Movie Review: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) co-written and directed by James Wan

Four years after his last film, Aquaman/Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) has an idyllic life. As Arthur, he lives in a lighthouse with his father (Temuera Morrison), his wife Mera (Amber Heard), and their baby Junior (various actors). He drinks Guinness and talks fatherhood with his pop while he gets peed on by his son (for comic effect, obviously). As Aquaman, he leads the undersea kingdom of Atlantis, which has turned into more of a bureaucratic job that is completely boring to him (it doesn't help that he has no skills in that department). He also rights wrongs on the sea, like when modern-day pirates capture ships, so there is still a bit of action in his life. 

This great lifestyle is ruined by his enemy Black Manta/David (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who is desperately searching for Atlantean tech to repair his Black Manta suit. He's still bent on revenge for Aquaman killing his father. Things change when he finds a more ancient civilization and a fancy (though broken) trident that connects him to an imprisoned maniac who was trying to take over the world thousands of years ago. With the infusion of ancient tech, David switches his plan to awakening the maniac by collecting magical energy from undersea hiding spots. The energy will make him powerful but also increases global warming and pollution. The world will get destroyed one way or another.

The movie suffers from a lot of the dualities presented. Aquaman tries to have his surface life and his underwater life but the situation isn't quite believable. It doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day for him to take care of everything, though that is never brought up. Black Manta has a scientific subordinate Dr. Shin (Randall Park) who really just wants to see amazing things, like the technology. Shin winds up doing some awful things just to stay alive and keep Black Manta's storyline moving forward. He's the most conflicted character (until they bring back Orm (Patrick Wilson), the younger brother of Aquaman who is imprisoned for his evil actions in the last movie, but becomes a necessary ally to hunt down Black Manta). The Orn/Arthur relationship is the most interesting and most entertaining bit of the film. Unfortunately, that is a relatively small part of the film.

The movie has broader problems. It switches between straight drama and silly comedy. The comedy isn't very funny and shows up sporadically. Aquaman's comedic quipping comes and goes throughout the film. The plot is not very interesting and strings along a bunch of action scenes for the sake of amazing visuals. The worst duality is the CGI and the live action elements. They are not blended seamlessly and become quite jarring at times. I wished they would just give up the live action elements and make it fully animated, so the disconnect would not be visible again and again. Nothing hangs together properly.

Not recommended--this isn't awful but it doesn't have enough fun, charm, or wow factor to make up for the many, many flaws.