Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Review: A Symbolic way to end the DCEU
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the conclusion to the DCEU and despite it feeling as if it were a totally random ending for a franchise,the film manages to end it in a poetic way. You see the DCEU has been a strange experience. On one hand I really enjoyed a lot of the movies in this franchise as opposed to popular belief but there is no denying the franchise is constantly in shambles with itself. There was never a real endgame to reach. Snyder’s Justice League seemed like it was going somewhere but then there was a bunch of other stuff Warner Bros wanted to do so they wanted to add in their vision of the franchise like Black Adam and even derailing Snyder’s whole original plan as it could never settle on what it wants to be. Despite all this the DCEU does feature many great things as each story is more refreshing and unique than the previous entry as opposed to the MCU where each entry feels similar with a few exceptions. Of course, it also opens the door to many DC characters to be introduced and given comic accurate costumes with beautiful visuals. So how does this film end this franchise in a poetic way? Well to put it simply, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom features the good and bad of the DCEU all cramped into one film which summarises the franchise as a whole. Every time you watch this film,you would be reminded of this franchise not because it is part of it but rather having the film to embody it. Whatever you feel for Aquaman 2 is what you would feel for this franchise.
So let’s begin with the issues with the plot. As the DCEU never had a plan so it constantly has various movies which never amount to anything. In this film,there are many plot lines the film tries to achieve. To sum it up the film has 3 main plotlines. The family drama and revenge,climate change and the possession of a demon. All these plotlines unfortunately never connected under one singular thematic line. What I mean is that each plotline is its own separate entity that never coalign with each other. You can see this from the opening where there is a giant exposition of Aquaman being king and a father which should have been compelling and interesting but because it is done through exposition it feels lazy. I mean Aquaman could have done some tough work in the kingdom and then has the reward of seeing his baby using his powers but we only got exposition. Later on throughout the first act random snippets of the different plotlines would come about and just devalues each aspect of the film. The revenge plotline is compelling as we know Black Manta is willing to do anything to kill Aquaman and his family. When he does attack Atlantis and hurts Mera we genuinely felt the impact of him being terrifying. However the possession plot line would come into play at times and it just devalues his whole character. From a guy who has this emotional goal of getting revenge to a puppet being controlled by a CGI monster. The film also has this global warming plot where the monster wants to heat the Earth to melt the ice which had trapped him. This whole plotline never made much sense as why would he want to heat and destroy the planet if he wants to rule it? The film touched on how global warming had caused some sort of plague in the ocean which could have been interesting and had the backbones of a fascinating exploration but the film just shrugs it off. In the end,there was no central story for us to care for. Is it about family? Global Warming? Possession? It could have been all three but the film never aligns itself with a central theme that makes it easy for us to follow and know why each plotline exists so we never cared much for any of it. For what is worth the family plot was compelling and had potential while the film just settled for a CGI battle in the end.
Then there are the characters who were never as compelling as the film tries to make them out to be. Aquaman here feels like a supporting character more than a protagonist. As a protagonist,there is usually an emotional arc which the protagonist overcomes and he is the one who is more active and drives the plot forward. Here however Aquaman does drive the film forward but he does not have a clear emotional arc. The film tries to have him learn that everyone has a chance to redeem themselves so he should not just choose to save the ones that are good but also save the bad ones. He sees this through his brother Orm, a selfish person who actually cares for Atlantis. The problem comes when we were never established this trait as a flaw. It is not like because he views Orm as irredeemable so he disagrees with the plan instead of being the one who suggested it. Now I think the film was trying to carry his arc from the first film whereby he did not save Black Manta’s father but that is a separate story. This film should have its own set up and payoff not relying on something previously established.
Orm here is somewhat compelling. He started out as the selfish brother who never cares for anyone except himself or so Aquaman thought. In his heart, he genuinely cares for Atlantis more than anything and is only willing to help just for his kingdom. Still he bashes Aquaman like his enemy and hates him as he declared they are not brothers. From time to time he still desires the throne and sees himself to rule better than Aquaman. His methodological ways are always in contrast with Aquaman’s violent ways which makes up for some fun conflict like whether they should negotiate with the sea creature boss or beat him up to say it or the situation where they should knock out the doctor or take him along. Eventually he sees how Aquaman genuinely cares for the people he loves and not just a playboy who messes around as seen when his baby was taken. Orm begins to see how a true king never cares for whoever had been taken or whatnot as long as it is a life then he should value it especially a surface dweller and his baby. He also saw how Aquaman never had the ambition to be a king as he had thought and only wanted to protect the people he cared for. This made him realise that Aquaman is the true king for caring about the world while he is only fueled in his own ambition. With his new found purpose he tries to help others out along the journey so he could redeem himself.
Mera is also in this film and despite the controversy she is actually really good here. Some scenes were odd for not including her like when Aquaman found out his baby has his powers and how he is bored of being a king as he told all this to his father instead. It should have been Mera because she is his wife and the mother of the baby. But when she is in it,she just excels beyond what I thought. Her being nearly killed by Black Manta was soul crushing as we see how Aquaman attacked him for that. Her coming to save him was beautiful and her being in the final battle as the mother is strong enough to justify her character. Thematically she may not have done much but action wise she is good enough.
That is kind of what the rest of the characters felt like. The Crab king is a fun character who cracks jokes. The king guy from the other kingdom is a badass king who fights zombies. Aquaman’s father is there for emotional support. None of them have much to do except to be a catalyst for the plot to function.
Finally there is the villain Black Manta. As mentioned already his character is compelling upon introduction. The use of imagery from his broken suit followed by him announcing he is going to kill Aquaman was perfect. From the imagery we immediately hate Aquaman and the tone of his voice just solidifies it. However when he gets possessed by the trident it just derails his whole character. He does all these other extra things for no reason except to please this demon. If they wanted him to have this global warming plot then maybe have Black Manta ignored the demon and just used the trident’s power to destroy Atlantis only for Aquaman to defeat him again instead of just running away. This makes him feel the need to do all these other stuff so he could be more powerful because no matter what he does Aquaman just can’t die. Him being possessed also caused some inconsistencies to his character. Sometimes in the film,he does seem to be that guy who wants revenge like in the scene where the doctor found out about the trident but in multiple scenes he would be possessed as in he would do stuff which does not suit his character like causing global warming.
Visually the film is actually outstanding in its visuals. Unlike others,I thought the underwater scenes were amazing. Sure,you could compare it to Avatar but this film manages to have its own unique take in the water. The ambush of Atlantis is one of the most visually pleasing and tense action sequences of the year. Speaking of action sequences,the action here is unique in various ways. James Wan moves and turns the camera in ways where you just love to admire his ambition. One of it being the trident battle where the camera moves in one of the most exciting ways possible. While some scenes do look choppy in its visuals particularly on reshoots the film still manages to hold up its beautiful look throughout.
In conclusion, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom features splendid visuals with some of the most unique action of the year but a lack in focus on what it actually wants to be along with characters who were tough to care for makes this film a somewhat bland yet energetic film that embodies the end of the DCEU as it has always been
