Minus the excitement

Johnson Thomas

The DC Expanded Universe of films brings back its fun hero in this messy sequel to ‘Aquaman’. Jason Mamoa has a larger-than-life presence, showcasing his contribution to Arthur Curry’s instinct for fun and a sense of the ridiculous. Returning director James Wan and screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Wan’s regular collaborator) don’t take much time to get in on the action. With climate change disaster hanging fire over the titular sequence, we are expected to conclude that what comes next is a warning of sorts to the world we see here.

The opening montage narrated by Aquaman does the job of setting up the exposition, heightening the gravity of the intervention required, so that the narrative can go full-steam ahead.

Arthur, in his gleaming copper fish-scale muscle armour, is now the seemingly reluctant king of Atlantis, with the golden Lost Trident in his hand. Flaming-haired Mera (Amber Heard) is his wife now and they have an adorable infant son. Arthur is more interested in being a hands-on warrior than being seen leading the council. His nemesis, David Kane, aka Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), the pirate whose face was scarred at the climax of ‘Aquaman’, is getting more and more powerful and Aquaman has to release his brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) from the prison he put him in, before they can team up to fight the Manta menace.

Despite the grand scale, the movie fails to live up to expectations. The fights feel messy and the choreography is generic.

There’s not much to set up since much of the cast from the first film (including Temuera Morrison and Nicole Kidman as Arthur’s dad and mom, Dolph Lundgren as Mera’s father Nereus, and Amber Heard as Aquaman’s wife) have little to do in the scheme of things here.

While the ongoing drama between the two warring brothers generates a fair deal of chemistry and playfulness, it’s not enough to carry the narrative to a befitting conclusion. Nearly two-thirds of this sequel’s runtime is devoted to Arthur and Orm (Patrick Wilson) going from arch enemies to argumentative buddies on a mission to reconciliation and redemption. Visually, there’s way too much happening in every frame for the audience to catch on.

The brothers work through their relationship issues while getting out of trouble, toppling giant statues, spewing inane metaphors, punching giant bugs, and zapping people with laser guns. Most of the action feels like game mechanics.

Momoa’s humorous running commentary allows for some fun and his feuding chemistry with Patrick Wilson strikes enough sparks to make some parts of the overdone narrative intriguing.

The mix of CGI and actual locations looks toonish and unreal in 3D. It feels flat and fails to add value to the distraught engagement. The grandiosity of ideas does not culminate in anything exciting or memorable.