The DCEU Goes Out With a Whimper

You’ve read the stories. You’ve debated the casting announcements. You’ve watched a handful of artists try to do justice to a legacy of iconic characters that’s now just short of a century old. Maybe you even demanded that Warners release the Snyder Cut. (If so: Um, thanks?) By now, we don’t need to recount to you the long, storied history of the D.C.E.U., or remind you that because of a number of corporate decisions, scandals, disappointments, accusations, and outright WTF head-scratchers, some new management is about to press the reset button on the comic book company’s intellectual properties. Soon, we’re all going to get a brand new D.C.-dedicated universe. There’s just one last bit of unfinished business to take care of first.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — a better title than Aquaman 2, not as truth-in-advertising upfront as Aquaman: Turn the Lights Off on the Way Out — shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of addressing the sins of its I.P.-owning fathers. (It wasn’t like the D.C. Extended Universe was the only big superhero-movie game in town dealing with a constant stream of controversies.) Or, for that matter, answer for the confusing Freudian world-building, crossover obsessions, and often dark-revisionist doomscrolling that’s characterized so much of this particular franchise. This sequel to the successful 2018 solo joint of one Arthur Curry, card-carrying Justice League member and part-time King of Atlantis, deserves to live or die by its own merits. Such parameters still aren’t doing the movie any favors. Lost Kingdom does indeed feel like a stand-alone entry, one content to crack jokes at its own expense and splash around in its own shallow end of the intellectual-property pool. It’s also a tonal mess, dogged by VFX that range from “video-game cut scene” to “last-minute rush job,” complicated yet curiously thin storytelling, and endlessly aggressive rib-nudging. Even the D.C. die-hards might find this a bit too waterlogged for their tastes.

Having taken on the task of leading the undersea world that is his birthright, Curry (Jason Momoa) is indeed finding that heavy is the head that wears the crown. That is, when said crown isn’t falling off the regent’s aforementioned long-haired noggin as he nods off during boring bureaucratic summits. He’d much rather be off kicking the crap out of pirates, hanging out with his brand new baby boy courtesy of his sweetheart Mera (Amber Heard, which, yeah — we know) or downing Guinesses with his pops (Temuera Morrison). Despite the need to perpetually dodge streams of infant pee, however, life is good for the guy in the scaly, green-and-gold suit. Domesticity suits him, even if sitting on the throne doesn’t.

Meanwhile, halfway around the world, a scientist named Dr. Steven Shin (Randall Park) and a vengeful supervillain named David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), better known as Black Manta, have stumbled across a different underwater realm. Thawing icebergs in the Antarctic have revealed a “lost kingdom” (see: title) that may hold the key to Kane issuing payback for losing his father during the latter’s stand-off with Aquaman years ago. A glowing green trident reveals the secret history of this long-dead civilization, which appeared to be populated by tentacled beasts, a king who based all of his fashion choices on this guy, and the walking dead. It also tells Kane that a green, glowing substance known as Orichalcum is the source of their supernatural power, and if he can steal it from a secure location, unfathomable power will be his.

Soon enough, the world begins experiencing unusually destructive weather and Atlantis braces for all-out war. The only way they can beat Black Manta and his forces is for Arthur to break Orm (Patrick Wilson) out of the desert prison he’s in. You all remember Orm, right? Aquaman’s half-brother and former King of Atlantis? Also known as the Oceanmaster? Wanted to destroy the surface world and ended up becoming a pariah because of his abuse of power? Mom (Nicole Kidman) is jazzed about the idea of her boys teaming up. Curry’s father-in-law, King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren), not so much. Once Arthur and an octopus trained in the art of espionage — no, really — liberate Orm from his captors, the duo travel to a remote volcanic island known as Devil’s Deep, where they fight off some giant jungle creatures and eventually confront the even-more-megalomaniacal Black Manta, now blessed with eons-old superhuman powers, yadda yadda yadda.

It’s around this time that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom adds “buddy comedy” to the list of subgenres it’s dipping into, along with “message movie” (there’s a lotta climate-change commentary here, some of it welcome and much of it heavy-handed), “superhero epic,” and “action-adventure blockbuster involving a wisecracking hermit crab for no apparent reason.” It’s probably not a coincidence that, with his blond hair and square chin, Wilson bears more than a passing resemblance to the comic-book Aquaman that made his first appearance in 1941, and for longtime fans, the chance to see both the Original Recipe and Extra-Crispy editions of the guy who talks to fish is likely to make up for dealing with the blockbuster equivalent of bilgewater everywhere else.

As for Momoa, the star has always done well with Curry by threading a lot of his surfer-bro persona into the character, but by the end of this sequel, there’s the sensation of him bumping his head against the ceiling of his patented beachcomber charm. That may have helped sell the first movie and lighten up some of the heavier elements that director James Wan threw into the mix — well, that and an octopus playing drums. Here, it just feels like one more spice thrown into a flavorless seafood stew.

You do have to give The Lost Kingdom credit for ending this sequel, and by extension D.C.’s attempt to outdo Marvel at their own interconnected-universe I.P. game, with what appears to be a direct nod (and maybe a stealth fuck you) to the MCU’s Rosetta stone. It’s ballsy, if nothing else. Which is more than you can say for most of this long, soggy goodbye, which works its eyesore of an underwater aesthetic, its well-intentioned pro-environmental preaching, and its whiplash ping-ponging between dead serious and defiantly silly to death. Maybe this uneven experiment with fashioning an extended universe was always meant to go out not with a bang but with an air-bubble of a whimper. If so: mission accomplished. But even if you view this as just another superhero movie, it still feels like a litter’s runt. We’d have been fine if this kingdom stayed lost.

You’ve read the stories. You’ve debated the casting announcements. You’ve watched a handful of artists try to do justice to a legacy of iconic characters that’s now just short of a century old. Maybe you even demanded that Warners release the Snyder Cut. (If so: Um, thanks?) By now, we don’t need to recount to you the long, storied history of the D.C.E.U., or remind you that because of a number of corporate decisions, scandals, disappointments, accusations, and outright WTF head-scratchers, some new management is about to press the reset button on the comic book company’s intellectual properties. Soon, we’re all going to get a brand new D.C.-dedicated universe. There’s just one last bit of unfinished business to take care of first.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — a better title than Aquaman 2, not as truth-in-advertising upfront as Aquaman: Turn the Lights Off on the Way Out — shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of addressing the sins of its I.P.-owning fathers. (It wasn’t like the D.C. Extended Universe was the only big superhero-movie game in town dealing with a constant stream of controversies.) Or, for that matter, answer for the confusing Freudian world-building, crossover obsessions, and often dark-revisionist doomscrolling that’s characterized so much of this particular franchise. This sequel to the successful 2018 solo joint of one Arthur Curry, card-carrying Justice League member and part-time King of Atlantis, deserves to live or die by its own merits. Such parameters still aren’t doing the movie any favors. Lost Kingdom does indeed feel like a stand-alone entry, one content to crack jokes at its own expense and splash around in its own shallow end of the intellectual-property pool. It’s also a tonal mess, dogged by VFX that range from “video-game cut scene” to “last-minute rush job,” complicated yet curiously thin storytelling, and endlessly aggressive rib-nudging. Even the D.C. die-hards might find this a bit too waterlogged for their tastes.

Having taken on the task of leading the undersea world that is his birthright, Curry (Jason Momoa) is indeed finding that heavy is the head that wears the crown. That is, when said crown isn’t falling off the regent’s aforementioned long-haired noggin as he nods off during boring bureaucratic summits. He’d much rather be off kicking the crap out of pirates, hanging out with his brand new baby boy courtesy of his sweetheart Mera (Amber Heard, which, yeah — we know) or downing Guinesses with his pops (Temuera Morrison). Despite the need to perpetually dodge streams of infant pee, however, life is good for the guy in the scaly, green-and-gold suit. Domesticity suits him, even if sitting on the throne doesn’t.

Meanwhile, halfway around the world, a scientist named Dr. Steven Shin (Randall Park) and a vengeful supervillain named David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), better known as Black Manta, have stumbled across a different underwater realm. Thawing icebergs in the Antarctic have revealed a “lost kingdom” (see: title) that may hold the key to Kane issuing payback for losing his father during the latter’s stand-off with Aquaman years ago. A glowing green trident reveals the secret history of this long-dead civilization, which appeared to be populated by tentacled beasts, a king who based all of his fashion choices on this guy, and the walking dead. It also tells Kane that a green, glowing substance known as Orichalcum is the source of their supernatural power, and if he can steal it from a secure location, unfathomable power will be his.

Soon enough, the world begins experiencing unusually destructive weather and Atlantis braces for all-out war. The only way they can beat Black Manta and his forces is for Arthur to break Orm (Patrick Wilson) out of the desert prison he’s in. You all remember Orm, right? Aquaman’s half-brother and former King of Atlantis? Also known as the Oceanmaster? Wanted to destroy the surface world and ended up becoming a pariah because of his abuse of power? Mom (Nicole Kidman) is jazzed about the idea of her boys teaming up. Curry’s father-in-law, King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren), not so much. Once Arthur and an octopus trained in the art of espionage — no, really — liberate Orm from his captors, the duo travel to a remote volcanic island known as Devil’s Deep, where they fight off some giant jungle creatures and eventually confront the even-more-megalomaniacal Black Manta, now blessed with eons-old superhuman powers, yadda yadda yadda.

It’s around this time that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom adds “buddy comedy” to the list of subgenres it’s dipping into, along with “message movie” (there’s a lotta climate-change commentary here, some of it welcome and much of it heavy-handed), “superhero epic,” and “action-adventure blockbuster involving a wisecracking hermit crab for no apparent reason.” It’s probably not a coincidence that, with his blond hair and square chin, Wilson bears more than a passing resemblance to the comic-book Aquaman that made his first appearance in 1941, and for longtime fans, the chance to see both the Original Recipe and Extra-Crispy editions of the guy who talks to fish is likely to make up for dealing with the blockbuster equivalent of bilgewater everywhere else.

As for Momoa, the star has always done well with Curry by threading a lot of his surfer-bro persona into the character, but by the end of this sequel, there’s the sensation of him bumping his head against the ceiling of his patented beachcomber charm. That may have helped sell the first movie and lighten up some of the heavier elements that director James Wan threw into the mix — well, that and an octopus playing drums. Here, it just feels like one more spice thrown into a flavorless seafood stew.

You do have to give The Lost Kingdom credit for ending this sequel, and by extension D.C.’s attempt to outdo Marvel at their own interconnected-universe I.P. game, with what appears to be a direct nod (and maybe a stealth fuck you) to the MCU’s Rosetta stone. It’s ballsy, if nothing else. Which is more than you can say for most of this long, soggy goodbye, which works its eyesore of an underwater aesthetic, its well-intentioned pro-environmental preaching, and its whiplash ping-ponging between dead serious and defiantly silly to death. Maybe this uneven experiment with fashioning an extended universe was always meant to go out not with a bang but with an air-bubble of a whimper. If so: mission accomplished. But even if you view this as just another superhero movie, it still feels like a litter’s runt. We’d have been fine if this kingdom stayed lost.