Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

The DC universe of just a few years ago has now been put to rest with the upcoming Superman supposedly ringing in a new era for the franchise. It was an interesting ride, promising much but ultimately failing to match its most notable competitor, Marvel, who have also found some bumps in the road. And I have seen almost all of DC's recent films but one of the few left to see was Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and I found the first film to be particularly entertaining. It was nothing ground-breaking but it was probably the best film of this collective universe so far. Would the sequel build on this momentum or were the signs of a DC reboot haunting this production that indicated any future plans would be cut short?

The sequel sees Aquaman's rule over Atlantis come under threat when Black Manta finds a powerful weapon making him almost unstoppable. With very few options, Aquaman is forced into freeing his treacherous brother and save his family. It's a very thin story and I can only pad this out so much.

To Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's credit, Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson do have some fun chemistry that carries much of this film but that can't save this from feeling like a lazy, half-hearted mess of an attempt to keep the franchise running. Everyone in the cast seems aware this attempt at the franchise has run its course and so it's time to do what is required to get paid and forget this ever happened, which is convenient as this is all very forgettable.

It is a shame though as James Wan returns to direct, the visuals are very good and Momoa makes for a very fun lead but the story is just weak through and through wasting much of the talent involved in making this. Unfortunately there is just nothing to recommend here and it is a very disappointing sequel. I hope DC can turn this franchise around with their future plans and can avoid such duds going forward.