Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 3/10
Cast: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Yayha Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Randall Park, Temuera Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, Martin Short, Jani Zhao, Indya Moore, Vincent Regan, Jay McDonald, Amber Heard.
Film appreciation is in part understanding the chaos that is suffered during production, it is the point where the audience or the casual onlooker can be informed of the trials and tribulations behind the scenes, and where it might lead to understanding that the cracked porcelain vase of celluloid has been neglected or undergone what could arguably be described as a form of sabotage or cinematic early death.
You have to feel for Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson, indeed the whole cast of Aquaman 2: Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom for that matter, for in understanding the chaos of this film, the viewer finds themselves focuses more on the disjointed affair that comes in parts on show, and to which only makes sense when seen through the eyes of court cases and the history of cancel culture; judging a person’s worth on the circumstances of their life and not the impact they will have on screen.
No matter your thoughts on the Depp/Heard court case that dominated the news, it will not fail to impress upon you how it has affected the sequel to an enjoyable film and turned it into a mess that has the audience suffering for its art.
When a film can be viewed in this way, it asks a multitude of questions, and the answers are few and far between, and if not for Momoa and Wilson’s character’s strained relationship and the resolution gained, this might be considered as poor a comic book hero adaption as any placed before the genre’s typical market audience.
The story itself barely registers, the CGI seems haphazard, the action convoluted, and is only redeemed by the sporadic humour between the two main leads. Chaos is not enough to save the film from the realms of bad hero movies, and it is a shame, understandable, but still a reason that some will find to beat the overall genre with a withered stump and bemoan the lack of will to educate and charm within them.
Art is subject to history, and in Aquaman 2: Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, history will surely never be kind. It could be reasoned therefore that the weight of studio and box office takings will see any talk of a further sequel will be drowned out by the screams of derision and consumer level apathy.
Ian D. Hall