I wasn’t sure on what note the entire DCEU would end with the Aquaman sequel, whether it would be a complete disaster or just a mediocre movie. I hadn’t heard much about The Lost Kingdom except that it wasn’t as well received as the original. Which I liked quite a bit, not because it was something substantial or deep but really well-done popcorn cinema.
And the sequel is pretty much this only more…choppy. I have a hard time defining what’s the issue here except, that for all that this has pretty much the same mix of ingredients as the first part it feels like it lacks a final pass of polish that leads to tonal unevenness. Some scenes feel just wrong with good actors suddenly overacting or in some scenes almost looking like they are lost looking for proper directions from a director or anyone.
I came away from this mostly enjoying it, it’s a grand epic with a climactic battle, and it picks up a side villain from the first movie and uses him to kickstart the main antagonist. In a lot of ways, this reminds me of Thor 2, the main big bad is evil just because, and the story is more about the protagonist getting back together with his “evil” brother and finding some common ground.
And just as Tom Hiddleston was the real MVP as Loki in The Dark World, Patrick Wilson is the real MVP as Orm in The Lost Kingdom. Which is funny as I didn’t like his character much in the first movie but here completely overshadows Jason Momoa as Aquaman who has no character arc left and is only there to provide muscle. It’s Orm who has to learn that his brother never wanted to replace him, it’s Orm who has to accept that he was wrong in the first place and try to be better.
Sure, in the end, the movie too easily forgives him for his evil deeds from the first movie but it’s a comic book reality, it’s so common there that I don’t mind it. And Patrick Wilson together with Jason Momoa is really funny to watch.
Without the above-mentioned choppiness to its tonal pacing, this would be just as good as the first movie. It’s not but as far as sequels go I was mostly happy with it. Not the worst movie to end the DCEU on.
The Entropy Pump 