After the finale of the first film, Aquaman (Jason Momoa) has taken on several new roles: he has become the father of Arthur Jr. and the king of Atlantis. While he excels at swaddling and putting his little one to sleep, ruling on the throne is proving to be a challenge. He needs to delve into politics, resolve territorial disputes, and spend hours discussing global issues. Aquaman, however, misses the good old days of battles and heroic deeds.
At this moment, the Earth’s temperature is rapidly increasing. It turns out that the culprit is a villain from the previous film – the vengeful Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). He has acquired a powerful trident and seems to be planning to destroy the world. The only one who can find him is Arthur’s traitorous brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), but the former king has long been imprisoned. Rescuing him could ignite a civil war among the underwater inhabitants.
Jason Momoa as Aquaman in a still from “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”
The first “Aquaman” achieved one of the best results for DC comic book films in the global box office: with a modest budget of 150 million, the film grossed more than 10 times that amount. The sequel is clearly doing worse: in almost a month, the 200 million blockbuster has only earned 340 million. There are several reasons for this, starting with the collapse of the film industry as a result of the prolonged coronavirus epidemic and ending with the superhero crisis. In addition, the new head of the studio, James Gunn, has waved goodbye to old projects and storylines: now he will build his own universe with a young Superman and Swamp Thing – films like “Aquaman” no longer fit into his plans.
Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master in a still from “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” generally feels like an artifact of a bygone era. Wan and the screenwriters once again build the story around family values: the protagonist must become a father, learn to take responsibility for risky actions, and improve relations with his brother. It is also an old-fashioned journey film, so the plot is more like a changing series of action scenes in different locations: desert, underwater, in forests, mountains, and in unexplored lands. Sloppily staged battles with cartoonish graphics are constantly interrupted by a couple of Arthur’s pranks on his hapless relative: in the climactic moment, the hero forces Orm to eat a cockroach – according to him, it’s a delicacy in the human world.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta in a still from “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”
Retro Aesthetics and Familiar Problems
The sequel to “Aquaman” resembles an old-fashioned adventure film. Tales of old kingdoms constantly intrude into the narrative, mysterious tridents fall into the hands of villains, and the army of minion-enemies literally consists of hordes of skeletons – if not for studio restrictions, Wan would probably have made them using stop-motion animation, as was the case in “Jason and the Argonauts” in 1960. This naive retro-aesthetic somehow distinguishes the sequel from the bleak comic book films of recent years: even in polished Hollywood cinema, there is a place for unusual references and sources of inspiration.
Overstuffed and Outdated
Otherwise, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” falls victim to the classic problem of sequels: it wants to be everything at once. Geopolitics (Arthur doesn’t know how to run the country, and doesn’t really want to), a buddy-movie about the difficult relationship between two brothers, and even ecology are constantly strung on the core of a family drama – after all, Black Manta is utilizing ancient fuel to melt the ice. In an era of fatigue from the loudness, colorfulness, and playfulness of comic book films, the sequel to “Aquaman” offers to shout, throw a carnival, and endlessly joke. 5 years ago, this would have been a tolerable action film, needed to catch your breath in between new large-scale film phases, but now it’s just an underwater monster: it lives in its own world and cannot find a place in the new reality.