Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs
The DCEU saves the worst for last.
It sure feels like it began filming about five years ago, but after commencing principal photography in the summer of 2021, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is finally out now in cinemas worldwide.
To call the movie's development and production strained is quite the understatement indeed, given the abundance of reshoots it underwent, the controversial involvement of Amber Heard, constant murmurs about a hostile set, and this being an unceremonious "conclusion" to the DC Extended Universe before James Gunn presses the reset button.
With Warner Bros. holding formal press reviews until after the film had already been released in many countries, it's in no way surprising to report that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is indeed an abject mess.
Even the most forgiving fans of the not-bad, not-great original will struggle to defend this one, which lacks the charm of its predecessor nor even a single scrap of narrative ambition. It is an appropriately terrible note on which to end the DCEU, and quite arguably the franchise's worst-ever offering.
And so, let's crack on detailing everything that just doesn't work about this lackluster superhero sequel...