Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) is the last remaining film of the DC superhero universe led by director Zack Snyder before handing it over to James Gunn. Therefore, despite the resounding success of part 1 in 2018, this blockbuster still makes many fans doubt that it will become a project of the studio’s “if you leave it, it’s a pity, if you want it, it’s a sin” project of the studio.
However, Aquaman with the performance of muscular actor Jason Momoa is still a superhero loved by a large audience. Despite the noise on the sidelines, the film finally hit theaters relatively completely without considering the factors that contribute to the development of the overall story line of the entire DC Cinematic Universe.
![Aquaman 2: The best superhero blockbuster in the DC Cinematic Universe in 2023 - Photo 1. Aquaman 2: The best superhero blockbuster in the DC Cinematic Universe in 2023 - Photo 1.](https://gamek.mediacdn.vn/133514250583805952/2023/12/22/photo-16-17031560298052007505606-1703229670031-1703229670344955668123.png)
Funny, satisfying family film
The content of Aquaman 2 continues the story of the previous part, continuing to follow Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) – who became the king of the sea of Atlantis. He married Mera (played by Amber Heard) and had a son. Despite their duty to rule the undersea kingdom, the family still maintains a peaceful life on land.
With his new responsibility, Arthur gradually became bored with the boring government work, holding meetings all day without the opportunity to go out and fight. His only consolation is that every night he can go home and play with his little son.
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Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom revolves around Arthur’s life after getting married, having children and becoming king of Atlantis.
At the same time, David Kane – the evil Black Manta – discovers an ancient treasure, a powerful black trident once owned by the king who ruled an ancient kingdom at the bottom of the ocean that has now perished. . With this ghostly power, he plans to take revenge on Aquaman.
The villain leads his army around the world to recapture the warehouses of orichalcum – a mineral once used by people under the ocean as fuel but has long been banned because of its negative impact on the environment. However, Black Manta himself does not know that he is just a pawn being manipulated by others towards a more terrible plot.
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![Aquaman 2: The best superhero blockbuster in the DC Cinematic Universe in 2023 - Photo 6. Aquaman 2: The best superhero blockbuster in the DC Cinematic Universe in 2023 - Photo 6.](https://gamek.mediacdn.vn/133514250583805952/2023/12/22/photo-8-1703156018541595859795-1703229672551-17032296726321475829572.jpg)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as villain Black Manta.
Director James Wan continues to follow the successful formula of part 1, creating a simple, humorous and accessible film to the majority of audiences. Script Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is built in the direction of a work of the comedy – family genre, incorporating a series of action segments and beautiful effects.
The main line in the story revolves around the reunion between brothers Arthur Curry and Orm (Patrick Wilson), who were enemies in the previous episode. To resist Black Manta’s plots and protect Atlantis, they must put down their egos and cooperate against the forces of evil.
This direction makes Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom becomes an action-comedy film following the familiar Hollywood “buddy cop” motif, about two characters with opposite personalities who reluctantly become partners for a common goal. Both Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson fulfilled their roles in the work well.
The male lead continues to play a strong role with a somewhat sassy and flamboyant personality, reminiscent of his performance that received much praise in Fast X. In particular, the segments about balancing the mission of doing King of Atlantis and father to children are portrayed very well. Meanwhile, Patrick Wilson maintains the seriousness and coldness of his character but is still charming enough to “juggle” with his on-screen co-star’s comedic performances.
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The two Aquaman brothers work together to fight bad guys.
Stitching images and sounds is the biggest highlight of Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. James Wan has truly proven himself as someone who knows how to “handle” blockbuster projects. The Malaysian-born director is very focused on the setting, building a series of interesting and majestic new lands in the film. He uses many wide shots to show off all that beauty to the audience on screen, especially those who choose to enjoy the work in IMAX, 4DX or ScreenX theaters.
Safe script with superficial ending
Despite bringing a well-rounded and attractive story, the Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom script can make many demanding audiences feel too stereotypical and formulaic. The film effectively uses familiar pieces that have been reused many times by many Hollywood producers in the past. It is not difficult for viewers to guess how the plot of the movie will unfold and where it will go. The filmmaker did not pay too much attention to character development, spending time on comedy and action.
During the duration of more than 2 hours, director James Wan also “restaurants” viewers with some quite interesting twists, suggesting that the film’s script has a lot of potential to develop in many different and bold directions. than. However, this is still an understandable choice for DC when the project is released during the Christmas movie season, targeting the superhero fan community and family audience. At the same time, the appeal of the character Aquaman is still great, so there is no need to take too many risks to put him in a script that is too complicated or has many unexpected twists.
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Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom still cannot escape the inherent negative points of recent superhero blockbusters.
The biggest minus point of Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom Perhaps the ending is somewhat superficial and sketchy. Although reasonable, many audiences will feel confused because everything happens so quickly. Black Manta’s ambitious plan collapsed too easily. The film’s mysterious villain is revealed and built up quite well but does not have much space to appear in the final act. The film is likely to be the last work in Zack Snyder’s DC Cinematic Universe, before turning a new page with the direction of James Gunn. Therefore, it is likely that the producers do not want to give fans too much hope about the next interesting stories of Aquaman portrayed by Jason Momoa.
Scoring: 3.5/5
Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom may not be a groundbreaking superhero blockbuster that surpasses the shadow of the previous film. However, this is still an entertaining work with excellent images and sound, enough to please the majority of audiences when it hits theaters. The film is also the most worth-watching work in the DC Cinematic Universe in the past year, far surpassing the quality of names like Blue Beetle, The Flash nice Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
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