With its final installment now under our belt, we can fairly say the DCEU project was nothing short of an artistic and commercial disaster. At times fraught with Shakespearean behind-the-scenes drama that resulted in a slew of projects (which, if nothing else, did provide a good one-liner every now and then), the DCEU ends with a whimper. The inoffensive and unmemorable “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” though far from the worst thing to come out of the franchise, is destined to have less of a cultural impact than any other DCEU entry.
The film’s narrative is a poorly constructed collage of beats we’ve seen a hundred times before. Taking place a few years after the events of the first film, David Kane, a.k.a. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul Mateen II), has sworn vengeance on Arthur (Jason Momoa), the new king of Atlantis, thereby forcing him to save the world with his partly reformed half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson). It checks all the boxes of 21st-century superhero movies: apocalyptic stakes, a hero who reluctantly assumes a leadership role and a core relationship that only serves as a vehicle for punchy comedy. Retreading these cliches without offering the genre anything new, “The Lost Kingdom” does little to distinguish itself.
The stakes never feel real because they aren’t grounded in character. Slot any other superhero in place of Aquaman; nothing about that version of this film would be drastically different. Similarly, Wilson and Momoa have good chemistry, but that’s just owed to the charisma each naturally possesses. The dialogue itself doesn’t develop their dynamic and, in fact, actively hinders any emotional attachment that could yield resonance of any kind. The plot becomes a blur of lengthy exposition for starkly simplistic concepts. By adhering so strictly to a rigid formula, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” constantly keeps you at arm’s length, doing nothing to draw you in or keep you engaged and leaving you cold to the whole affair.
Tonal inconsistency is not a unique problem to this entry in the DCEU. The stakes feel so unwarranted in large part because the movie wants to be a comedy. The villainy of Black Manta and the horrors he is inflicting are stated – far more than is necessary – but never explored or felt because the characters contradictorily maintain a sense of cheer throughout. Humor is obviously a very subjective aspect when it comes to someone’s experience of a film, but it is hard to imagine anyone drawing much from what “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” delivers. Most comedy works because of a subversion of expectations. What the film instead provides is watered-down, overly constructed dialogue. There is nothing unexpected about a character’s one-liner when all of the comedy is derived from two-dimensional characters saying things perfectly in keeping with the few basic traits they are given to work with.
James Wan returns to the director’s chair if one can even call it that, given the film’s total lack of a cohesive identity. The studio’s hand is noticeably the one holding the reins here. Nevertheless, Wan’s competent direction of action setpieces does carry over from its superior predecessor. Where the narrative is trite and vague in relation to the characters occupying it, the action does feel unique to “Aquaman.” Choreography with the signature tridents is handled well, and the camerawork in these scenes is dynamic enough to distract you from how little you’re invested in why the action is occurring in the first place.
Aside from a few dodgy VFX shots, the production elements of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” notably costume and production design, are solid. The lighting strikes a nice blend between the needlessly dark Snyder films and the franchise’s overexposed entries, putting these technical merits on full display.
What is most disappointing about this film is the overall lack of creative effort. Though the talents of Wan, the cast, and the production crew feel reined in, they are blameless. The fault, instead, lies with the higher-ups desperate to pump out an endless and artless stream of content. This may be an easy criticism to make, but it is nevertheless the fundamental reason the film is such an underwhelming experience. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” feels behind the curb, with every element adapted from better examples and mashed together without a thought given to the quality of the final product. Changes need to be made to this franchise under James Gunn’s tenure in charge. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” serves as a cheap microcosm of the franchise’s failure up to this point and a fitting end for the confused misfire of the DCEU.
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