For this one very silly adventure, Patrick Wilson makes it a good time.

Full Review | May 29, 2024

Any movie teeming with fantastical ocean creatures, neon-streaked underwater metropolises and Nicole Kidman riding a cybernetic shark should be a blast of escapism, but the Lost Kingdom never transcends the tedium of its weightless green screen action.

Full Review | Apr 10, 2024

Where Aquaman felt original, Lost Kingdom is stale, void of all originality.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 17, 2024

It opens with one character getting blasted in the face by a stream of baby urine and ends with another cheerfully munching on a live cockroach. I can’t recall, but did, say, Captain America or Doctor Strange ever have to suffer such indignities?

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 16, 2024

It appears to suffer from multiple forms of meddling and overdone CGI, failing to capture the charm of its predecessor.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 15, 2024

The sets are imaginative, the characters feel lived-in, and the use of practical suits helps reduce the faceless CG enemy-trope of a lot of superhero films while also making the combat feel more tangible and weighted dramatically.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 12, 2024

A functional rather than spectacular slice of comic-book nonsense, then, but considering it is the final instalment of the DCEU franchise, a more rousing swansong would have been welcome.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 29, 2024

It’s a definite step down from the insane heights of the first film, but it’s still so much fun and so much more engaging than most of the superhero films made these days.

Full Review | Feb 21, 2024

Sadly, a flaccid, final DCEU film that tries to coast on the chemistry of Momoa and Patrick Wilson that ends up crashing on the rocks with some terrible humor, ridiculous scenarios, nonsensical story beats, and a villain that is supremely wasted. RIP DCEU

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 27, 2024

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom almost has its moments. So let’s crunch the comparison sum: It’s a lesser experience than the first Aquaman, which was mediocre-plus. And what do you get with straight-down-the-middle mediocrity?

Full Review | Jan 27, 2024

[Black Manta is a] cardboard cutout angry villain.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 19, 2024

While the first Aquaman was a tsunami of dumb fun spectacle, this dizzy sequel sinks into abysmal depths due to an unbearable weight of massive silliness. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jan 16, 2024

Wan leaves things open enough to perhaps get the gang back together, but unless someone can find a way to do the character and Atlantis justice, it might be best for Aquaman to hang up his suit and trident.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 15, 2024

The Lost Kingdom struggles to provide much substance with its style. The highlight is the chemistry between our two former foes. There are opportunities to lean more into the emotional stakes, but the script never commits.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jan 12, 2024

Not funny enough, not dramatic enough, not well acted enough - but I wasn't bored.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jan 10, 2024

For a moment, however brief, it’s almost enough to applaud Wan’s Sisyphean efforts to turn Aquaman’s second go-around into a coherent, compelling superhero entry.

Full Review | Jan 9, 2024

But visually, the film is a spectacular explosion of ideas that might feel like a lot to take in but faithfully reference the Aquaman comic books of the 1960s and '70s.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 8, 2024

Not all of the comedy and emotional beats land, but this film is good enough to turn on and watch. It isn’t one of the stronger DCEU entries, but you won’t have a bad time watching this sequel.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jan 7, 2024

Kids may have fun with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s crude humor, bright visuals, and cutaways from Momoa shouting profanity. Everyone else though will likely shrug it off as the cloying cartoon it is.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 7, 2024

A film so risk-averse, it's afraid to step out of its own shadow.

Full Review | Jan 5, 2024