By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
The DC Extended Universe comes to a merciful end with its 15th and final film. No amount of CGI can cover up the fact that “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” exhibits inexcusably lazy writing, poor direction, and horrendous acting. Similar to “The Flash,” released earlier this year, this film is like an angler fish, its existence is known about but is too ugly to watch and belongs in the deepest and darkest depths of the ocean.
With his time and attention divided between two worlds, the land and the sea, Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), aka Aquaman, struggles managing his responsibilities as the new king of Atlantis. He and his wife Mera (Amber Heard) are also new parents to a baby boy, adding to his distractions. His enemies take advantage of these distractions, slowly regaining strength and power.
Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) has returned and is still on a quest for vengeance against the Atlantean king. He happens to discover a powerup in the form of a mythical black trident from a forgotten kingdom that makes him stronger than ever before. With the entire world under threat from a cataclysmic event Black Manta is preparing to unleash, Aquaman follows through with a prison break plot to free his brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to help him take down this dangerous villain.
Director James Wan creates a very formulaic, very predictable superhero movie that’s been done repeatedly. The unlikely pairing of the good brother with his disillusioned brother of questionable motives storyline was done to greater effect in “Thor: The Dark World.” In fact, Aquaman even calls his brother Loki at one point, making the correlation that much more obvious. Then there’s the subplot of Atlantis and its politicians not wanting to reveal themselves or their technology to humans, sound familiar? That’s right, the exact same premise was prevalent in “Black Panther.” There is a complete lack of originality to be had from start to finish. Even the villain is a retread from the first movie.
The Australian director who helmed the first “Aquaman,” but is best known for his work in the horror genre with incredible films like “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2,” tries to incorporate some scare tactics in this film. However, they fall completely flat with the silly costuming and overused CGI that turns the film into more of a colorful, cartoonish spectacle than anything else. Wan ignores common sense logic with his created scenes, particularly in the climactic moments of the film that contradict the characters’ dialogue, sparking plot holes and gaffs in continuity.
The cast does very little to provide a semblance of entertainment with the poorly written dialogue they were given. Jason Momoa is the slight exception, providing some comical ad lib insults and casual banter that helps lighten the mood and generate occasional half-hearted chuckles. His schtick is starting to wear thin, however, as reports of his on-set intoxication and seemingly slurred speech at times does nothing to dissuade viewers from the perception of this production being a complete mess. Riding a glowing seahorse and constantly screaming out his version of yeehaw does not really help.
Momoa’s alleged attempt to get co-star Amber Heard fired should have been successful, because her performance was absolutely dreadful. Her line delivery might as well have been from a teleprompter, that’s how ineffectual and emotionless it was. Hopefully her appearances are limited to CourtTV from here on out.
The rest of the supporting cast does nothing to improve the poorly written dialogue. Nicole Kidman and Patrick Wilson also reprise their roles from the first movie and are utterly pointless, offering no depth to their characters and simply going through the motions. Dolph Lundgren’s robotic line delivery and minimized stiff movement is what one might expect from someone in a full body cast. Cheesy one-liners only add to the shameful display.
Another comic book movie, another dumpster fire. If the behind-the-scenes drama and reshoots weren’t enough of a red flag for you to stay away from this film, then let the ridiculousness of the product itself dissuade you from wasting time and money. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” goes belly up and is second only to “The Flash” as the worst superhero movie of the year.
This movie earns:
