The Gist
Aquaman is forced to team up with a former foe in order to take on a powerful new enemy.
The Verdict
When the Zack Snyder DC Universe was first announced it was big news. Theme parks launched rides and shows to coincide with its arrival and the general consensus was that this was a series that was going to match, if not better, what Marvel had to offer. But now comes the last film in the Synder-verse – Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom – and it is fizzling out with barely a whimper.
To many cinema fans this film is a ‘nothing’ film. It is the end of what Snyder is doing with DC and it feels like the new guys at the helm are killing off everything Snyder related so it is unlikely that anything that happens in this film will carry over into what happens next. Even the main man himself, Jason Momoa (Game Of Thrones) has hinted that this is his last time in the Aquaman suit.
So is it fair to ostracize this film because of the politics going on behind the scenes – hell no because Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is a stark reminder of just how fun a comic-book movie can be when it is in the hands of a creative filmmaker like James Wan (Saw).
The plot itself revolves a lot around family. Now a father himself, Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Momoa), has been reflecting just how difficult his own father, Tom (Temuera Morrison – Once Were Warriors), had it when he brought him up as a single father. The reason for this reflection is that Arthur and his wife, Mera (Amber Heard – 3 Days To Kill), have been struggling with their own baby, but Arthur spots a glimmer of hope when the baby starts to communicate with sea-life, the same way he does.
Meanwhile an expedition led by Dr. Stephen Shin (Randall Park – The Interview) has uncovered a relic that sees the Aquaman obsessed Black Mantra (Yahya Abdul-Manteen II – Candyman) given a new power that not only sees him strong enough to take down Aquaman but also starts him on a path that is slowly destroying the world.
Aquaman, Mera and the rest of the team – Atlanna (Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge!) and King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren – Rocky IV) – spring to action but it soon becomes painfully obvious to them that they are not going to be able to defeat Black Mantra without the help of one of their other enemies – Arthur’s brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson – Insidious).
What makes Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom a film worth watching is that the team behind it realise that you can’t just rest on one element of filmmaking to make a film like this work. This is one of those films where all the filmmaking elements come together to give the audience a true cinematic experience – something that some of the more recent comic book movies have forgotten about.
First of all there is David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick’s (Orphan) screenplay which looks at some deep topics revolving around family. There is a focus on fatherhood and its importance in society and secondly it deals with the complex topic of feuding brothers. How do two brothers who literally hate each other go down a road of forgiveness to a point where they are able to work together to achieve a common goal?
This storyline also provides a good source of suspense outside the traditional good versus evil splot as well – as an audience you are placed into the same dilemma as Arthur – is King Orm someone you can truly trust or is he going to turn on the team whenever the opportunity arises. This storyline also ends up making King Orm one of the most interesting characters in the film and that is something that Patrick Wilson relishes in his portrayal of the character.
With the plot working well the next piece to come together amazingly well is the universe set up by James Wan. This film looks like it is a direct relative of the very under-rated John Carter. The scenes where Aquaman goes to rescue King Orm looks identical to one of the planets in John Carter (as doe the creatures that inhabit it) and shows that when it comes to combining all the DC films Wan is a bit of an expert – and that is something that DC fans will give him credit for. In fact having said that the whole look and feel of this film is very similar to the fan favourite Green Lantern which makes this something very special indeed.
The creativity that Wan and his cinematographer, Don Burgess (Forrest Gump), put into making this universe look so good only goes to show audiences just how fairy-tale like a comic book movie can be and potentially shows the studio that perhaps they pulled the pin on the Snyder-verse just a little too prematurely.
The last piece of this filmmaking puzzle that slots in perfectly is the acting. Given that Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard are under-used in this film but Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson more than make up for that. Momoa shows those over at Marvel how to mix drama, suspense and comedy together and make it work without losing any of his character’s integrity while Wilson’s performance raises the suspense throughout the film.
Credit must also be paid to Randall Park who plays the interesting Dr Shin. His performance highlights the fact that he is playing a character that is on the side of evil but doesn’t want to be – something that perhaps needs to be explored more in both the Marvel and DC universes. Then there is Yahya Abdul-Mateen II who does all he can to make a stereo-typical villain menacing.
The Verdict
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is not a film that should just be written off because of the politics going on over at DC. Like John Carter and Green Lantern before it this is a DC film that might be pummelled by the more arty film critics but is going to be classed as an under-rated gem by true fans of the DC universe… and that is who the film was truly made for.
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