I did not like the original Aquaman. But watching this sequel, I think I might have underrated it, at least in comparison to this film.

Most of what I said in my review of the first movie stands, though they do seem to have cleaned up the terrible sound effect that was supposed to make us think they were speaking underwater. But still, underwater feels like space and it’s true for much of this film as it was in the first film.

But this expansion of the world borrows from other stories which makes the whole thing feel even more derivative. (Whatever problems I had with the first film, I’m not sure I found it among the most derivative of these comic book films.) The only note I wrote from the plane said The Lost World. I’ve forgotten why exactly I wrote that but clearly something about this film’s various sections made me think of that whole idea of finding a “land before time.” Also, the final assault sort of feels like a weird fantasy version of a You Only Live Twice or something like that.

Speaking of fantasy: my memory of the first movie is that the idea was that we’re supposed to believe this is an ancient civilization with ancient technology. But here they fully lean into magic, even though the villain’s plot is just climate change. There’s so much hocus pocus in this movie it feels like we’ve entered fantasy film territory, rather than strict comic book territory. I honestly wasn’t sure if this was a DC film any more. Maybe that has something to do the original comics – it wouldn’t surprise me that magic was a huge component of that – but it feels really strange especially when you are trying to pretend that the plot is grounded in science.

So about the climate change plot: what? This is one of the lazier attempts I’ve seen to graft a message onto a film that is just a comic book. (In this case, about a man-fish.) Like so many Hollywood attempts to seem “progressive” it feels like pandering. You know what industry contributes more than the average to climate change? There are a lot, obviously, but the film industry is not innocent.

On to another nitpick: I must say that I really didn’t think much about Patrick Wilson’s age in the first film. But, five years later, it is very, very obvious that he is older than his character’s older brother. It may only be six years in real life but it feels like 10 in this film. I hope there’s a third film just so I can see how much older Wilson looks than Momoa. (Speaking of casting: Heard’s role was reduced, right? It sure feels like she has a much smaller role which makes no sense given the role her character’s child plays in the plot.)

Anyway, this feels like high budget fantasy grafted onto comic book characters. It really doesn’t work for me in any way. I think Momoa’s very game performance isn’t really enough to carry the clunker around him. That’s often true in DC movies but it’s especially so in this weird “ancient magic” plot.

3/10