Aquaman: Lost Kingdom

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)

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)

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)

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)