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Jason Momoa looks like he is having a ball in Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom, and not in a good way, while Patrick Wilson's performance comes out as confusing as the premise of the movie.
Aquaman 2 is a simple movie with plot complexity that drops to Fast and Furious levels, with great fight moves and clever technology
The Plot of Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom
The plot of the movie revolves around Arthur Curry failing to kill the Big Bad the first time around, so Black Manta comes back to kill Aquaman. That's it - that's the whole plot. Everything else is just good CGI and tech concepts that might be commercially viable.
You'd think that the Snyder cut would have rubbed off on the quality of DCEU movies, but that day is nowhere in sight.
It feels like they have taken elements from these movies and stitched them together:
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island: The Lost Kingdom that Arthur and his brother Orm discover looks a lot like another movie's description of Atlantis. While this tracks on a few levels it does feel a bit hacky duplicating aesthetics from another movie.
Orm's look while being imprisoned in the Fisherman's Kingdom reminds us of Hephaestus in The Wrath of the Titans (2012)
Callbacks from Aquaman with him showing off his glinting trident and walking up from the ocean.
There are a few self-aware jabs about Arthur calling Orm Loki and even referencing their situation as that compared to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The tired trope of estranged siblings coming together to save the world is so old that it is ridiculous. What could have been done better is the execution of this trope of brothers teaming up - it doesn't feel earned.
Not a single conflict and barely any friction, it's like both know they are in a movie and aim to fall in asap. The humor is a bit forced and cliched but it is enjoyable nevertheless. Orm does not undergo any real organic growth and is just happy going along with everyone's plan.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II shines as the Big Bad in this uninspired installment of the Ocean Dweller. He shows his acting range in this sequel and a whole bunch of cool ancient tech that he discovers with the help of a captive scientist.
The Black/Green Trident is kinda badass, but by this time I think we as DC fans are all speared out of our Trident interest levels. How many Tridents are you going to bring out to make up for a lack of plot devices?
At the end, Black Manta tries to play out a global warming effect with the help of a special fuel named Orichalcum. A very lazy reference to fossil fuels makes you wonder who approved such screenplay and writing.
The Fictional Technology in Aquaman 2
The technology part of Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom was pretty cool when David Kane/Black Manta discovered ancient propulsion mechanisms.
The octopod that Black Manta uses is a really cool amphibian craft that can propel itself underwater as easily as it can in the air. The way the flexible octo propellers spin underwater and operate in the air is really interesting.
You can use directionally strengthened composites coupled with aluminum alloy to achieve such propulsion with noise dampeners to fabricate these fictional vessels.
The fight moves in this movie are exceptional where both sides use fancy footwork, jetpacks, canons, and more to land punches and kicks. Such clever fight choreography could be done more instead of the poor jokes they attempted.
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Should You Watch It? Yes, but don't expect much
Aquaman 2 is great to watch for the amazing visuals, fictional propulsion tech, and the occasional poor joke. What you won't get is a mind-blowing plot, significant character development or any deeper meaning to the plot.
Watch this for fun! Check all other expectations at the door.
