AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM (2023) – A continued lost cause in a genre that has long outstayed its welcome
Rating: ⭐⭐

This film surely took a long time to rise our shores after repeated delays in its release due to various reasons ranging from the pandemic, to the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial scandal, and more recently due to some drastic changes in the DC directions. As it stands this shall be the final movie under the current DC Universe as Warner Bros. prepare to embark on a (foolish) mission to reinvent the DC Universe under the helm of James Gunn.
I have never been a fan of superhero movies and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is not about to make me change my mind. It has the same old predictable nonsensical plot with lame jokes thrown in at regular intervals to keep viewers amused amidst the standard noisy CGI assisted action sequences. Jason Momoa reprises his role as Aquaman with ease. He is after all playing a cartoon character which automatically exempts him from putting in much acting talents apart from flexing his ample muscles. Patrick Wilson surprisingly provided more of a screen presence than Jason, as Aquamam’s once disgraced younger younger who turns good. He at least looked and acted the part of a righteous superhero. This plot about evil brother / villian turning to the good side is nothing new to the superhero world. At one stage, Aquaman even referred to his little brother as Loki, an inside joke in reference to Marvel’s Thor’s brother Loki! This self-mockery gimmick is again nothing new to the genre and something that Marvel movies does in abundance to the point of annoyance.
Happily, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is not totally without any redeeming values. It was reasonably entertaining and I did not fall asleep thoughtout its 2 hours length. Plus, I admit that I did feel awed by the clarity of the image projected in the huge IMAX screen by the latest laser projector system. The screen watched this in as also presenting it in 3D (I had the rare honour of catching this in a 3D IMAX Hall in Shanghai) and I must concur that this is the clearest and brightest 3D movie I have seen thus far. Unfortunately, the 3D effects here is had very little impact and was hardly noticeable. This is strange because the first Aquaman movie had very good 3D effects especially in its underwater sequences. I conclude that this is probably because the 3D effects this time around was not filmed natively in 3D and hence offered little depth to its image.
I left the cinema hall feeling relieved that this is the final DC superhero movie in its current universe and that perhaps it would allow Jason Momoa and director James Wan to embark on other projects outside of the genre and into something more worthy of their talents.