Review for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Introduction

I think that this is it, the last movie in the DCEU, the fifteen interconnected movies set in the DC Comics universe, as envisaged by director Zach Snyder. Now the whole kit and caboodle has been rebooted as the DCU by James Gunn, and we’re going to get a new Superman in a year or so. Then again, the DCEU never really gained traction, loosely linked with not much in the way of narrative connectivity. It never really matched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which built such momentum on the road from Iron Man to Endgame that it would have been the most successful film franchise in cinema history if they had just stopped there. Alas, they’ve kept on making Marvel movies to diminishing returns, but that’s a story for the inevitable Deadpool and Wolverine movie review. This on the other hand is the second Aquaman movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and might just be the last time we see any of the DCEU characters.


Manta wants revenge on Aquaman, and on everyone he holds dear, but first he needs the technology to repair his suit. He’s hunting through the world looking for ancient Atlantean technology, but gets more than he bargained for when he discovers a dark trident. Five months later, the world is in trouble, global warming is racing out of control, and things look bleak both on land and sea. And when Aquaman learns that Manta is behind the theft of a stockpiled greenhouse gas emitting fuel source, he realises that he’ll have to turn to someone who knows Manta for help, his disgraced half-brother Orm.

The Disc

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom gets a 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p transfer on this disc. The blurb lists 1.85:1 but as always with Warners discs, it gets opened out to completely fill the 16:9 ratio. You also get the choice between Dolby Atmos English, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Spanish and Italian, and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English, and English Audio Descriptive. Once more, a Dolby Atmos track has a very low level setting, as played through my system, and I have to lift the volume way past the halfway point. Otherwise the audio is fine, the action immersive, the music suiting the story, and the dialogue mostly clear throughout. The image is clear and sharp, detail levels are good, and colours are rich and consistent. But the digital cinematography is apparent with some less than impressive contrast levels. The real problem however is that this film, even more so than the first Aquaman, is so reliant on CGI, that it mostly looks like a very expensive cartoon.

Extras

You get one disc in a thin BD Amaray style eco-case with holes in the plastic, wrapped in an o-card slipcover. The disc boots to a static menu. You’ll find the following extras.

Finding the Lost Kingdom (21:22)
Aquaman: Worlds Above and Below (9:38)
Atlantean Blood is Thicker Than Water (4:17)
It’s a Manta World (10:08)
Necrus: The Lost Black City (5:51)
Escape From the Deserter World (8:05)
Brawling at Kingfish’s Lair (4:07)
Oh, Topo! (2:12)

As I’ve mentioned before in other reviews, behind the scenes featurettes are just so dispiriting to watch these days, looking at seas of green.

Conclusion

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is better than the first film, but only marginally so. The first Aquaman was a bloated, overlong mess of a film that would have outstayed its welcome were it not for an endearing performance from star Jason Momoa, and a few other striking characters as well. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom kicks off in that same vein, with a morass of a first act that takes far too long to get to the point, and establish the direction and tone of the story. I think that this might be the first time I’ve been bored by the start of a comic book movie.


It was feeling much of a sameness with the first film, until the point where Aquaman Arthur Curry decides to break his half-brother Orm out of prison to help him defeat the bad guy. From this point, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom becomes an entertaining, funny and well-paced buddy movie, as these two characters go on a literal journey to save the world, and more importantly a figurative journey from abrasive antagonism to mutual respect and even affection. Given how Orm was the villain of the first film, it’s quite a redemptive arc, and a family reconciliation as well.


The film isn’t without its issues, not least that rather tedious opening. It doesn’t do some of the recurring characters justice. Willem Dafoe’s character has the temerity to die off screen in between movies, while Amber Heard’s character, Mera is actually in the film, but mostly as scenery. Given how she was at the heart of the first film, it seems like a snub. Also, it very much feels like there has been a conscious effort to divorce this film from the DCEU. It’s 20 minutes shorter than the first film, and I suspect whatever DC character cameos there were in the movie have been left on the cutting room floor.


I get the sense that the superhero/comic book movie cycle may be coming to a close at this point, or at least heading towards hibernation for a good while. At the very least, rather than getting them all as I have been doing the last few years, it’s the time to be more discriminating about which ones I watch. Then again, studios are being more discriminating too. There’s only one DC movie this year, the Joker sequel, and just the one MCU movie, the aforementioned Deadpool and Wolverine, as well as a couple Spiderverse films. And Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is typical of the genre output these days, films that fans watch simply through sheer inertia. It takes a while, but it gets fun in the end, but it’s not the kind of film that will make you more enthusiastic, or get new fans to start watching.