Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the follow-up to 2018’s Aquaman and serves as the overall conclusion to the DC Extended Universe before James Gunn reboots it. It’s once again directed by filmmaker James Wan. I’d categorize him as a horror filmmaker, but his work in action also serves him as a promising filmmaker. Unfortunately, this film reminds me a lot of 2017’s Justice League – a movie that is really not the director’s, but the studio’s.

As it got closer and closer to the release of the film, I started putting it in my top ten anticipated films of the year, which may not be saying much considering all of the other movies that were in that list, how long it took for this movie to get into that list, and how minimal the marketing was. On one hand, I don’t really blame Warner Brothers for the marketing. With every other DC movie bringing in less than stellar box office results, I can imagine they didn’t want to do much with this. On the other hand, the first movie had almost the same type of marketing with the film end up being the only DCEU film to make a billion dollars. A lot has changed in five years.

Even though I will always support James Wan as a filmmaker, I could also see the writing on the wall between this being the abrupt conclusion of the DCEU and with rumors of how bad the test screenings were. If I am quite honest, the film feels like nothing changed from these reported test screenings, because there were times that I wanted to walk out. Before I tackle the negatives that take up most of the movie, there’s still about a fourth of positives worth mentioning.

First off, the cast between Jason Momoa & Patrick Wilson is the film’s high point. It’s not as good as it has been in the past, but I think Momoa still makes the most out of his performance as Aquaman. As for Wilson, the guy is simply underrated. He’s best at his more serious & villainous roles; however, I still found him to be quite good in the more positive role that he has this time around. The action is also pretty good at times. Aquaman & Black Manta’s action pieces were amongst the best. There was even a moment towards the end that involved the two fighting that made me question why we didn’t get the same type of quality throughout the film. Lastly, I really have to give props to the cinematography as there was one unique one-take shot.

I remained positive going into this with all of the background information I knew, and it’s clear that the film was heavily reshot and cut based on the studio’s input, because this film is a mess. The structure is so cliche and predictable that takes out of the excitement that the first film had. As the film opens up, we get this sloppy transition into Aquaman being the narrator to get us all caught up, except he’s really talking to his kid. It’s just confusing. Even worse, it’s clear that the studio really didn’t want Amber Heard in the final product. Since she was in most of the movie, the film is cut in such a way that makes her completely pointless. She never really acts as a mother nor does she ever have any chemistry with who is supposed to be her husband. Whenever she does have screentime, it feels more like she is looking at people when they are speaking. Between the pointless narration and rushed character set-up, it becomes even worse when the film has non-stop exposition.

The set-up for the story is more difficult than it needs to be. Instead of just being a revenge film of Black Manta trying to take down Aquaman, the film has more exposition than is necessary while drags the film down and involves characters talking in ways that are completely different than the first. Nicole Kidman is completely shoeing in her performance as all she does is explain things to people. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who plays as Black Manta, has the worst dialogue. At one point, he even says “Thank God for global warming.” Then, there is Randall Park, who I actually do like, but he has more presence in the film that there needs to be. With the film being twenty minutes shorter than the first, it’s crazy reflecting on how the film chooses to focus on things that don’t matter over others. Even worse is how the writing leads to bizarre character motives.

When Black Manta attacks Atlantis for the first time, there is a bit of a battle between him and Aquaman. Since Black Manta gets away, without any hesitation, Aquaman decides to break his half-brother, Orm, played by Patrick Wilson, out of prison – the same brother who was the antagonist in the previous film, all because he just knows that his brother knows where Black Manta is going. Why in the world would he think his brother be so inclined to help him? When he gets his brother out, the writing doesn’t know how get their relationship moving. Orm just seems to be cool with helping out the same brother that he wanted dead. You’d think that he would want to help as a way to get to know his nephew, but that reveal is never mentioned nor does it have any significance whatsoever to his character or to the story. The idea of Aquaman having a kid has potential to give growth to Aquaman, but it only serves as tension towards the end. If any of this seems random, it’s because the film is random all because of what I am sure is way too much studio interference.

Overall, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a disappointing sequel and a disappointing conclusion to the DCEU. While it was never intended to end here, it’s still underwhelming considering how many reshoots occurred. Everyone in front of the camera looks like they are sleepwalking, the script is amongst the worst in this franchise, and the visuals are lackluster compared to the first. If you still want to go see it, I hope my words don’t hold you back. If you don’t want to go see it, then I don’t really blame you.

VERDICT: Pretty bad