Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) || Movie Review.

The long awaited Aquaman 2 is finally here and I was excited to see it. I saw it over the weekend and it was entertaining. It was better than what I expected. I actually went to see this movie with low expectations because of how the other installments in the DCEU performed. It was all disappointing except for ’Black Adam (2022)’ that impressed me a little.

If you have been following my movie reviews, I have mentioned before that Jason Momoa is my celebrity crush and one of my favorite Hollywood actors. So, there is no way I would have missed out on watching this movie regardless of the negative and discouraging review I have seen and read on the internet.

’Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)’ is an American superhero film that is based on the character of Aquaman from the DC Comics. It is the last installment in the DCEU and the sequel to the ’Aquaman (2015)’. This movie was directed by James Wan, screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and distributed by the Warner Bros. Pictures. It starred Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morriston and Martin Short.

Fastwarded to four years later from the storyline of the first sequel, Arthur is now the king of Atlantis, married to Mera and they both now have a baby boy. King Arthur is now torn between being a king, a mediator between the land and the sea, a husband, and a father to his newborn. Meanwhile, David Mane was on a journey to explore the deep of the pacific ocean with Dr. Shin is a marine biologist to find any Atlantean artifacts.

Mane was seeking the Atlantean artifacts so that he could fix his suit and avenge his father's death. But instead of finding the Atlantean artifacts he and Dr. Shin stumbled upon a cavern in Antarctica, where Mane found a Black Trident that took over his mind with its wielder promising to give him the power to destroy Arthur. Mane succumbed to this corrupting power and five months later he began to steal Orichalcum energy from Atlantis reserves all over the city.

In Mane’s last heist, he was caught by the Atlantis, but he requested for extraction from his team which resulted in some struggle which led to Mera getting injuries and Arthur defeated. In the aftermath of the Mane’s attack, Arthur learns that Mane was using Orichalcum which emits high quantities of greenhouse gasses, to cause global warming in order to disrupt earth's temperatures and cause ocean acidification. Arthur now resulted in breaking his half brother out of prison to help find Mane and dissolved the brewing chaos.

My Review And Rating.

I will just go straight to point with my review and keep it short to avoid any more spoilers.

The Cast of the movie were averagely okay with their performance. Though some characters surprisingly impressed me, like Nicole, Jason, and Patrick. In this movie, we were able to see Nicole fight for her city in water. She was incredible and a formidable force until a nervous sequence took her out. Then we have Jason and Patrick. Their chemistry was strong and very emotional at the same time. I love how the two bonded well with their roles, the humor, the being protective of each other and how they fought together. They both compliment each other well.

For Amber, well, I felt like she was absent throughout the movie, she was shadow banned, no spotlight was given to her nor did she steal any. Her romance with Jason felt dry and dead to me. They both were raising their child separately. So it made the chemistry seem awkward. Apart from this, the rest of the supporting characters were good and less I forget, the villain (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) was a tough one and he acted his role with so much zeal.

The scene arrangements were good, the storytelling technique fine and engaging. I love how the action scenes are filmed. The camera angles works well giving us a wide range of view. The monsters and creatures' designs were fantastic and eerie. The cinematography was excellent, colorful, and the scenery was amazing. I particularly enjoyed the desert scenes, it was fun and thrilling to watch.

The plot of this movie was actually pitched by Jason Momoa to James Wan in 2019. Then Wan developed it into a movie whole script. The storyline was okay, but it was not that interesting. It is something we have all seen multiple times in superhero movies. I wish there was a little mystery added to the storyline, it would have been more engaging to the viewers. Regardless, it was beyond my expectations because I actually thought this movie would be a big flop.

In my opinion, in the DCEU, the installments that didn't impress me are Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Wonder Woman 1984, The Flash and Blue Beetle. But the rest of the installments did make a mark in my memory. Let's see what James Gunn has install for us.

Rating this movie, I will give it 6.5 out of 10 stars. It was entertaining, I enjoyed the comedy, the action was good and decent. Not many gimmicks and tricks. No nudity or profanity. It is a movie a family can enjoy watching with a lot of hard laugh moments.