Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

It has been ten years since Man of Steel, the first of what has since been called the DC Extended Universe, set off countless internet arguments with its debut. These arguments might finally subside now that the last DCEU film, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, has washed ashore into theatres after a heavily protracted production.

Or not...

Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa) was crowned King of Atlantis at the end of his last movie. He finds the political life boring, particularly with a ruling council who persistently overrule him, while he's in his element as a superhero and father. Meanwhile, David Kane/Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is still bitter over Arthur having left his dad, Jesse (Michael Beach in the last film), to die aboard the submarine they hijacked. He gets an evil Black Trident and invests in orichalcum, an ancient power source which accelerates global warming to ludicrous speed. Arthur decides to spring his half-brother and Kane's former collaborator, Orm (Patrick Wilson), from prison to help him stop the end of the world.

Oh yeah, wasn't there supposed to be a Lost Kingdom? It's in the title. Well, this Lost Kingdom is Necrus, a kingdom of undead merpeople ruled by Arthur's (several times) Great Grand Uncle, Kordax (Pilou Asbaek). It's his trident that Kane holds and is his conduit to talk to Kane. Kordax promises Kane awesome power if he releases him from his icy tomb. He just needs someone of royal Atlantean blood to sacrifice. So, global warming and fish zombies? What a mixture for our heroes to handle. Everybody got that?

I think I summarized all the essentials of this movie, which has four writers (including director James Wan and actual screenplay writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick) working on it. While Kordax's spirit appears throughout the film to tempt Kane, it's only in the last hour that we fully learn about Necrus. That's just one bit of exposition clearly damaged by the countless reshoots. I didn't mention this in my Aquaman review, but I found it hard to sympathize with Kane there for his extreme moral myopia. It's barely different here, so much that there's barely any difference between his normal attitude and him being possessed by Kordax, though his casualness towards a dissenting minion is quite refreshing. 

Its star's performance is also refreshing. Momoa's boisterousness as Arthur is delightful, particularly in the opening where it switches between him fighting pirates and him narrating the adventure to his son. His chemistry with Orm is pretty decent even if you can see the ending a mile away. The aforementioned minion is Dr. Shin (Randall Park), a character I had forgotten about in the first Aquaman. He's a good scientist distressed by his employer's evil schemes and is easily the film's most sympathetic character. Jani Zhao makes a good impression as Kane's loyal first mate, Stingray, while Martin Short is a welcome surprise in the mo-cap role of the undersea crime-boss Kingfish. 

The undersea creatures, from the returning Brine King (John Rhys-Davies) or the new octopus Topo, are imaginative CGI creations. A few creatures Arthur and Orm meet on Kane's private island, particularly a swarm of ravenous giant grasshoppers, are pretty creepy. Unfortunately, much of the other CGI effects don't mesh well into their scenes. It's particularly noticeable in the climax when our heroes and villains converge onto Necrus, which is hidden under Antarctica. Its best effects turn Orm into a puny prisoner when Arthur finds him. It's so seamless unlike the green smoke and ice we see. 

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom isn't a perfect movie, but its star gives it his all for the DCEU's last hurrah. It's a decently entertaining film that should make for a good holiday matinee. It's a relatively quick and somewhat easy matinee at 124-minutes. So, what do we do now that this continuity is done? Why, catch up on a few other movies, of course!

 Hopefully, James Gunn will make it fun to believe that a man can fly when his Superman reboot, Superman: Legacy, flies in a few years' time. We'll be waiting.