Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Review

“Four years ago, I was basically unemployed, a wanderer with no home. But now I'm a husband, and a father and I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh yeah, I finally got a job. I'm the King of Atlantis!”

– Arthur Curry (Aquaman)

What a difference four years makes. Not only to the character of Aquaman as the quote above shows, but in the real-life events surrounding this film. Obviously, the world pandemic of 2020 put everything on hold, so we’ve had to wait four long years for this sequel, but there are also two other factors, which are pretty depressing in their own way that put their own particular gloom on this film. So, before we head underwater, let’s address these.

I guess I’ll tackle the factor that seems to have a lot of people’s panties in a tightly knotted wad first. Amber Heard. Yes, I know she lost a court case to Johnny Depp (who on the planet doesn’t?) And I know there has been a petition from so-called fans demanding her removal from this movie. And I know that there are people who are boycotting this movie because she’s in it. My take on this is simple. Let’s separate fiction from reality. Whatever went on in the Depp/Heard household is between Depp and Heard. It’s no business of mine or anybody else’s. To avoid seeing a film you would otherwise see because of a performer’s private married life is almost as crazy as the deluded simpletons who think that sending a petition to Warner Brothers will cause the studio to backtrack on a casting decision and fire a contracted actress to please them. (Disney/Marvel’s decision with their firing of Jonathan Majors is completely different because his is a criminal case carrying with it a high possibility of jail time.)

Besides all of the above, as it happens, Amber Heard is hardly in the film. Not because of any toxic fan led demands, but because of the studio’s concerns going back to the first film and the lack of chemistry between Heard and Jason Momoa. She was always going to have a reduced role in this film because as much as the first was focussed on the relationship between Mera (Heard) and Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Momoa) this film concentrates more on an unlikely partnership between Aquaman and his scheming brother Orm (Patrick Sullivan). Ultimately, if you’re staying away from this because you object to Amber Heard, then you’re missing out on a very much on-form Jason Momoa having a lot of fun in his role. It’s your loss. (Before I leave this particular point, I can’t resist dropping in a bit of trivia. Back in the day, and I’m going back about fifteen years, I was head writer for GoreZone magazine which covered horror movies. A slasher movie was released called All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, and I interviewed the up-and-coming actress playing Mandy Lane in one of her first ever media interviews – Amber Heard. It’s a small world.)

Second depressing point incoming. This is the fifteenth and final film in DC’s Movie Universe. The movies that follow this will be part of a rebooted/restarted continuity with, I believe new actors. So, this is the last time we’ll ever see Jason Momoa in the role – and that saddens me almost as much as the grim realisation that in all probability, we’ll never see Gal Gadot as Diana/Wonder Woman again, or any of them. So long, Cavill, Affleck, Miller… it’s been awesome. No more Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Zach Levy is unlikely to utter the magic word again and my hopes for the Injustice League, Mr. Mind, the return of Linda Carter in a third Wonder Woman film have all flown south. I hope that what James Gunn, the showrunner for the future DC Universe will be worth the sacrifice.

A question I’ve been asking myself and have discussed with Steve over the past couple of years is “has the superhero bubble burst with the general public?” Since Covid, I know everything is just… different, but as well as dwindling box office receipts, the films themselves seem a little lacklustre. I’ve said before that Infinity War/Endgame from Marvel were genre highs that might well seem impossible to surpass, but that doesn’t mean the studios have to stop trying. Over the past twelve months, Marvel seems to have lost their way completely with both Quantumania and The Marvels being actually pretty boring for the most part despite the characters of Ant-Man and Captain Marvel being really engaging and interesting in their previous appearances. Even Guardians of the Galaxy, fun as they have been, was only adequate as the final part of the trilogy, perhaps because we knew there’d be no more.

Marvel have suffered from these doldrums far more severely than DC, who have at least managed to entertain us and given us some fun this year with Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the awesome The Flash and now Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to end the year with a flourish.

The first film, released at Christmas 2018 had a fairy tale vibe about it due in part to it being an origin story, a lighthouse keeper discovering an injured mermaid and so on. This one takes a different path, and plays like a buddy cop action comedy with the unlikely teaming of Aquaman with the one person who can help him, his evil brother Orm, the Ocean Master. But before we get there, what’s happened over the four years since we last visited Atlantis?

Well, Arthur and Mera have got married and now have a son. Arthur has accepted his role as King of Atlantis, but is bored because he can’t do what he wants. He has to sit and listen to the counsel of others and this is against his impulsive nature. Not to mention, it’s no fun. He seems to spend most of his time on the surface world with his father (Temura Morrison) who is a doting grandparent, along with Atlanna (Nicole Kidman). Orm has been rotting in prison, given only the bare minimum of water, essential to keep him just about alive and so severely weakened, he can just about stand.

So, what happens to make Aquaman break his brother out of prison and form an uneasy but comical alliance? The Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) has spent this time seething with boiling hatred, planning to make good on his vow to avenge his father, who was killed by Aquaman. He has sought the aid of Dr Stephen Shin (Randall Park) to seek out ancient Atlantean technology, and the element that powers them to aid his mission. The trouble is, the Atlanteans abandoned this element (called Orichalum) back in ancient times because its greenhouse gases raised the temperature of the planet, almost causing its destruction. Its use now by Black Manta is having the same effect, and threatens the existence of every living this on the planet – but the Black Manta just doesn’t care.

Films like this stand and fall not only on their main casting, and we can relax because both Momoa and Sullivan give their best performances to date (I’ve even forgiven Sullivan for those terrible Conjuring movies) – but they depend on their visual effects as well. And again, this film knocks it out of the park. Yes, there’ll be the naysayers who’ll say it’s basically a cartoon because of all the CGI – but until we can actually find a seahorse large enough for Jason Momoa to ride into battle, they’ll just have to settle for the awesomeness we see on screen.

For the final film review of the year, and the final multiplex visit of 2023 – this was a good one to go out on.

Rob Rating = 8