Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

When an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation.

  • Released: 2023-03-16
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
  • Stars: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Kidman, Pilou Asbæk, Randall Park, Dolph Lundgren, Indya Moore, Jani Zhao, Vincent Regan, Amber Heard, Jason Momoa, Nicole Kidman, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck
  • Director: James Wan
 Comments
  • Hughmanity - 1 June 2024
    Pleasantly surprised, better than some recent MCU movies
    Movies are sometimes a function of expectations and I watched this one on Max after it had already been panned so I had low expectations going in. Guess what? I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it on a pure entertainment level.

    It had a decent story about two brotherly rivals coming together, it built on the Atlantean lore and had some good if campy laughs from Jason Momoa. The underwater effects ranged from very good to a jumbled mess at times, but there were some entertaining action moments and at least it was different from the usual CGI punchfests on land.

    I would rank this ahead of some of the more recent MCU films like The Marvels which was beyond terrible, and Quantumania which just didn't do it for me. This movie wasn't perfect and was predictable at times with a generic villain motivation, "you killed my dad so I'm going to kill everyone!" But it was enough for me to give it a 7/10 and it was worth the watch.
  • Mike_Devine - 18 May 2024
    Like watching someone open a can of tuna
    2018's 'Aquaman' was actually not all that bad, as it introduced audiences to the endless possibilities of a superhero story set in large part underwater. The follow-up, 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,' lacks the originality of the original and sinks due to its lack of a passable script.

    It's unfair to have expected this sequel to be anywhere close to its predecessor, but 'Kingdom' is painfully bad. The awkward duo of Jason Momoa as Arthur and Patrick Wilson as Orm just doesn't work in a comedic way, unlike the arch enemy way from the first installment. This dynamic really impacts the overall mood of the film and makes it feel like unserious in a 'Thor' kind of way. It just comes off as a totally different film than the previous one.

    There's also the small detail of Amber Heard reprising her role as Mera (couldn't they have written her out of this one), and Nicole Kidman probably could have skipped this one. The only actor who seemed to understand the assignment was Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, as he matches the ferocity that he brought to 'Aquaman' as the semi-scary Black Manta.

    If you're a "DCEU completist" and feel the need to watch this, be my guest. But if not, there's no real point to taking this journey under the sea.