20 Rotten Tomatoes Predictions For 2022's Biggest Movies

The critical reception for the first Aquaman was basically "it's fine." 65% of critics gave it a passing grade, mostly of the three-star variety, largely thanks to Jason Momoa's charming performance and James Wan's madcap direction. Certainly not for the script, anyway.

Though it's basically guaranteed that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will end up one of the year's highest-grossing movies - assuming it doesn't get nudged into 2023 due to Avatar 2, that is - its critical outcome is far trickier to figure out.

Wan's output has been broadly well-received more often than not, though one also suspects critics might be a little less-forgiving if Aquaman 2 retains its predecessor's flaws - namely an over-stretched runtime, terrible dialogue, a forgettable plot, and rough VFX.

With original screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick returning to pen the script, it's reasonable to expect basically more of the same with slightly diminishing returns.