Aquaman and the Lost potential of the DCEU

In this day and age it is hard to come by any form of studio or company that has not taken the aspect of turning everything into a connected universe with such aspects like The MCU being the staple of it that has seen a bit of a rough mixed patch as of late, some seeing the likes of all animated films from Pixar as being one connective universe and even to a connected universe that was just announced as of this year of the universe of Winnie the Pooh being a sadistic murderer and his public domain friends, but in todays review we are talking on the one film that brings to the end of the initial planned rival of the MCU that has been all over the place and that is with the DCEU. Now over the course of a decade it has been shown that the likes of this studio had somewhat of a vision that got lost in translation and some part of appeal by the release of the first film of Man of Steel with some aspects of Superman being a bit more grim, killing his villains and even morally questioning if saving people is a decision he should do. Now initially the planned universe was first conceived by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, when they hit a road block with writing for the conclusion of the Dark Knight Trilogy and created a story on Superman that in process would get some slight alterations by the time the film entered production. After its mixed reception it saw a mixed balance of a universe conceived at first of 5 films by the director that loves his slo-mo of Zack Snyder, a massive amount of studio interference that affected a lot of the films where some may be minor and some may have been butchered to having supposedly 22 different versions of one film and still turned out a mess, behind the scenes dramas, shake ups and in universe time travel using the speed force led to the the universe being reset with a new planned structured universe being run by James Gunn and Peter Safran. But I could go into all of that original DCEU and talk about it but I will save that for its own separate video of watching the complete 16 film series and 1 season tv show (granted there is a season 2 of that on the way but it has been confirmed to be part of the new DCU) and instead I will be giving thoughts on the last of the films from this DCEU by starting with the very last film and will possibly give thoughts on the other one which is the one about the Beetle and today we are delving into the sequel to the highest grossing film of this cinematic universe which is with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Now this came out back at Christmas after a couple of delays and was initially planned for release the previous year but got moved around with some of the other projects as well as some behind the scenes drama with budgetary issues, poor test screenings and a legal issue with one of the actors in particular, but I am here to ask the question of if this film is good? Well I see the elements that their is some entertainment value from this film though it does have some of its issues and I will delve into them in this review.

Dive into the story

So I will give a little context about the character and where we last left off with him. We had been introduced to this character properly in the Justice league films as a half human, half Atlantean and in those films he joined forces with the other heroes such as Batman , Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg and eventually Superman to Stop Steppenwolf from retrieving the Mother Boxes for Darkseid to use the anti life equation to destroy the world. Following that we get more of the origins of his powers and how with the assistance of Mera will stop his half brother Orm from wiping out humanity (even though the reasons of pollution of the waters makes sense), find out what happened to his mother, recover the ancient artifact of the trident, defeats his brother and becomes the new king of Atlantis. After that we see him appear in small cameos in both Peacemaker and the Flash but does not add much substance to those roles so this is where we find ourselves now. The plot on this one is more a solo focused story with some possible world ending consequences but it goes as follows:

"After failing to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta wields the power of the mythic Black Trident to unleash an ancient and malevolent force. Hoping to end his reign of terror Aquaman forges an unlikely alliancewith his brother Orm. Setting aside their differences, they join forces to protect their kingdom and save the world from irreversible destruction"

Now the basis of this story and plot for this one may not be the most original of stories of villain obtains a powerful weapon that unleashes a dangerous power and the heroes must stop them and save the world but I can at least respect the case of building on more of the deep mythos of the world under the ocean with new worlds and building on a villain that was only really more of an adversary in the first film. Sure it could've been a lot more intricate and detailed but I think it was more decent that it was more of a contained story then branching out to the convoluted timeline that the DCEU had itself in as of late and for what its worth it is a fine story

Story: 5.5 - 6

Plenty of characters in the sea

Now with the likes of any film they will have a lot of optional choices of different characters that help to move a film along from the start to the end and there is a few characters to discuss about with some having bigger roles then the others and I will focus on a small handful of giving them a focus for this one

Aquaman (Jason Mamoa)

So let us start with the main man himself with the king of Atlantis of Aquaman. Now it has been known for years that this character has been the butt of jokes that his only power is to talk to fish and that he does not add much to a team consisting of an Indestructive object, a detective in a bat costume, an Amazonian and other heroes but along came Mamoa and made the character cool and it is still present in this film that he brings a lot of love and energy to this movie given we follow him for most of this film and having an appealing main character helps at least keep the plot moving forward and helps teach him many moral lessons about themselves that they may have been neglecting and find it on the heroes journey and I think for what its worth it helped to keep the film afloat.

Ocean Master (Orm) (Patrick Wilson)

Now we shall talk on the other leading character in this film in particular and that is with Arthur's Half brother Orm. Now we know him as the villain of the first film and since the end he spared his life and imprisoned him in a dry cell but soon realizes that he'll have to team up with his half brother to stop Mantra and his dark trident. Now I do think that he is a compelling character in the first and I will say if anything that I like the dynamic between the 2 of them in this that yeah its the basic concept of sibling or rival forced to team up and take on a greater enemy and learn to respect one another along the way and to its credit it works well in this piece that yeah some of the dialogue can be a little iffy but I enjoyed the performance of the 2 for what its worth and learning from each other along the way helped to better understand each other and I think it is with these 2 that are the highlights of the characters from this film that help balance it a little more

Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II)

Now a character that is the most known of villains to Aquaman and that comes with the form of Black Manta. Now we got some bit of background to his character in the last film and that was with him seeking revenge against the merman for leaving his father to die in the sinking ship and then teamed up with Orm to try and stop him but that didn't last very long and he was out for the count shortly after setting him up for the sequel. Now we finally get to see him as a villain more in this film rather then a muscle for hire. Granted there is still a small element of that in this with the Dark Trident influencing his mind to restore the power back to his frozen kingdom but it is still more then enough with what they give him to have some sense of reasoning to do so that he will gain great power but also kill the man that took the life of his father. I will say I like him a bit more in this but then again he does not do much besides build up stealing reserves across the different kingdoms, use the trident great power and cause some casualties along the way. Could he have been better? sure he could've but I would feel that it may have been before all of the messiness that went on behind the scenes making this film so it could've worked more but felt he did what he could with what was provided.

Dr Stephen Shin (Randall Park)

so on the basis that at least have some form of a character in this is a minor character that gets a little bit of a bigger role from the previous film is with the character of Stephen Shin. Now he has been assigned and teamed up with Mantra to find some powerful readings and ways for his suit to be rebuilt after the attack in Sicily and it becomes apparent that he is really here as a lackey as well as give the exposition to the audience of Manta's Plan and while he does have a redemption moment near the end it feels a little forced and in most case he is just here as simply to exposit the info of what we are to expect through the film and the characters but he's a harmless character and he can have a pass.

Thomas Curry (Temura Morrison)

One other character that has made a return to the series is in the form of Arthur's Father and while he may be a little more of a background presence he does at least have some moments with his son and they have some heart to heart moments and words of encouragement that while they can be seen as tacky and just placed for given some advice I think that having them get some advice from those that raised them works well and its not to the level where he is overused and has that fine balance of being there for Arthur and to be a secondary guardian to his and Mera's new child so I think he works here.

Mera (Amber Heard)

Right, lets get this one wrapped up as I know this was the one that was mainly going to be discussed but lets address the elephant in the room with the character of Mera. Now for those unaware this film at first was initially anticipated before all of that rumoured stuff involving the actress came to light where it would soon be proven by a televised trial that she was not telling much of the truth or twisting the truth with her partner when it cam to the likes of Abuse with her former partner of Johnny Depp, which saw him being dropped by different films and brand yet it has been proven at the point that she was in the wrong and was soon proven to be the case that it was her that caused a lot more abuse and issues. What followed from the first news was for many people petitioning for her to be removed from the film (a petition that would go on to garner more then 4 million signatures) but it seemed to be the case that she would stay on but will still appear in the film just in a more reduced role. Now her scenes in this are... eh, like mainly she is just there and in the background for most of those scenes where she appears for brief moments in the beginning, gets nearly killed by Mantra around the middle point and then disappears until briefly near the final battle and that is it. it becomes a point that if they removed her from the film besides say that one scene in the middle it would not make much of a difference to the movie. I know comparing to her role in the first but in that one it is a bit more of a character that provides a lot of exposition for the main character and that is really it so in general her role in this is eh.

Remaining characters

As for the other characters in this film, there is mainly the likes of 2 other characters that I can at least acknowledge that have some form of presence in this film and that is with Arthurs Mom Atlantia and one of the other rulers of the 7 Kingdoms of Nereus. Now both of them are just characters that are really just added in for the likes of helping moving some plot along where Atlantia shows up maybe once or twice to explain where Aquaman can find Orm and to care for her land husband when some dire circumstances occour and then Nereus is mainly there to make jokes with some ruler of a crab nation and help in the fight towards the lost kingdom in stopping Manta as well as trying to deal with respecting Orm in the process and while they help a little it becomes a feeling like they are just there to have them still in the film (which is strange given that Wilem Dafoe was also cast in this film and then just kill him offscreen by a specific illness and just expect that people would be fine with it which is annoying). I feel maybe they had more of a presence in earlier cuts but I guess they were reduced down in favor of the sibling dynamic but I have no idea.

It also comes to the affect that we were initially planned for this film to have a cameo from the Caped Crusader himself as one of the Batmen were set to appear in some form and was at first Affleck, then it was Keaton and then Affleck again and then somewhere along the way the entire cameo was cut and it does make me wonder what was the scene in particular but I guess it will now become part of Lost media.

But overall I think in relation to the likes of the characters in the film, some of them do help keep it a float with the main 2 leads helping to provide some decent dynamic, the villain being a bit more better then his first appearance and some smaller roles that are fine but feel a little unneeded but for whats its worth it is a fine selection

Characters score: 6-7 

Presenting a world above and below the ocean waves

Now this section I can give a fair bit of praise to in terms of the world building and presentation as for what its worth the expansive look at the worlds and cities hidden in the very vast depths of the oceans do look really great and are a lot more appealing then the likes of the stilted locales of cities and buildings you would see from some of the other heroes and the likes of the vibrant neon like colors and buildings and locales based on the designs of some underwater creatures as well as seeing it as a near advanced civilization to our own is really cool and will have to give props to the artists that came up with the concepts of designs to the city of Atlantis or any of the other 7 kingdoms

I would also extend it to the likes of the looks and designs of the characters when it is comparing them to the likes of the comics that they have their own unique aesthetic but also having some of the look to the original designs of the outfits, in particular with Aquaman and Manta where they have a nice new upgraded look to the classic outfits that look more armor form and functional and less more like a outfit for a palates class and I think it is a nice balance of the tones in the outfits and looks that keep it close to the original.

As on the respect of source material, it is a basis that it does not go too heavily on the likes of the tones with the talk to fish aspect but there is elements in there and they use them sparingly and it works to their favor and I like the element of the worldbuilding with the lore and rivalry and while I may not know too much on the comics I think it feels like a solo focused story that is more simple and less convoluted as the likes of a weird alien invasion or a multiverse disaster so I think in all efforts it is fine. 

Presentation: 7-8

writing that hopefully will soak up like a sponge

Now on the likes of the focused aspects will come in the form of the writing and in all of the case this is where an aspect of it feels a little all over the place sometimes. Now it is not to say that the writing of this film is god awful or anything, is that it may have needed a little more structure and development to help flesh it out a bit more but I do like a bit of it with the likes of the world building with some of the lore of the ancient kingdoms and the dark trident and morphing it to the likes of the connection to the characters and all, but some of the writing comes in the expense of trying a bit too hard with the likes of the comedy aspect where I can see some of the attempts with the comedy and it can work now and again but a lot of the time it does feel a bit flat but I can see the likes of the attempt that was made. I also feel sometimes the charisma for Aquaman can affect a little of the serious nature of some aspects but it is not as overly concerning as the other elements and doesn't happen too much, it does once or twice and gets close a few times but I think they stop at a point to make it too unbearable. I am sure if given a bit more of a rewrite and structure it may have helped it a little more but I think it its fine enough in writing in general.

Writing + Humor: 5-6

critiques that needed more water

Now of course like every project it goes without saying that no film goes without some form of critique, even great films may have some very minor flaws, and this film of course has some flaws and critiques that I can see being a bit of an issue that could be worked out if given the chance to make it a better film but in general I will give my thoughts of those below

Story: in most case it is a element of the likes of the story being something we have seen plenty of times before in the past and I feel the likes of maybe structuring the likes of more of a serious tone that they had initially been going for and more of a focus and less on some behind the scenes drama that may have come from poor test screenings and possible studio interference they may have affected them to have another appealing hit on their hands and help end the DCEU stronger but it is hard to say if this was the story from the outset or if there was more to it that may have made it that little bit better.

Characters: I feel besides Aquaman, Orm and Manta, the other characters could've been developed more and given a better focus and use in this film and feel like they are there just to be recognizable faces for the big cast of the film and some that either could've sat this film out or even given more context and acknowledgement for other characters instead of just saying they died off screen and not do anything to make up for that and I feel they could've structured those characters a bit more for the likes of using them more and well in this sequel.

Presentation: points that I did not bring up in this case of the film is mainly to do with 2 things and that is with the case of pacing and visuals. It has the case that a lot of the film feels it is on a speedrun a lot of the time that it just goes through the elements that we start with a battle scene then it jumps through the what has this character been up to since they last appeared and it is seen a lot where we really want to just cut through some elements like the breakout of Orm or finding the location of Manta's secret weapon cache lair just is sped through to them being there without seeing a lot of the other stuff and while I can appreciate the likes of making it a rounded runtime, it can affect the likes of development and possibly could use having a bit of an extensive time added onto it but that can be a mixed result as well. The other known piece is the visuals that while it is not terrible, there are signs of some visual affect that don't look fully finished or rendered and I do not know what it is but something about the hair movement in the film looks a little too plasticy and maybe because everyone in this film has a form of long hair I feel that it just got mixed in of everyone looking the same that it affected one or 2 of them but it is a small nitpick so to say, again not all bad but there is some noticeable elements here and there. 

Writing: most in this one is some tonal issues and the likes of trying a bit with the comedy that it either falls flat here and there or tries too hard and the tone mix can be a bit of an affect too but it is just some small inconsistencies that may have needed another draft or going over but it could've been majorly affected by the changes in the development and messy creation.

conclusion: does it sink or swim

In the end, through the extensive journey of the last 10 years from messy planned universes, concepts, studio meddling, fan campaigns and a few releases moved around to end in the ocean, Aquaman and the lost Kingdom turned out into a film that had its potential from the originals success that got a little muddy with the change of the future to the franchise to the outcome of the film that it came to be by its release. Is it a perfect, no, there is some fair amount of issues but is it a god awful or terrible film: No, far from unwatchable or god awful. Buoyed by a likeable lead and a decent dynamic and a story that is more self contained then a massive multiversal connective story, it serves it more as a simple fun jaunt with a character that had every right to fail as the most joke character of the comics and made him the most cool looking that gave their best with the outcome of what they got from the mess of behind the scenes issues and dramas to come out with a film that may not be great, may not be terrible, but a film that I think is a decent time of a watch that had a lot more potential but felt like a modest effort of a swan song to what had become the DCEU.

Final Scores:

Story: 5.5 - 6

Characters: 6 - 7

Presentation: 7 - 8

Writing and humor: 5.5 - 6

Total: 24 - 27 / 40 or 60 - 67.5%

I hope that you have enjoyed this review and if you have seen this film, I would love to hear your thoughts on the duology in the comments below and would love to know what is your favourite film from the DCEU in general. As always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday and I will see you all in the next piece :)

Take Care, Keep being you, Signing off

Sam H