IF this was made in the early days of superhero franchises, say when Iron Man first came out, then it might have stood out. Unfortunately Aquaman 2 has to bear the burden of having to follow through the recent flops and/or mixed bag of superhero output from both MCU/DCEU.
James Wan doesn't offer anything new under sky; a baddie who wants revenge - saw that in the Marvels. Sibling tension? Saw that in Thor. Supposedly all powerful, final-baddie who then gets thumped easily? Saw that in Black Adam. By now, there's such an air of familiarity in superhero fares, that I think it' gonna take a complete shift in narrative/plots to offer audiences a fresh take.
Jason Momoa's charisma and screen presence is basically the backbone of the movie and it pretty much carries it through. His timing, especially humour, is spot on, while his Aquaman is also convincingly authoritative. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's somewhat wasted here. A capable actor, but he's reduced to portraying a stock baddie out for revenge, while his right arm, Stingray, is as one dimensional as they come. Plus it doesn't help that the actress who plays Stingray is kinda cardboard too.
I find Randall Park, while dependable, nevertheless still plays Randall Park from other movies/Tv shows. You've seen his character in Blockbuster, or in the mcu outfits.
Don't have any complaints on Amber Heard or Nicole Kidman, but they don't have enough screen time to make much of an impact. But I have to admit, I did wonder, what if Nicole played Capt. Marvel instead of Brie? I think I would have bought into it a lot faster. Kidman's talent is such that, even small screen time doesn't stop her from exuding enough screen presence to make her contribution count.
Which leaves me with Patrick Wilson. His portrayal of Orm is brilliant, suffusing the character with the tension his inner conflicts have with his motives - "do I live in hate, or do I forgive?" The fact that Wilson achieves this without any acting histrionics but leaves his angst just right above the surface, just enough for us to feel it, is probably the standout feature of Aquaman and Lost Kingdom. I think he kinda redeemed himself from the poor and dumb Moonfall.
I hope James Gunn will be able to create not only a new trajectory for DCEU, but an entire different take on superhero movies. While Aquaman 2 is entertaining enough to fill your 2h, it's also a by the numbers' effort. Not something you and I will live to remember.
