Jason Momoa is a powerful force, a towering six-foot-four and with precisely the kind of charisma you want from a swaggering superhero tough-guy called Aquaman.
But since the water-logged demi-god’s fun 2018 debut, and some appearances in various DC universe ventures including Justice League, there hasn’t exactly been deafening fan enthusiasm for a sequel. Still, after several years and several recuts by the studio, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is finally here – right before Christmas and with little fanfare. I can see why.
In the original, Momoa was a royal with a rebellious streak, who set out to lead the underwater kingdom of Atlantis and stop his half-brother destroying the world above sea level. In The Lost Kingdom, Aquaman is once again called upon to protect the kingdom.
Most of the original cast return, including Aquaman’s antagonist, the nefarious Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a big talent given less to do here than he deserves), who still seeks revenge for Aquaman’s accidental killing of his father.
Manta schemes to destroy the Atlanteans – and possibly the whole world – with the help of Dr Stephen Shin (Randall Park), a marine biologist obsessed with ancient maritime myths. Together, they seek to unleash the forces of a dark, submerged warrior nation known as Necrus.
It’s no wonder we have so-called superhero fatigue if these are the plots with which we are presented. The film is not actively terrible, but it’s simply nothing we haven’t seen before, with its vengeful supervillain hellbent on warlike destruction and a band of plucky fighters who come together to protect their sea-kingdom.
Unfortunately, the film’s underwater CGI gives the actors a slightly corpse-like sheen and renders their movements stodgy and slow. It is similarly bogged down by its convoluted plot, relying on the audience’s memory of the complex intra-tribe politics of the 2018 film’s fantasy aquatic world.
This soon becomes confusing – and quickly boring. There was some hope, here, that director James Wan – who co-created the Saw series as well as helming the Conjuring and Insidious franchises – would be able to inject this ill-fated franchise with some gore or intrigue to freshen up matters. But it seems he, too, drowned in the sea of baffling plotlines. Let’s hope this is the last of these sequels – this franchise was long ago a sinking ship.