After ten years, we’re closing the doors on the DC Extended Universe. We all thought it would last longer, but James Gunn and Peter Safran are looking toward the future to better success with these heroes in the next couple of years. While it had its fair share of highs and lows in quality, I happened to enjoy 43% of them among a sea of disappointments that didn’t live up to the hype. So, it’s strange knowing their last film would be Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It’s one of those sequels you instantly forgot was coming out, as did the studio since there were barely any promotions before its release. It also doesn’t help when DC struggled with those box office numbers this year from Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Blue Beetle, and the biggest flop for the superhero genre, The Flash (which I’m the idiot who enjoyed it). My anticipation for James Wan’s latest was at a complete zero. Despite making over a billion dollars worldwide, the 2018 original wasn’t a comic book movie to ride home about, and I never understood the surrounding fascination. Going into this wanting to get it out of the way is one thing, but part of me hopes this would be a fun, slight improvement under the sea with the titular hero. Yet, what a shock to be a visual spectacle without being the least bit captivating for two hours.

What’s the Story: Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is now splitting his time between life under the sea and on land on the surface, where he’s now the proud father of a baby son, Arthur Jr. In the ocean, he’s the king of Atlantis, struggling to have both worlds come together to let everyone know who they are. Elsewhere, mercenary David Kane/ Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is still on the revenge path to kill Aquaman to avenge his father. While seeking where Atlantis is located to power his suit, David comes across the Black Trident, possessed by the King of Necrus of the Lost Kingdom, giving him more power than imaginable. To stop him from causing damage to the world, Arthur does the unthinkable by teaming up with his imprisoned half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to fight together and save the ocean and surface.

What should’ve made Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom stand out was finding new ways not to feel like we’ve seen it all before, especially when it wants to explore the world perfect for our main character to inhabit while not needing to be connected to the other films. But you’ll be shaking your head in near boredom, considering how messy it was. Again, the first is a pretty average DCEU entry, but it can be fun. I felt none of that here regarding the most predictable storyline seen in almost better in any random comic book movie sequel where there are legit stakes to be had. Even with James Wan back, this is where a big spectacle was too much to handle when not all the action was tempting to watch except for two fight sequences. And when everyone is saddled with a pretty terrible script from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who co-wrote the first, everything the film is surrounding goes for derivative rather than leaning on the spectacular.

Jason Momoa’s the last one standing out of his Justice League teammates. Regardless of people’s feelings about his other appearances, there’s no denying he brought Aquaman’s back from being the overdone punchline of DC by making him a badass on-screen. He seems to be having fun one last time, but this might be when everyone will only see him as this surfer bro instead of the character. At least in Fast X, he plays an over-the-top villain to salvage a sequel nobody remembers, but not much has changed here except balancing his life and being the hero his people need to trust. Along with him, Patrick Wilson as Orm holds his own this time, and he’s better here than the first. I didn’t care much for him before, but the interest gets there once he and Arthur go on this buddy adventure that tries to go for the Thor/ Loki relationship seen in Thor: The Dark World. Right, there’s a tried-and-true formula of former foes turned allies, but with them seeing through their personalities, they make for some of the more pretty entertaining moments with their brotherly dynamic.

Those two are the only interesting characters to follow when everyone else was wasted even to return, especially Abdul-Mateen II. The introduction to him in the first was a good enough setup for what’s to come in the sequel, yet there’s not much of Black Manta (very accurate costume, though). He feels underused by a villain who does not aim to be sympathetic but not too much of him once he gets hold of the trident and is basically under someone else’s control. Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison as Atlanna and Tom Curry differ the same. One of the biggest complaints is why there was more of Amber Heard than I thought. Mera was utterly pointless, not just because she’s a terrible human being, but because they could’ve removed her entirely. And her performance was awful, which didn’t shock me.

But on the surface, there’s nothing positive to take away from another uninspired superhero movie. The point throughout could be more developed when jumping from one fantastic location to the next to move everything along with no purpose of direction or tone when juggling numerous storylines. The lore had some promise in both films, yet it gets bogged down not just from weak dialogue but needless exposition dumps that make it feel longer than it is. And with the common complaint some of the more recent superhero movies are from a visual and comedy standpoint, expect to see them in The Lost Kingdom. The CGI was okay at first, but it’s noticeably worse when underwater (I kept looking at everyone’s hair) with people floating around so dull. When the action happens, whether on land or underwater, it all blends when there’s no excitement from Wan’s directing, even on a giant IMAX screen. There were some neat neon visuals here and there, but they never grabbed me anywhere else. Truthfully, any movie after Avatar: The Way of Water that takes place underwater will never compete with how remarkable that was. It also made for the most unfunny DCEU movie to date. One of the earliest jokes was Jr. peeing in Arthur’s face not once but twice. The only laugh I got was unintentional, where it was meant to be this severe emotional moment that’s awkwardly slowed down and faded to black so randomly.

The attitude I had walking in and Warner Bros. release strategy was undoubtedly,” Let’s get this sh*t over with,” and the results are more frustrating than I thought. This could’ve been an excellent finale to remember this cinematic universe by. By the end, it’s all anticlimactic to rush to the end credits (the mid-credit scene isn’t worth staying after) and wonder what was worse before the reshoots. Even how it ended is lackluster when it’s supposedly meant to poke fun at the competition. Not impressed. With both Aquaman films, there’s always that potential attachment with Wan involved, but it’s always a disappointment, more so with this installment that’s forgettable and lame for all.

Overall, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom may be more prominent in scope, but that doesn’t change the fact this finishes the DCEU not only on a down note of a sequel but the worst superhero movie to come out all year. As someone who didn’t think the first was all that good, I felt this doubles down on a weaker story and visuals, making the dynamic between Momoa and Wilson a sure highlight.

Grade: D+

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Release Date: December 22, 2023

Runtime: 124 Minutes

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and some language.

Distributions: Warner Bros. Pictures