Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Movie Review

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is a return to depths of Aquaman’s past. Oh, it is also from the depths of the DC Movies Extended Universe. That ride has shut down and is being reconstructed under ‘New Management’. But will this final new adventure be the thrill-packed action ride we deserve? Or will this one turn out like “The Flash”, where it ‘sleeps with the fishes’?

Arthur Curry (played by Jason Momoa) is the land-enabled underwater King named Aquaman. He rules over Atlantis, which is the vast undersea domain of sea-people and fish. This Kingdom is hidden from the land dwellers.

Arthur’s father is a human named Tom (played by Temuera Morrison). He is a lighthouse keeper who has a romantic tie to Arthur’s mom. She is former Atlantean Queen named Atlanna (played by Nicole Kidman). The current Queen is Arthur’s wife, Mera (played by Amber Heard). Arthur and Mera now have a little boy.

In a prior movie it showed that Aquaman had to fight and defeat his younger half-brother for the Throne. This is Orm Marius (played by Patrick Wilson) who is in a secret prison. Back then, Orm had taken the Throne by force and wanted to rise up and conquer the land-dwellers. Very few people trust him anymore. In the past, Aquaman had a run-in with a fellow named David Kane (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Kane blamed Aquaman for the death of his father.

David Kane had found a powerful technology, and shaped it to become an evil villain called Black Manta. Kane has many scientists and other minions working for him to find other ancient artifacts. One brainy guy is named Dr. Stephen Shin (played by Randall Park). Shin’s goal is to discover Atlantis. But in a North Arctic ice field, he finds something quite different. There is a long-hidden realm of a far-past Kingdom, the Lost Kingdom.

Shin’s discovery allows David Kane to find an evil weapon called the Black Trident. This links Kane to the prior King of the Lost Kingdom. The evil King instructs David to steal some special locked-away fuel. Kane can burn this fuel and raise the Earth’s temperature to melt the Ice Caps. That will free the evil King to do more evil stuff. Shin hears parts of this plan and becomes worried.

David Kane has a huge submarine, shaped like a hammerhead shark. He uses this to break into the Kingdom of Altantis and steal the secret fuel. Arthur takes after Kane, now dressed as Manta. Mera is injured by Manta, and Kane is determined to kill Arthur and anyone in his family. Aquaman is now pissed, and there is a personal vendetta. But he cannot fight Black Manta alone. Against everyone’s wishes, Aquaman decides to break out his brother Orm out of the prison.

Orm was near death, but he can be revived once he gets back into the ocean. He still has a deep hatred against Aquaman, but he knows that David Kane can destroy the world. Aquaman and Orm can only defeat Black Manta if they work together. That is, if they don’t kill each other first. They bicker and argue as they go after the common enemy.

Orm knows the back-story of the Lost Kingdom, and he knows why they were swept away centuries ago. That evil King was once part of the Atlantean community. But he fell under the spell of the dark magic in the Black Trident. Now David Kane is using this weapon to try and kill Aquaman, and destroy the Earth’s ecology. Aquaman and Orm team up to do everything they can to stop Kane, who can use the Trident along with his powerful Black Manta suit.

Dr Shin is able to let Aquaman and Orm know all of David Kane’s secrets. But they still need to find Kane, and they need to prevent him from releasing the power of the evil King. The Lost Kingdom was trapped in ice for eons, but the rapidly rising temperature is soon going to free the awful villain from captivity. Now what is worse, David Kane has kidnapped Aquamans’ son. The stakes have been raised, along with heat index.

Now all of the players will converge at the place where the evil King once ruled. Kane, in the Manta suit, is able to keep Aquaman and Orm at bay. He plans on using the bloodline of the Atlantean Kings to bring the evil King back to life. Manta has Aquaman’s young son, and will use the child as a sacrifice. The injured Mera comes in to help, along with another Atlantean King named Nereus (played by Dolph Lundgren). Everyone is in on the fight…

Will Arthur Curry, Aquaman, be able to save his son, and the world? Will Orm take the high road and defend his half-brother, and can he shake his prior hatred of the guy? Can Mera heal enough to help defeat the evil Black Manta? Can Dr. Shin stay warm enough to survive the freezing temps, and stay out of the superhero fracas? Will David Kane see the error of his ways and allow Aquaman to save him?

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is a frantic quest for a suitable end to the DC Movie Extended Universe. It succeeds in being entertaining and light-hearted. Mostly this is due to the cracking-wise antics of Jason Momoa as Aquaman. He plays the King of Atlantis as a hard-drinking, take-no-prisoners goofball. He gets a great amount of time to interact with Patrick Wilson, playing Orm as a super-serious demi-god wannabe.

Momoa and Wilson, playing the brothers who have very little in common, are the most fun aspect of the movie. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays a tough-minded bad guy with a mean streak. Randall Park looks like he is enjoying his time playing Dr. Shin, the scientist who finds he is in way over his head. The art designs and production values are really colorful and well-defined.

This movie for the most part is a hyperactive blast of color and motion. It never lets a plot or a story line interfere with a lot of visual flair and activity. There are times when the CGI-heavy action gets almost annoying. The presentation in 3-D does give a little more depth to some scenes. But it could be viewed just as well without it. The soundtrack has a couple of well-placed Classic Rock tunes, to also amp up the action.

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” will be mixed bag for most people. For the Jason Momoa fan, this will be a fun ride. For many other people, it is a ‘Lost Opportunity’.