Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is an underwater thrill ride with great character moments and action. While it lacks a strong thematic drive and compelling focus, it’s still a super entertaining final entry to the DCEU.
The story follows Arthur Curry raising his family while teaming up with his brother Orm to defeat Black Manta, who is out for revenge against him.
The film takes us back to the underwater world of Atlantis with an electric neon blue colour scheme that pops on the big screen. The underwater scenes feel so natural and are a testament to how jard the VFX team has nailed the visual language of Atlantis.
James Wan delivers explosive, immersive action sequences once again with huge set pieces that are weird and unique, right out of a comic book world.
The strongest parts of the story feel like a heist movie with Orm and Arthur having a hilarious and heartfelt dynamic as brothers. The script incorporates some strong emotional moments alongside thrilling as they try to navigate through the clues and find help they need to save the day. Where the first Aquaman benefitted from being a romance story, this one is a story of brotherly love and setting aside differences to come together.
Our villain here feels powerful and intimidating in Black Manta, and this is helped by a strong performance from Yayha Abdul Mateen II. However the script doesn’t offer a compelling motivation for this antagonist. Despite a classic revenge motive, the psyche of the villain throughout the film is never delved into much. He doesn’t have depth, or feel any struggle. Sadly, he is quickly forgettable.
An underlying thematic element in the film is the effects of climate change on the planet. While the message was welcome and relevant, it wasn’t offered any nuance. There was opportunity here for a political discussion on the tensions that Aquaman would feel, as protector of the seas, against selfish humans who are destroying the planet. Instead, the film drops quick references throughout to global warming, and nothing more.
Sadly, this isn’t the only opportunity the film misses. Aquaman being given a family and newborn child is hardly dealt with. The notion of a superhero being a father is a compelling one, especially since we haven’t seen it on-screen much at all. The film mostly treats this plot elements as discardable and unimportant to its themes. Any ideas of struggling to balance family life with super-heroics are forgotten all for it to feel like a pointless addition in the first place.
Despite this, Aquaman 2 was still an entertainment film and a worthwhile watch as the final entry in the DCEU.
Thanks to Universal Pictures Australia and Warner Bros. Pictures Australia for hosting the Sydney Premiere of the film.
