Aquaman: Lost Kingdom

#15 DCEU. Der Abschlussfilm des DC Extended Universe ist das Sequel von Aquaman. Der Film läuft wie am Schnürchen und basiert auf dem klassischen Konzept des Buddy-Films, in dem sich die Erzfeinde aus dem ersten Teil unter dem Einfluss der Umstände zu Kameraden entwickeln und gemeinsam gegen einen neuen Feind kämpfen. Das ist absolut ideal für ein Feel-Good-Erlebnis für das Publikum. Jason Momoa und Patrick Wilson haben Charisma im Überfluss, die Unterwasserwelt ist sehr attraktiv und es ist toll, all die architektonischen Ideen und die Fauna sowie Flora wahrzunehmen. Für Filmemacher ist so etwas immer eine interessante Herausforderung, schließlich reizt das Konzept von Atlantis schon seit antiken Zeiten zur Verarbeitung. Im Kino muss es eine Augenweide gewesen sein. Natürlich hätte ich gerne mehr Raum für Kidman/Heard/Lundgren/Morrison gehabt, aber angesichts der langen Wartezeit auf den Film ist das Endergebnis mehr als akzeptabel. Der erste Teil widmete sich dem Paar Aquaman/Mera, der zweite ist dem Paar Aquaman/Orm gewidmet. (14.05.2024)

Aquaman and his brother Orm must stop the villainous Black Manta before... whatever. James Wan directed a movie that, thanks to the studio's insane interference, is completely idiotic and nonsensical. But it's still unexpectedly entertaining, as the director throws one visual attraction after another at the audience, and if you don't force yourself to think, you might find that it's actually quite enjoyable. But in your head, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom won't last long. It's simply still too much of a dud for that. The DCEU era could have ended worse, though. (22.12.2023)

Aquaman benefits greatly from having Jason Momoa in the lead role – he’d be great even in a flop. Fortunately, this isn’t the case, but the fantastical setting requires heavy reliance on CGI to bring it to life. While the film is enjoyable and occasionally quite funny, the overwhelming digital effects strip away some of the cinematic spirit, turning it into more of a routine spectacle than a memorable experience. (26.03.2024)

James Wan is wasted with this digital crap. He needs either another horror movie or some action-packed smash, this film could have been directed by anyone else and the result would be the same - average. The first one was really cool, this is a bit of recycling, but at the same time without any added value. The humour doesn't work either, why the hell do we have the same villain and not someone new? I would have liked a horror and atmospheric sequence like from the first one (the with those creatures like from Alien – It's a shame that the spin-off with them was cancelled). The supporting characters don't have much space, Nicole Kidman, Amber Heard, and Dolph Lundgren are appear briefly, and although there’s one action scene after another, none of them really blow your mind. When I think back to that epic monstrous fight from the first one, the finale here is quite intimate, which is a big minus for me. The sound in Theatre Deluxe is great, there was something to watch, so I’m not pissed off, it's better than The Marvels, Ant-Man 3, and Blue Beetle, but still it isn't anything special. Comic books films are going in the wrong direction. 6/10. (04.01.2024)

In the first adventure from the underwater world of Atlantis and other realms, I really enjoyed myself at the cinema without exaggeration. I drew a good mood from it for days, I remembered all the lines and the combination with the inventive action I considered to be the surprise of the whole season. This world therefore deserved to be enjoyed immediately, and waiting for the constantly postponed sequel was a bit sad, but even more ominous. The news about the problematic filming and rewriting of the script eventually showed, because this sequel is not the real thing, it is just a carefully extended original concept. Since the movie often reminds of an action video game (not only in a bad way, but definitely also in a good way), the analogy of expecting a full-blooded sequel is appropriate and instead what lands in the hands of the public is a hastily stitched data disk. Because in the Lost Kingdom, the original honest adventurous spirit of storytelling was lost, which, no matter where it wandered, was able to lure into all locations and to all characters. Today, only the storylines from the first part are being completed and no surprises are expected here. Partly it is not a bad choice, because the relationship between Arthur and Orm has always formed the main (melodramatic) storyline for me, in which the model of Thor and Loki from the Marvel competition is blatantly copied, but why fix something that works. Unfortunately, the villain of the party is Manta, a prototype character who is evil just because he is evil, he crosses the seven seas with a heavy-duty submarine and occasionally terrorizes his crew. The mood of the headless, almost 80s-vibrating storytelling irreversibly disappears in this case. I'm sorry that Momoa is saying goodbye to a character that has been admirably tailored to him in such a half-hearted way, but thanks to Poseidon for the fact that the sadly shortened series at least has some meaningful and relatively satisfying ending. (02.04.2024)

I found it more entertaining than the first one. I'm going to slightly overrate, because after the delays, the reshoots and the Amber Heard shit, it could have been a lot worse. James Wan delivers an entertaining romp that paces well, looks good, and that gave up any larger ambitions by the time it went to the editing room. Global warming being the fault of a black man with his head in a fishbowl and input from the UN it’s something I can’t consider ambitious, but a subversive attempt at comedy. The scenes with the baby, the cheeseburger and the cockroach, or the jogging are very good and make up for the over-seriousness that bothered me in the first one. Jason Momoa relishes the role and squeezes the most out of it. DC actually didn't end up doing too badly. “I am Aquaman!” (31.01.2024)

I approached the second Aquaman with sober expectations, based on the not-so-appealing trailers, and in the end I left the cinema satisfied. Underwater worlds are a rewarding theme in movies, and this one offers different corners of them that had their own charm despite the strong CGI (I couldn't help but think of Jabba the Hutt in one scene). The brotherly chemistry between Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson didn't quite work, but this lack was thankfully made up for by the abundance of action and fights with enemies. The scenes from the dead city reminded me a lot of the Warcraft game (and movie) and it's perhaps a shame that they weren't given more space, while the sequences with the metal "octopuses" made Chicken Little pop into my head. I found the main villain rather bland – about as bland as Nicole Kidman's facial expressions. On the other hand, I did enjoy the scenes with the enhanced octopus, easily the biggest hero of the whole film. In the end, it's a one-view film that won't stay in your head for long after the screening. (04.01.2024)