bland, campy narrative, a forgettable villain, a lack of emotional stakes, iffy CGI, an overuse of needle drops, little to no character development, appalling dialogue, a rushed story that prioritizes action/spectacle and doesn’t even take itself seriously. The film just has no dignity - doing whatever it can for a cheap laugh or what it thinks is a cool moment in the way we’ve seen Thor: Love and Thunder and Quantumania do — even ending with a joke version of the “I am Iron Man” moment. It was just way too silly and goofy, never feeling tonally like a DC or Aquaman movie should. Instead, it plays like a cartoonish family-friendly adventure film like Jumanji or Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. I didn’t even find it that much fun. The highlight of the film is easily Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson’s chemistry, as seeing Arthur and Orm in a sort of buddy road-trip movie was enjoyable, but even Momoa drove me nuts at times - way overdoing it and playing himself rather than Aquaman. Wilson was easily the MVP of the movie but was so underutilized. I did like the attempt to have a message about climate change and pollution/emissions, but I didn’t think it hit as hard as it should/could have. James Wan again goes hard for the film’s action scenes with some dynamic camerawork but this was trite, bland, and visually ugly to look at. Ultimately this movie is an underwhelming mess. I feel sad for the movie and for the people involved as it has no dignity and ends up being laughable. So much for a grand finale to the DCEU - instead, this was embarrassing. It isn’t completely unwatchable, just not good and not that much fun. Full of cliches and wasted potential. But hey, it was better than The Flash — even if it does make Quantumania look like Citizen Kane… what a terrible end to an already bad year for superhero films. Should’ve been called Aquaman and the Lost Screenplay.
Goodbye to the DCEU… despite some moments, I don’t think we’ll miss you. Now, onto the DCU in 2025… I really hope this time they get it all right!
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