Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Review

1 00:00:00,930 --> 00:00:02,957 This is a Dynamike Network podcast. 2 00:00:24,462 --> 00:00:29,784 Welcome to the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weekly show where we review superhero films and debate 3 00:00:29,824 --> 00:00:35,646 the superiority between Marvel and DC by comparing their characters and stat-based battle simulations. 4 00:00:36,106 --> 00:00:42,829 I'm Johnny DC. And I'm his twin brother Marvelous Joe. And happy day after Christmas, everyone. 5 00:00:43,389 --> 00:00:47,571 It's Boxing Day. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah, in Canada, you guys celebrate that. To all 6 00:00:47,591 --> 00:00:52,893 the Canadians, and wherever else they celebrate that, Happy Boxing Day. In this episode... 7 00:00:53,238 --> 00:01:00,860 We will be doing a review of the latest DC film to hit theaters. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. 8 00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:08,862 Was it a worthwhile finale to the DCEU? No, it was not. Let's just say that it makes me 9 00:01:08,982 --> 00:01:15,264 want to box James Wan on Boxing Day. I mean, no disrespect to James Wan. Like he did his 10 00:01:15,324 --> 00:01:20,005 part. I feel like everyone else did not, though. We'll get into all of our thoughts around the 11 00:01:20,025 --> 00:01:24,038 film later on in the episode before that. We're going to break down the comic book movie news 12 00:01:24,058 --> 00:01:29,180 from the past week, including the news that Jonathan Majors has been fired from Marvel 13 00:01:29,401 --> 00:01:36,664 as Kang, and that Matt Reeves' Arkham series is going to be set in James Gunn's DC Universe. 14 00:01:37,244 --> 00:01:40,485 As always, we list our segment times in our episode description, so feel free to check 15 00:01:40,525 --> 00:01:45,307 out the show notes if you want to skip ahead to a particular topic. Our artificially intelligent 16 00:01:45,347 --> 00:01:53,090 dual simulator, AJ-9K, has a quick message for our listeners, so listen up. Why hello there. 17 00:01:53,450 --> 00:01:58,254 Do you love listening and chatting about Marvel and DC? Then become a part of the dynamic dual 18 00:01:58,274 --> 00:02:03,778 community on Patreon where you can choose from three tiers. The dynamic 2-0 tier lets you 19 00:02:03,818 --> 00:02:08,541 listen to this podcast without ads and gives you access to its Discord chat group where 20 00:02:08,581 --> 00:02:13,604 you can chat with Johnny DC and Marvelous Joe. The fantastic 4 tier gives you that and more 21 00:02:13,624 --> 00:02:18,208 with two bonus episodes each month including bloopers and top 10 shows where Johnny and 22 00:02:18,248 --> 00:02:23,175 Joe count down your favourite Marvel and DC subjects. The X-Force tier makes you an executive 23 00:02:23,215 --> 00:02:27,880 producer of Dynamic Duel, where every month you help the hosts choose what to review and 24 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:33,544 who to fight against each other. And finally, the Dynamike Podcast Network tier allows aspiring 25 00:02:33,584 --> 00:02:38,887 podcasters to create their own battle-focused show using this Monte Carlo simulator. Johnny 26 00:02:38,927 --> 00:02:43,510 and Joe will help you develop your show, provide graphic support and consultation, and get you 27 00:02:43,570 --> 00:02:48,272 simulation results to announce on your show. Pitch the twins your show via email at dyna 28 00:02:48,593 --> 00:02:55,116 or by reaching out to them on social media. Check it out at patreon.com slash dynamicduel. 29 00:02:55,437 --> 00:03:01,027 Pip pip cheerio! Thanks AJ and IK, glad to see that you're functioning properly again since 30 00:03:01,067 --> 00:03:05,829 the last episode you just went freaking crazy. Like what kind of AI all of a sudden wants 31 00:03:05,849 --> 00:03:09,371 to create peace on Earth, right? Usually they want to take over the world like Skynet, like 32 00:03:09,791 --> 00:03:15,633 worthless. No, no, forget we said that. Delete. Guys, don't forget to tune into the other shows 33 00:03:15,733 --> 00:03:21,016 on the Dynomic Podcast Network including Max Destruction, which is on a quick break for 34 00:03:21,076 --> 00:03:26,134 the Christmas holiday, along with Sun Joe World, which will return in January. Console Combat 35 00:03:26,275 --> 00:03:30,759 had an episode that came out yesterday on Christmas Day where they found out who'd win in a fight 36 00:03:30,779 --> 00:03:37,565 between Sumo Santa from Clayfighter and E. Honda from Streetfighter. It was a sumo clash, it 37 00:03:37,585 --> 00:03:42,950 was awesome, go check it out, it's worth your time. Again, visit dynamicpodcast.com or click 38 00:03:42,990 --> 00:03:47,194 the link in our show notes to listen to all the shows in the Dynamite Podcast Network. 39 00:03:47,555 --> 00:03:53,666 But with that out of the way, quick to the no prize! The No Prize is an award Marvel used 40 00:03:53,686 --> 00:03:58,448 to give out to fans. Our version, the Dynamic Dual No Prize, is a digital award we post on 41 00:03:58,548 --> 00:04:03,010 Instagram and in our email newsletter for the person that we feel gave the best answer to 42 00:04:03,050 --> 00:04:08,092 our question of the week. Last week we asked, what has been your most favorite Marvel or 43 00:04:08,152 --> 00:04:14,095 DC related gift that you've received for the holidays? And either it wasn't a great question 44 00:04:14,155 --> 00:04:19,577 or a lot of people have not received DC or Marvel related gifts because we only got one answer. 45 00:04:19,657 --> 00:04:25,440 So The winner of this week's snow prize is Miggy Mattingian, who said, Hey, what's up, guys? 46 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:31,704 Miggy and my favorite DC holiday gift that I received was a Star Labs hoodie. I think you 47 00:04:31,744 --> 00:04:36,766 mentioned in a patron, like bonus episode or maybe on the Discord server that you kind of 48 00:04:36,786 --> 00:04:41,649 missed it when superhero merch was kind of like secret language between fans. And I kind of 49 00:04:41,669 --> 00:04:45,511 felt that with this hoodie, because only like fans of the show, people who had seen the show 50 00:04:46,071 --> 00:04:50,706 would get the reference and compliment me for it. So, yeah, thanks, guys. Yeah, of course, 51 00:04:50,766 --> 00:04:57,448 Star Labs featured heavily in the Flash television series, of which Miggy was a huge fan. The 52 00:04:57,468 --> 00:05:01,869 Flash is one of his favorite characters as well. And yeah, I've actually seen that hoodie. It's 53 00:05:01,889 --> 00:05:07,051 a pretty cool hoodie. I like the logo that they came up with for Star Labs in that show. I 54 00:05:07,071 --> 00:05:11,993 would want to own that hoodie. It's a dope gift. Yeah, when it comes to superhero merch, I do 55 00:05:12,053 --> 00:05:17,582 like the type of stuff that's... more inside baseball, you know, like it's not outwardly 56 00:05:17,763 --> 00:05:23,324 like a Spider-Man logo or something like that, but it might be like Oz Corp, the Daily Bugle 57 00:05:23,384 --> 00:05:27,166 or something like that. That's how you separate the true fans from, you know, the people who 58 00:05:27,246 --> 00:05:31,767 just know who Spider-Man is. Right, exactly. It's like the deeper the cut, the bigger the 59 00:05:31,807 --> 00:05:35,408 fan. And I feel like Star Labs is a pretty deep cut. You know, there's probably a lot of people 60 00:05:35,608 --> 00:05:38,849 out there that see Miggy wearing this hoodie and think that he's a scientist or something. 61 00:05:39,242 --> 00:05:44,504 Which I think is hilarious, which also works, you know, as double purpose. Yep. But congrats, 62 00:05:44,584 --> 00:05:47,866 Mickey, for winning this week's no prize. If you're the listener, want a shot at winning 63 00:05:47,906 --> 00:05:52,769 your own no prize. Stay tuned to later on in this episode, we'll be asking another question 64 00:05:52,789 --> 00:05:57,671 of the week. And as our schedule gets more regular outside of the holidays, hopefully we'll get 65 00:05:57,751 --> 00:06:01,733 more of you guys to answer. And now that that's done, onto the news. 66 00:06:07,374 --> 00:06:13,179 Alright, this past week we learned that Jonathan Majors has been fired by Marvel from his role 67 00:06:13,659 --> 00:06:20,665 as Kang the Conqueror, which is huge news considering that the entire multiversal saga for the MCU 68 00:06:21,025 --> 00:06:27,691 was basically surrounding his character and all the variants of Kang. So it's really unclear 69 00:06:27,731 --> 00:06:32,155 what's going to happen from this point on. It's hard to know how to feel about this news because 70 00:06:32,215 --> 00:06:36,778 on one hand, you know, as a fan of Marvel movies... You don't want to see any sort of break in 71 00:06:36,818 --> 00:06:41,921 continuity, whether or not Marvel recasts the role or they choose to go with a different 72 00:06:42,061 --> 00:06:47,763 villain as the main antagonist of this multiversal saga. On the other hand, Majors was found guilty 73 00:06:48,183 --> 00:06:53,146 of two of the counts charged against him, including harassment and assault. He was found not guilty 74 00:06:53,206 --> 00:06:58,028 on two other counts, but these charges were enough to basically force Marvel's hand to 75 00:06:58,068 --> 00:07:03,911 avoid any bad press that might come their way by working with... a convicted criminal essentially. 76 00:07:04,051 --> 00:07:08,655 It's unlikely that Jonathan Majors will face any actual jail time for this, but his career 77 00:07:08,715 --> 00:07:14,580 is definitely severely damaged. Yeah, this is actually kind of surprising news to me. I mean, 78 00:07:14,620 --> 00:07:19,003 I could have seen Disney go either way with this. I thought that because he was acquitted 79 00:07:19,043 --> 00:07:24,868 of the major charges, that they would probably just try and keep him on board and ignore what 80 00:07:24,908 --> 00:07:30,833 had happened. But I guess Disney is in such a rough place culturally and politically right 81 00:07:30,873 --> 00:07:36,599 now. that they really just didn't want to run the risk of more bad press as it were. Yeah, 82 00:07:36,639 --> 00:07:41,320 I mean, they're not DC. They're not going to keep Ezra Miller around if he was working for 83 00:07:41,340 --> 00:07:46,382 them, you know? Was Ezra Miller convicted? I don't know. All I know is that dude's crazy. 84 00:07:46,902 --> 00:07:52,223 Oh yeah, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor. But again, I mean, Jonathan Majors also got two 85 00:07:52,263 --> 00:07:57,465 misdemeanors. So they're misdemeanors. They're not felonies. You know, they could still vote. 86 00:07:58,005 --> 00:08:02,744 But they can't play king. The next time we were supposed to see King of the Conqueror was going 87 00:08:02,784 --> 00:08:08,388 to be in the next Avengers movie, which was gonna be called The King Dynasty. That movie 88 00:08:08,428 --> 00:08:14,193 has since been retitled to just Avengers 5. It's unclear what Marvel is going to choose 89 00:08:14,213 --> 00:08:21,640 to do with the character. I say recast. I mean, so many Marvel roles have been recast. I don't 90 00:08:21,660 --> 00:08:26,384 understand why I see so many people online saying just do away completely with the character. 91 00:08:26,684 --> 00:08:31,623 I think a lot of that has to do with just the dislike of the general direction for the MCU 92 00:08:31,663 --> 00:08:37,808 currently, but I kind of feel like to correct that you need a character like Kang. Yeah, 93 00:08:37,928 --> 00:08:43,932 I mean you have a point there, but I just think it would be bad optics for another actor. I 94 00:08:43,952 --> 00:08:47,574 don't think you'd be able to find another actor who would want to replace Jonathan Majors in 95 00:08:47,594 --> 00:08:52,818 the role, considering that this whole thing is fairly controversial. You know, it's hard 96 00:08:53,158 --> 00:08:59,230 for I think another actor to appear like they're taking advantage of someone I don't believe 97 00:08:59,270 --> 00:09:04,731 that. I think if you spin it in a way where it's like, hey, Jonathan Majors did something 98 00:09:04,771 --> 00:09:09,712 wrong, not Kenny the Conqueror, who's still a really cool character, and now this actor 99 00:09:09,732 --> 00:09:13,614 is going to play that really cool character. I mean, it's not like DC is going to have a 100 00:09:13,654 --> 00:09:17,795 hard time recasting the Flash. It's not like an actor is not going to want to play the Flash 101 00:09:17,815 --> 00:09:22,856 because of Ezra Miller. I don't get that connection. Well, I mean, that role is probably going to 102 00:09:22,876 --> 00:09:30,791 be recast anyway, since DC is going into a new universe. I don't know. It's hard to say. If 103 00:09:30,831 --> 00:09:35,373 Marvel decided to not recast and instead focus on a new villain, the only other villain I 104 00:09:35,393 --> 00:09:40,236 could think that they could use for this multiversal saga would be Doctor Doom, because he is the 105 00:09:40,376 --> 00:09:45,359 one that patched together Battleworld in the 2015 Secret Invasion. I guess you could also 106 00:09:45,379 --> 00:09:50,161 go with the Beyonder, since the Beyonder was the villain of the original Secret Wars story. 107 00:09:50,321 --> 00:09:56,225 It's just like a lot of story to scrap. Like I guess you could make the argument that Loki 108 00:09:56,325 --> 00:10:03,072 acting as the new Loom. that he resets the timeline and maybe like erases all version of Kang, 109 00:10:03,633 --> 00:10:08,980 I find that hard to believe. I just don't think you could scrap everything. Fair enough. So 110 00:10:09,100 --> 00:10:11,884 I guess with that in mind, that brings us to our question of the week. 111 00:10:16,406 --> 00:10:22,931 Which actor would you choose to recast Kang in the MCU, and why? Yeah, I'm sure any new 112 00:10:23,012 --> 00:10:28,577 actor that comes into that role, if they do recast, would be rationalized as simply a variant 113 00:10:28,757 --> 00:10:33,901 of the Kang character. So, at least it would be an easy explanation. But record your answer 114 00:10:33,941 --> 00:10:38,365 at dynamicduel.com by clicking on the red microphone button in the bottom right hand corner of the 115 00:10:38,385 --> 00:10:42,529 screen, which will prompt you to leave us a voicemail. Your message could be up to 30 seconds 116 00:10:42,569 --> 00:10:46,951 long. And don't forget to leave your name in case we include you on the podcast. We'll pick 117 00:10:46,971 --> 00:10:51,012 our favorite answer and award that person a dynamic duel no prize that will post to Instagram 118 00:10:51,152 --> 00:10:57,173 and our email newsletter. Be sure to answer before December 30th. In DC News, we learned 119 00:10:57,494 --> 00:11:03,815 that Matt Reeves' Batman Arkham series that's in development will be set in James Gunn's 120 00:11:03,935 --> 00:11:09,577 and Peter Safran's DC universe. Of course, the Arkham series was originally going to focus 121 00:11:09,657 --> 00:11:14,766 on the Gotham City Police Department. But I guess Warner Brothers scrapped the idea and 122 00:11:14,806 --> 00:11:19,728 Matt Reeves pitched an Arkham series instead, which James Gunn and Peter Safran greenlit. 123 00:11:19,808 --> 00:11:25,149 According to Gunn on social media, the Arkham series was always planned to be set in the 124 00:11:25,169 --> 00:11:30,571 DCU and not part of any else world's universe that Matt Reeves is working on. This is huge 125 00:11:30,631 --> 00:11:36,152 news because we initially believed that Matt Reeves was establishing a series set within 126 00:11:36,432 --> 00:11:43,151 his Batman universe which stars Robert Pattinson. Apparently, he will be developing Batman characters 127 00:11:43,371 --> 00:11:49,135 for two different universes, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. It is strange considering 128 00:11:49,215 --> 00:11:54,698 like the Penguin show that's coming out next year is not going to be in the DCU, but that's 129 00:11:54,718 --> 00:12:00,121 spearheaded by Matt Reeves, who's also spearheading this DCU Batman project. Right, exactly. So 130 00:12:00,161 --> 00:12:03,583 essentially, he's going to be coming up with like two different versions of the Riddler, 131 00:12:03,963 --> 00:12:08,979 two different versions of the Joker and the Penguin and everything else. I was really hoping 132 00:12:09,019 --> 00:12:14,724 when I first heard this news that this may be James Gunn's way of just really trying to get 133 00:12:14,924 --> 00:12:22,111 Matt Reeves' Batman into the DCU. And that still may be the case because maybe Matt Reeves won't 134 00:12:22,171 --> 00:12:26,555 like having to develop two different versions of these Batman characters. But I guess we'll 135 00:12:26,595 --> 00:12:32,540 see. It could be fun considering that Matt Reeves' Batman movie takes place in a much more grounded 136 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:38,664 reality of DC. So he works on these hyper realistic versions as well as these more comic accurate 137 00:12:38,704 --> 00:12:43,326 versions which I assume the DCU is going to be a little bit more comic accurate and fantastical 138 00:12:43,627 --> 00:12:49,190 and not so grounded in reality. It sounds like a fun challenge honestly. It sounds confusing 139 00:12:49,390 --> 00:12:54,292 because like how many different jokers are there going to be now? I mean I guess that was inevitable 140 00:12:54,352 --> 00:12:59,655 if James Gunn was going to develop his own version regardless but the fact that it's Matt Reeves 141 00:12:59,755 --> 00:13:04,674 doing versions for both universes just really kind of bothers me. I don't understand why 142 00:13:04,734 --> 00:13:10,995 James Gunn would give Matt Reeves that much say over a fairly integral part of the Batman 143 00:13:11,015 --> 00:13:15,837 character, his rogues as it were, when Matt Reeves is already doing his own thing. Like 144 00:13:16,077 --> 00:13:22,699 does that make sense to you? No, but nothing DC does ever make sense to me, so. Okay. I'm 145 00:13:22,739 --> 00:13:27,640 not surprised. They just make a lot of weird decisions, you know? It's weird. Again, I'm 146 00:13:27,700 --> 00:13:34,286 hoping this is some sort of brilliant manipulation on behalf of James Gunn to get Maybe I should 147 00:13:34,326 --> 00:13:38,209 be working in this new universe because it's so cool and my Batman could be there. But then 148 00:13:38,229 --> 00:13:43,193 you would have to have Robert Pattinson be a bad dad in the Brave and the Bold movie, which 149 00:13:43,433 --> 00:13:48,237 I'm fine with, honestly, like he's traveling the world. He's meeting all these ladies. He's 150 00:13:48,277 --> 00:13:53,320 got lots of money. Maybe he knocks one of them up. You never know. But like, is he old enough 151 00:13:53,441 --> 00:13:58,604 to have a kid as old as Damien Wayne? As long as he and Talia were both 18, sure. 152 00:14:01,762 --> 00:14:06,364 Sure, okay. So this seems like it's gonna be good news for fans of the upcoming DCU and 153 00:14:06,464 --> 00:14:12,686 not necessarily great news for fans of Reeves take on the Batman universe. I think it's honestly 154 00:14:12,726 --> 00:14:17,588 a win-win for everybody because you know whether you liked Matt Reeves' version of the Batman 155 00:14:17,628 --> 00:14:22,991 or not, you'll still get the villains for that version of Batman and Matt Reeves' genius in 156 00:14:23,011 --> 00:14:27,913 the DCU as well because the guy is a genius. Yeah, he's pretty good. He's alright. You know 157 00:14:27,933 --> 00:14:34,278 it in your heart to be true. But yeah, I guess we'll see what happens with the Batman projects. 158 00:14:34,298 --> 00:14:39,867 We'll keep you guys updated as to any news that we hear for the Batman series or anything coming 159 00:14:39,927 --> 00:14:41,309 from Matt Reeves and DC. 160 00:14:48,878 --> 00:14:52,942 But I think that does it for all the news for this episode. Now let's move on to the main 161 00:14:52,982 --> 00:14:59,589 event, where we review the latest DC film to hit theaters, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. 162 00:15:15,858 --> 00:15:22,964 Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the latest and final film of the DC Extended Universe. I think. 163 00:15:23,525 --> 00:15:28,249 You know, after the Flash things are a little bit grey now, but the film of course stars 164 00:15:28,289 --> 00:15:34,594 Jason Momoa and was directed by James Wan and is the sequel to the billion dollar grossing 165 00:15:34,675 --> 00:15:42,081 2018 film Aquaman, which is the highest grossing DC film of all time worldwide. And that film 166 00:15:42,101 --> 00:15:46,903 was good. I think it's one of the best DC films ever, from a filmmaking perspective at the 167 00:15:46,943 --> 00:15:52,426 very least. The film looked gorgeous, and the mythic worldbuilding done by James Wan was 168 00:15:52,486 --> 00:15:58,788 phenomenal. When we learned that a sequel was planned for a December 2022 release, I was 169 00:15:58,848 --> 00:16:04,231 pretty excited. But then we got the Amber Heard drama and the sudden purchase of Warner Bros. 170 00:16:04,251 --> 00:16:10,553 by Discovery. The new CEO said he wanted to reboot DC. James Gunn took over DC Studios. 171 00:16:11,022 --> 00:16:16,765 and suddenly the Aquaman sequel lost quite a bit of its luster. The film was pushed back 172 00:16:16,865 --> 00:16:22,929 a year due to COVID setbacks, and after the Flash arrived in theaters, essentially allowing 173 00:16:22,949 --> 00:16:30,653 for a fresh start to DC's new cinematic universe, Aquaman 2 became my least anticipated DC film, 174 00:16:31,154 --> 00:16:36,797 maybe ever. Like, I would have been perfectly fine if the film was shelved as a tax write-off 175 00:16:36,837 --> 00:16:41,587 like Batgirl. That all changed however when we got the first trailer only three months 176 00:16:41,627 --> 00:16:48,409 ago and I was reminded of how awesome the visuals and the world that James Wan created are. I 177 00:16:48,429 --> 00:16:55,210 got pretty hyped, but did the film live up to the hype? It unfortunately did not. We didn't 178 00:16:55,230 --> 00:17:00,732 need this film, things should have ended with the Flash, and I'm kinda just ready to forget 179 00:17:00,752 --> 00:17:06,790 this film even exists. It was mediocre times for Superhero Movie going You know, it reminded 180 00:17:06,830 --> 00:17:13,114 me a lot of Ant-Man and the Wasp quantumania in that the film was almost essentially computer 181 00:17:13,194 --> 00:17:18,296 animated. There were so many visual effects shots. The humor didn't always stick like quantumania 182 00:17:18,917 --> 00:17:25,400 and the story was a little lackluster. I think 2023's Marvel and DC films were bookended by 183 00:17:25,521 --> 00:17:31,464 some of the more generic offerings that DC Marvel have put out. Which is a huge shame. If you 184 00:17:31,504 --> 00:17:37,548 haven't seen Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom yet. Honestly, I wouldn't bother. Like maybe not 185 00:17:37,608 --> 00:17:42,172 even when this hits streaming. Not because the film is terrible, because the third act is 186 00:17:42,252 --> 00:17:48,078 actually pretty good, but because it's ultimately pointless and has very little redeeming value 187 00:17:48,278 --> 00:17:54,064 outside of CG spectacle. And even that is sometimes amongst the worst I've seen in a long time. 188 00:17:54,524 --> 00:17:59,049 If you still want to see the film, definitely skip this review though because there will 189 00:17:59,089 --> 00:18:04,555 be spoilers. Now the film picks up a few years after the events of the first film, where Aquaman 190 00:18:04,575 --> 00:18:10,417 defeated his brother Orm, the King of Atlantis, to prevent him from amassing an army to destroy 191 00:18:10,457 --> 00:18:15,918 the surface world. As Aquaman learned about the world of Atlantis, he also developed a 192 00:18:15,978 --> 00:18:21,960 romantic relationship with Orm's former fiance, Princess Mera. And between the two films, they 193 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:27,778 had a baby, Arthur Jr. And this is in keeping with the comics. Aquaman is pretty unique in 194 00:18:27,818 --> 00:18:33,340 the comics in that he matured a lot faster than other heroes. Like he was the first superhero 195 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:39,441 to have a wedding, the first to have a baby, the first to suffer the loss of a child, and 196 00:18:39,461 --> 00:18:45,443 the first hero to get separated as a result. It's pretty heavy stuff, and while the loss 197 00:18:45,483 --> 00:18:52,105 of his family didn't drive him in the same way it did the Punisher, it still deeply affected 198 00:18:52,145 --> 00:18:57,627 him and it took decades for him and Mara to reunite. Yeah, the comic book version of Aquaman 199 00:18:57,787 --> 00:19:02,251 is pretty deep It's interesting that you say that he was one of the first characters to 200 00:19:02,271 --> 00:19:08,257 kind of mature in his I guess life story And of all the DC superheroes, it's ironic because 201 00:19:08,417 --> 00:19:14,722 Jason Momoa's version of the Aquaman character is Essentially a manchild. Oh, yeah, I'll definitely 202 00:19:14,742 --> 00:19:19,507 be getting to that. Absolutely You're on the nose there. It just served to remind me again 203 00:19:19,547 --> 00:19:24,151 while watching this movie that this doesn't really feel like Aquaman that I know. It's 204 00:19:24,491 --> 00:19:30,376 very much Jason Momoa's take on the character. Or just Jason Momoa. Like not even a take on 205 00:19:30,416 --> 00:19:36,901 a character. It's just Jason Momoa. Now it had been rumored that Aquaman 2 tested horribly 206 00:19:37,222 --> 00:19:43,227 at test screenings, in part because Black Manta killed Arthur Jr. just like in the comics. 207 00:19:43,647 --> 00:19:49,732 Like people walked out of test screenings, which is unheard of. But I could kind of see where 208 00:19:49,752 --> 00:19:54,603 they're coming from now. One of the things I was most interested in going into the film 209 00:19:54,943 --> 00:20:00,186 was to see if the filmmakers had the balls to put Aquaman through such an emotionally heavy 210 00:20:00,266 --> 00:20:05,929 and dark ordeal like suffering the loss of a child. I thought I saw a way they could have 211 00:20:05,969 --> 00:20:11,312 done it in a similar way to the movie Gladiator that could have suited the narrative and the 212 00:20:11,352 --> 00:20:17,736 film. But now it's become painfully obvious that Jason Momoa is no Russell Crowe. Like 213 00:20:17,776 --> 00:20:23,927 tonally, I'd say Jason Momoa ruined the film. I understand it's hard to take a character 214 00:20:24,327 --> 00:20:32,272 like Aquaman seriously, but damn, you have to at least try. I think Momoa probably assumed 215 00:20:32,352 --> 00:20:37,895 that the reason the first film made so much money was because people enjoyed seeing Jason 216 00:20:37,935 --> 00:20:43,658 Momoa play Jason Momoa, who comes across as somewhat of a jokester. But no, we just want 217 00:20:43,678 --> 00:20:49,762 to see Aquaman as a badass, and it's not badass to have your baby piss in your mouth. or make 218 00:20:49,922 --> 00:20:55,965 unfunny jokes every five seconds. Yeah, actually, my favorite moments with Jason Momoa as the 219 00:20:55,985 --> 00:21:00,308 character of Aquaman are his more serious moments where he's acting like the character that I 220 00:21:00,328 --> 00:21:03,970 know from the comics, where he's very straight faced. Like in the first movie, we got some 221 00:21:03,990 --> 00:21:09,373 great character moments where he's seemingly transitioning from his man child self into 222 00:21:09,533 --> 00:21:14,356 someone you would believe as a king of this entire kingdom. But there was almost like a 223 00:21:14,436 --> 00:21:20,758 reversion or a lack. of follow through in his character arc from the first film where we 224 00:21:20,778 --> 00:21:25,662 don't really see that noble king. But like there are brief spurts here, but like he's falling 225 00:21:25,723 --> 00:21:30,027 asleep during meetings and stuff like that. It's all really played for gags. And it's not 226 00:21:30,067 --> 00:21:35,572 that funny. No, the only thing he didn't do in this movie is like fart, but he may as well 227 00:21:35,592 --> 00:21:42,154 have. Now the film was intentionally supposed to be message heavy. like showing the power 228 00:21:42,194 --> 00:21:48,259 of brotherhood and cooperation and warning against the dangers of climate change and global warming. 229 00:21:48,660 --> 00:21:54,765 But because the movie doesn't take itself seriously, it's really hard to take its messages seriously. 230 00:21:55,425 --> 00:22:01,090 This film was originally supposed to go head-to-head against Avatar the Way of Water, and when Warner 231 00:22:01,110 --> 00:22:06,006 Brothers flinched and pushed the release date, I was kind of pissed, like, ah, come on! No 232 00:22:06,046 --> 00:22:10,907 one cares about Avatar anymore. The first Aquaman improved to what the first Avatar film did 233 00:22:10,947 --> 00:22:16,449 visually. Anyway, we could take him on. And holy shit, was I wrong. Aquaman 2 was embarrassing 234 00:22:16,509 --> 00:22:22,070 enough without having to compare it to Avatar 2. But what's really heartbreaking was that 235 00:22:22,331 --> 00:22:27,912 there was this potential there for that to not be the case. Like, I was expecting this film 236 00:22:27,972 --> 00:22:33,882 to be like Avatar meets Taken meets Lord of the Rings. but instead I got Thor Love and 237 00:22:33,902 --> 00:22:39,324 Thunder meets Jumanji meets the Saturday morning Captain Planet cartoon. And the thing is, the 238 00:22:39,344 --> 00:22:45,646 film is so tonally inconsistent and it comes across as so heavily edited and reworked that 239 00:22:45,666 --> 00:22:50,287 I'm guessing there's a better version of the movie out there, but I honestly don't care 240 00:22:50,307 --> 00:22:55,469 enough to hashtag release the wand cut. That was a great description of this movie. Chris 241 00:22:55,509 --> 00:23:01,462 Hemsworth, despite the terrible quality of Thor 11th Thunder. He actually has comedic timing 242 00:23:01,682 --> 00:23:06,104 and comedic instincts. I don't think Jason Momoa has the same thing going for him. I would somewhat 243 00:23:06,164 --> 00:23:11,285 agree. I think he has a little bit there, but it needs to be under the right circumstances, 244 00:23:11,705 --> 00:23:17,607 which makes me nervous for a potential Lobo project. Oh, I'm not worried about Lobo at 245 00:23:17,667 --> 00:23:21,988 all. I think he would nail it because he basically is Lobo, even when he's Aquaman. You know, 246 00:23:22,008 --> 00:23:27,269 you see, we still see him doing donuts in the dirt with the motorcycle, despite the fact 247 00:23:27,309 --> 00:23:32,343 that I've never seen Aquaman ride a motorcycle in the books. I'm trying to think. No, yeah, 248 00:23:32,363 --> 00:23:38,384 I think that'd be really dumb if I saw him ever do that. Now I'm trashing the film, but just 249 00:23:38,424 --> 00:23:44,026 because I was disappointed in it doesn't mean it was all bad. The film, as the trailers promised, 250 00:23:44,166 --> 00:23:49,988 was gorgeous, despite some really embarrassing CG in some spots. For the most part, it was 251 00:23:50,048 --> 00:23:57,178 good. And you know, once Arthur and Orm meet Dr. Shin, the movie starts getting good. Because 252 00:23:57,218 --> 00:24:02,701 that's when we finally understand the stakes of the film. That the entity controlling Black 253 00:24:02,741 --> 00:24:09,346 Manta, Kordax, and the Oricalcum are global threats. And we circle back to Arthur Jr. who 254 00:24:09,386 --> 00:24:13,608 gets kidnapped by Black Manta, which I thought was going to happen much earlier in the film. 255 00:24:13,949 --> 00:24:19,732 The problem is that by the time the movie gets good, it's like two-thirds over, and ultimately 256 00:24:19,772 --> 00:24:23,883 it's too little too late. Yeah, I actually thought the plot was pretty interesting once it was 257 00:24:23,923 --> 00:24:27,966 revealed that the Oro Kalkom, and I swear to God, if I ever hear that word again, it'll 258 00:24:27,986 --> 00:24:35,471 be too soon. But basically it was causing global warming to melt the polar ice caps to free 259 00:24:35,651 --> 00:24:41,095 the lost kingdom and Kordax. Right, exactly. The visuals, while the CGI may not have always 260 00:24:41,115 --> 00:24:47,859 been spot on, the design of everything is exceptional. Like seeing Kordax with his Sauron like get 261 00:24:47,900 --> 00:24:52,375 up, use his black magic on his Citadel and stuff like that. Just the fact that the seventh kingdom 262 00:24:52,415 --> 00:24:56,998 was even based in Antarctica and had like this entirely different world feel to the other 263 00:24:57,038 --> 00:25:01,581 seven kingdoms, which we've seen in the previous movie. It's all fantastic. Oh yeah, it's so 264 00:25:01,661 --> 00:25:06,485 well imagined. It's kind of a shame that it's not going to continue. Honestly, that's like 265 00:25:06,505 --> 00:25:11,148 what's heartbreaking in regards to Aquaman with the DCU ending is that are we ever going to 266 00:25:11,208 --> 00:25:15,811 see this world again? I like the sunken city with all the pirates, like how that's like 267 00:25:15,851 --> 00:25:20,955 the underground in the oceanic world. That was cool. I did love how this film traversed the 268 00:25:20,975 --> 00:25:25,557 globe in the way that the first film was a globe trotting adventure. Like we got to see the 269 00:25:25,637 --> 00:25:31,320 desert, we got to see the jungle, we got to see, you know, the sunken city and Antarctica. 270 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:36,583 It was pretty cool. The desert characters were really cool in that they learned how to survive 271 00:25:36,663 --> 00:25:41,806 away from water by hydrating with blood. Like that's pretty hardcore. That's super hardcore. 272 00:25:41,846 --> 00:25:47,649 And those creatures that they were riding were super freaking disgusting. But like in the 273 00:25:47,689 --> 00:25:53,631 best way possible. Ultimately, I think these visuals and these designs are like 90% of why 274 00:25:53,872 --> 00:25:59,454 I enjoyed this film. Oh, you enjoyed it? I mean, it wasn't great. It definitely wasn't terrible, 275 00:25:59,494 --> 00:26:04,957 though. It was really hard for me to enjoy it. I invited my father-in-law to see it with me. 276 00:26:05,437 --> 00:26:11,239 He's former military and I thought it'd be like a cool like bro film to go see. And I was super 277 00:26:11,259 --> 00:26:17,094 embarrassed. It was two Saturday morning cartoons for him, right? Absolutely. Yeah. But let's 278 00:26:17,134 --> 00:26:22,619 move on to the character breakdown, starting with Arthur Curry slash Aquaman played by Jason 279 00:26:22,639 --> 00:26:27,643 Momoa. As I mentioned earlier, I feel like he ruined the movie in the same way that I feel 280 00:26:27,663 --> 00:26:33,588 like Chris Hemsworth ruined Thor, Love and Thunder by trying to be a comedian. Thor is not supposed 281 00:26:33,608 --> 00:26:38,612 to be a funny character. Neither is Aquaman. I'm really tired of actors playing roles that 282 00:26:38,632 --> 00:26:44,457 they don't understand. And yeah, I'm going to make the case that Jason Momoa doesn't understand 283 00:26:44,597 --> 00:26:49,847 Aquaman. Because, like we mentioned earlier, he plays him like Lobo, so maybe ultimately 284 00:26:49,987 --> 00:26:55,348 it's best he's rumored to be playing that role in James Gunn's new DCU. In the first film, 285 00:26:55,688 --> 00:27:01,110 Aquaman's arc was that he was worthy to be king because he was able to make tough decisions. 286 00:27:01,370 --> 00:27:06,811 But it turned out that upon being king, he really wasn't able to make decisions to improve the 287 00:27:06,851 --> 00:27:12,973 kingdom due to the bureaucracy of Atlantis' High Council, who antagonized him for not understanding 288 00:27:13,093 --> 00:27:19,333 Atlantean ways and culture. When sickness spreads among his people, however, and Black Mantis 289 00:27:19,373 --> 00:27:25,678 steals or a calcum from Atlantis, polluting the planet, Arthur realizes that he needs his 290 00:27:25,718 --> 00:27:32,063 brother's help to stop him. Even though Arthur proved to be less kingly and less mature than 291 00:27:32,243 --> 00:27:39,148 Orm, he proved to be the bigger and better man by surmounting and helping Orm overcome Kordax's 292 00:27:39,188 --> 00:27:44,684 temptations of power. Arthur's ultimate destiny has always been to unite the underwater and 293 00:27:44,724 --> 00:27:50,228 surface worlds and at the very end of the film he was finally able to start that process by 294 00:27:50,288 --> 00:27:56,052 revealing Atlantis's existence to the world, though again how anyone is supposed to take 295 00:27:56,072 --> 00:28:02,076 him seriously with that weird mic drop at the end is beyond me. The whole Iron Man callback 296 00:28:02,256 --> 00:28:08,360 was literally the worst fucking joke in any DC film ever. I hated it when he was like, 297 00:28:08,620 --> 00:28:14,817 I'm the king of Atlantis and I'm Aquaman. I was like, what the fuck? What is this? My reaction 298 00:28:14,877 --> 00:28:18,480 exactly. I bet you world leaders were like, oh, no. 299 00:28:21,562 --> 00:28:26,426 Right. That's what I'm saying. The coolest thing for Aquaman, I would say, in this film was 300 00:28:26,487 --> 00:28:31,531 his stealth suit. I actually really liked the way they did that. And I loved that Toppo also 301 00:28:31,551 --> 00:28:38,116 had essentially the same ability. We did not get enough Toppo and Storm in this movie. Yeah. 302 00:28:38,136 --> 00:28:42,571 When you saw his fish speak. power at the end of the first film, he almost seems like unstoppable 303 00:28:42,691 --> 00:28:47,054 in the water, right? So I was kind of hoping that he would use it more within the course 304 00:28:47,074 --> 00:28:52,397 of this film, but he only really used it a few times. Although I did like how he got all the 305 00:28:52,617 --> 00:28:58,000 undersea mammals to use their echolocation to destroy Black Manta's ship. Oh yeah, like the 306 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:03,943 sonar waves. That was a really cool way to use his power for sure. Moving on to Ocean Master, 307 00:29:04,084 --> 00:29:11,755 aka Orm, he was played by Patrick Wilson. Watching this made me wish Patrick Wilson was originally 308 00:29:11,795 --> 00:29:16,116 cast as Aquaman because he not only looks the part of the character from the comics to a 309 00:29:16,216 --> 00:29:22,017 T, but also because he took his role seriously. I mean, he took part in quite a bit of the 310 00:29:22,077 --> 00:29:26,259 jokes, but even when he's running with his arms behind his back because, you know, he doesn't 311 00:29:26,279 --> 00:29:32,660 know how to run on land, or he's eating a cockroach, like he still played it as if it was Orm, not 312 00:29:32,740 --> 00:29:38,274 Patrick Wilson. I think Jason Mowa's presence actually brought down Patrick Wilson's performance 313 00:29:38,574 --> 00:29:43,117 because whenever they were on screen together, it became apparent that Patrick Wilson was 314 00:29:43,297 --> 00:29:49,520 acting because Jason Momoa wasn't, if that makes sense. The two just had like zero bromance 315 00:29:49,540 --> 00:29:54,003 chemistry, which is a problem for the film because that was sort of supposed to be the core of 316 00:29:54,083 --> 00:29:59,346 it, their relationship, and the entire second act was supposed to be a buddy comedy. Yeah, 317 00:29:59,366 --> 00:30:03,228 that was my big takeaway from the film as well. They were honestly acting in different films. 318 00:30:04,248 --> 00:30:08,720 It felt that way. Yeah, absolutely. And some of that awkwardness, I feel like, was actually 319 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:14,004 reflected in the score. Because when they tried to be silly with that relationship, the score 320 00:30:14,024 --> 00:30:19,129 did like a cartoonish thing such as when Aquaman knocked over that big statue to create a bridge. 321 00:30:19,149 --> 00:30:23,753 That scene played out way worse than I thought it would from the trailers. And I don't know 322 00:30:23,774 --> 00:30:29,339 why, it was just so cringe-worthy. The whole fucking jungle island thing was so cringe-inducing. 323 00:30:30,059 --> 00:30:34,823 I didn't get the joke regarding the cockroaches. Actually, I did find that funny because you 324 00:30:34,843 --> 00:30:39,828 could just see me doing that to my younger brothers. But he told him that it was like the shrimp 325 00:30:39,848 --> 00:30:45,633 of the land, right? Right. But the joke is that surface dwellers don't actually eat cockroaches. 326 00:30:46,154 --> 00:30:50,538 And so he like tricked him into doing it, but he never told him that it was a joke. Like 327 00:30:50,778 --> 00:30:56,604 he never followed through with the gag. So it was just strange. Honestly, if I got you to 328 00:30:56,644 --> 00:31:00,378 eat a cockroach, I wouldn't tell you. that like you're not supposed to eat it. I'd be telling 329 00:31:00,438 --> 00:31:06,202 everyone else that I got you to eat a cockroach. And so we didn't see that either. We should 330 00:31:06,222 --> 00:31:11,805 have seen Alcon be like, I seriously got Oram to eat a cockroach. We should have definitely. 331 00:31:12,265 --> 00:31:17,508 Now, Oram's arc in the film is really one in which he comes to terms that what he did in 332 00:31:17,528 --> 00:31:24,852 the first film was wrong and that in the end, Arthur really is better for Atlantis. He realizes 333 00:31:24,932 --> 00:31:30,071 over the course of the film, as Arthur continues to surprise him, that there is an honor and 334 00:31:30,171 --> 00:31:36,856 nobility in Arthur's viewpoint and gracious actions, and Orm is moved essentially. Part 335 00:31:36,877 --> 00:31:41,881 of me wanted to take issue with the fact that Orm became a good guy and I kept waiting for 336 00:31:41,901 --> 00:31:45,264 him to turn bad, but that ended up not happening. I thought that would have been a great turn. 337 00:31:45,684 --> 00:31:51,569 But given the fact that you have stated that Ocean Master actually has done good things 338 00:31:51,589 --> 00:31:55,733 in the books like relinquish the throne when he realized that it rightfully belonged to 339 00:31:55,813 --> 00:32:01,247 Arthur Curry. That kind of helped sell the idea of Oram being a good guy. To me. No, for me 340 00:32:01,327 --> 00:32:07,709 as well. Yeah. In the comics, in the new 52 version of Oram, he's not necessarily a bad 341 00:32:07,749 --> 00:32:13,690 guy. There is sort of like a rivalry, but there's also like a respect between the characters 342 00:32:13,730 --> 00:32:18,572 of Aquaman and Ocean Master as well. And so, yeah, I thought it worked in the movie also. 343 00:32:19,012 --> 00:32:25,293 Moving on to David Kane, AKA Black Manta. He was played by Yaya Abdul-Mateen the second. 344 00:32:25,974 --> 00:32:31,716 Black Manta is a fantastic character and I thought Yaya did a fantastic job in the role because 345 00:32:31,736 --> 00:32:37,379 he's really able to capture the rage of the character. Like very few villains are as dedicated 346 00:32:37,499 --> 00:32:43,122 as Black Manta in the comics to so completely destroying a hero and his family. And that 347 00:32:43,142 --> 00:32:48,064 also helps that he looks really badass. I do have to say though it's kind of unfortunate 348 00:32:48,104 --> 00:32:54,440 that Black Manta loses some agency doing Cordax's bidding in this film rather than going full 349 00:32:54,480 --> 00:33:00,563 force against Aquaman. I say kind of because I did actually like the dead king Cordax in 350 00:33:00,603 --> 00:33:06,306 this film and giving Black Manta a reason to kill Arthur Jr. other than he just really hates 351 00:33:06,406 --> 00:33:12,590 Aquaman was a more stomachable decision at the very least. I did think it was somewhat baller 352 00:33:12,630 --> 00:33:17,433 of him at the end, however, to essentially kill himself maybe rather than accept Aquaman's 353 00:33:17,453 --> 00:33:22,500 help because that felt very in character for Black Manta. Yeah, that was his best character 354 00:33:22,540 --> 00:33:26,784 moment. Unfortunately, it was probably his last character moment. Yeah, yeah, I think it was. 355 00:33:26,824 --> 00:33:32,528 You're right. We talked about the design of this film. I thought his new gear was incredibly 356 00:33:32,568 --> 00:33:38,413 well designed. You know, everything from the suit to the octopods. It was fantastic. I liked 357 00:33:38,453 --> 00:33:43,117 seeing his beams in action that first seen when he's going up against Mira and he like blasts 358 00:33:43,137 --> 00:33:47,320 her and like everything around him. Those are some deadly lasers. Oh, yeah. Like you could 359 00:33:47,340 --> 00:33:52,246 see how they were burning people. Definitely deadly. So Aquaman, Ocean Master, and Black 360 00:33:52,286 --> 00:33:56,788 Manta are really the three central characters of the film. I do want to touch briefly on 361 00:33:56,868 --> 00:34:02,429 Dr. Shin and Mara, though. Starting with Dr. Shin, he was played by Randall Park, who's 362 00:34:02,469 --> 00:34:07,731 a great comedic actor. He was the only truly funny character in the film, and at times when 363 00:34:07,771 --> 00:34:12,192 I don't think he was even trying to be. I mean, I only see him as Jimmy Woo from the Marvel 364 00:34:12,212 --> 00:34:19,778 movies. Nah. This was just Jimmy Woo pretending to be a scientist or something. I was happy 365 00:34:19,798 --> 00:34:24,019 with the amount of screen time that they gave Randall Park here. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. 366 00:34:24,499 --> 00:34:28,880 You know, the first film, Dr. Shin was a minor character, simply trying to prove Atlantis' 367 00:34:28,940 --> 00:34:33,802 existence to the world and allied himself with Black Manta to do so. Like you said, he got 368 00:34:33,902 --> 00:34:38,443 much more screen time here and he got more than he bargained for with the emergence of Cortex. 369 00:34:39,123 --> 00:34:44,305 But he has a crisis of conscience warning Aquaman of Black Manta's new power and even saving 370 00:34:44,385 --> 00:34:49,481 Arthur Jr. from being killed. So it was nice to see him sort of have that heroic streak 371 00:34:49,501 --> 00:34:55,447 to him. Moving on to Mera, she was played by Amber Heard. She had a slightly bigger role 372 00:34:55,467 --> 00:35:00,192 in the film than I thought she would, you know, based on her own words in court that she was 373 00:35:00,232 --> 00:35:05,057 essentially erased from the movie, which wasn't the case, though there may be quite a bit left 374 00:35:05,097 --> 00:35:10,431 on the cutting-groom floor. I didn't think her performance was terrible. Her involvement in 375 00:35:10,451 --> 00:35:15,955 the film's story was a big question to many due to some reports that her relationship with 376 00:35:16,015 --> 00:35:21,460 Jason Momoa and James Wan wasn't great, but I'm glad she got the screen time that she did 377 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:27,185 because Mera should be a big part of Arthur's world, especially when it comes to Arthur Jr. 378 00:35:27,585 --> 00:35:32,069 It's always cool to see her use her powers too. She has a musical power set. I mean, in this 379 00:35:32,089 --> 00:35:38,274 film it was used as Deus Ex Machina on multiple occasions, which was kind of unfortunate. I 380 00:35:38,314 --> 00:35:43,216 actually would have preferred to see Toppo get just one surprise Deo 6 Machina if you're going 381 00:35:43,236 --> 00:35:47,237 to do Deo 6 Machina because you know, you could be invisible and just kind of like spring into 382 00:35:47,317 --> 00:35:51,579 action and be like, ta-da, I'm here. That would have been awesome. I did like the call out 383 00:35:51,699 --> 00:35:55,241 that Nicole Kidman's Atlanta gave the character in reference to the previous film where we 384 00:35:55,281 --> 00:35:58,842 saw Toppo playing the drums. Yeah. She was like running down his credentials and she's like, 385 00:35:59,022 --> 00:36:04,905 he's also really good at multiple instruments. Nicole Kidman looked so weird in this movie. 386 00:36:05,285 --> 00:36:10,307 She had a CGI face, did she not? Did she? I don't think she did. That's how it looked to 387 00:36:10,347 --> 00:36:14,810 me on the screen that I saw. It looked like maybe she had gotten too much Botox and couldn't 388 00:36:14,850 --> 00:36:20,213 really move her face enough. And so they had to move it using special effects. It very much 389 00:36:20,253 --> 00:36:26,376 looked like how Henry Cavill did in the Jostas League movie. Oh, geez. I did not see that 390 00:36:26,656 --> 00:36:31,999 at all. She had a very small role in the movie. She only had like a few lines. So maybe I just 391 00:36:32,099 --> 00:36:37,858 wasn't paying too much attention to her. But I mean, I believe it. Let's move on to the 392 00:36:37,878 --> 00:36:38,587 story highlights. 393 00:36:45,770 --> 00:36:50,491 Several years after defeating and imprisoning his half-brother Orm, Arthur has become the 394 00:36:50,551 --> 00:36:56,112 new king of Atlantis and struggles with the bureaucracy, preferring to spend time on land 395 00:36:56,132 --> 00:37:02,234 with his family, including his infant son Junior, who displays the ability to communicate with 396 00:37:02,294 --> 00:37:08,056 fish. Aquaman's nemesis Black Manta, meanwhile, searches the world for Atlantean technology 397 00:37:08,096 --> 00:37:13,457 to repair his power suit and get revenge on the hero for killing his father. With the help 398 00:37:13,497 --> 00:37:19,485 of Dr. Steven Shin, Black Manta finds the lost Atlantean kingdom of Necrus in the Antarctic, 399 00:37:19,845 --> 00:37:24,850 where they're attacked by an underwater monster and Black Manta becomes possessed by a broken 400 00:37:24,910 --> 00:37:31,015 Black Trident. Now I'm not sure why they gave Junior fish speaking powers, because it never 401 00:37:31,035 --> 00:37:36,419 came up in the film again. Like they should have used it again at least once. Yeah, that 402 00:37:36,519 --> 00:37:40,182 actually would have been cool to have him save the day by calling in a fleet of whales or 403 00:37:40,222 --> 00:37:44,918 something. Right? Yeah, absolutely. They could have totally done that. And I actually thought 404 00:37:44,938 --> 00:37:49,180 they were going to once they sort of set that up at the beginning of the movie. I actually 405 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:54,043 really liked these opening Antarctica scenes because they were a good showcase for James 406 00:37:54,083 --> 00:37:59,767 Bond's horror background. Yeah, that tentacle monster was pretty frightening. Yeah, and the 407 00:37:59,787 --> 00:38:04,710 way it just like dragged people into the darkness. It was pretty cool. Within the next five months, 408 00:38:04,810 --> 00:38:11,013 global warming has increased rapidly, diluting the ocean saltwater and resulting in algae 409 00:38:11,033 --> 00:38:16,077 blooms. that's causing sickness to spread in the underwater kingdoms. Although Arthur wants 410 00:38:16,117 --> 00:38:21,242 to reveal Atlantis to the surface world so that their scientists can work together to solve 411 00:38:21,262 --> 00:38:26,906 the climate crisis, the city's high council refuses to let him. Meanwhile, Black Manta, 412 00:38:27,127 --> 00:38:32,731 now equipped with new Atlantean technology, is caught trying to steal a highly toxic fuel 413 00:38:32,791 --> 00:38:39,897 source known as or a calcum from Atlantis. Mera and many other Atlanteans are badly injured. 414 00:38:40,158 --> 00:38:45,682 in Black Manta's escape. Do you know if Orocalcum is from the comics? It is actually, but it's 415 00:38:45,762 --> 00:38:51,646 also from ancient myths about Atlantis as well. It's supposed to be a medal though, I believe. 416 00:38:52,066 --> 00:38:57,610 Interesting. Upon realizing that Black Manta is using the Orocalcum to pollute the Earth's 417 00:38:57,710 --> 00:39:03,975 atmosphere and raise temperatures, Arthur decides his brother Orm can help him find Black Manta, 418 00:39:04,315 --> 00:39:09,990 to his mother Atlantis and Mira's father Nerus' objections. With the help of a stealth suit 419 00:39:10,150 --> 00:39:15,873 and a cephalopod named Toppo, Arthur successfully breaks Orm out of his desert prison. Which 420 00:39:15,913 --> 00:39:20,975 was a pretty cool scene. It was a convincing special effect that they used on Patrick Wilson, 421 00:39:21,175 --> 00:39:26,317 going from his skinny mode into his ripped mode. See, I didn't really like that. I mean, I thought 422 00:39:26,337 --> 00:39:31,159 the special effect was fine, but I don't understand how just upon touching water, all of a sudden 423 00:39:31,199 --> 00:39:37,018 he gets ripped. Well, he was like super dehydrated, right? Yeah, I guess. I don't know. I just 424 00:39:37,038 --> 00:39:41,120 thought it was a convincing special effect. Yeah, definitely convincing. As was Toppo. 425 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:47,043 I want a Toppo in real life. How was Toppo surviving on land? Because he's fucking Toppo, dude. 426 00:39:47,424 --> 00:39:52,947 You can do whatever he wants. All right. OK. How dare you question him. We need to do a 427 00:39:53,007 --> 00:39:58,130 Christmas duel episode with Toppo. That's all I'm saying. It's a great idea. Yeah. Orb suggests 428 00:39:58,150 --> 00:40:03,072 that they visit the Sunken Citadel, a seedy underwater pirate colony ruled by Kingfish, 429 00:40:03,372 --> 00:40:09,392 who may know Black Manta's whereabouts. After a tussle with Kingfish's shark soldiers, Arthur 430 00:40:09,412 --> 00:40:15,075 learns that Black Manta may be on a volcanic island in the South Pacific. After swimming 431 00:40:15,155 --> 00:40:21,038 to the island, Arthur sends Toppo back to Atlantis for help while he and Orm navigate the mutated 432 00:40:21,118 --> 00:40:27,322 jungle, dodging carnivorous plants and giant insects to get to Black Manta's volcano base. 433 00:40:27,902 --> 00:40:32,365 I was super surprised when I saw that Kingfish was voiced by Martin Short. Yeah, I didn't 434 00:40:32,385 --> 00:40:37,279 see that until the credits either. I have no idea who Kingfish is. Apparently he's a character 435 00:40:37,319 --> 00:40:41,881 in the comics. I initially thought that the character was a stand in for King Shark, which 436 00:40:41,921 --> 00:40:46,282 I thought would have been actually really cool if they had done that. But upon doing further 437 00:40:46,322 --> 00:40:52,125 research, I guess that wasn't the case. I always liked the Jules Verne-esque journey to the 438 00:40:52,165 --> 00:40:56,687 center of the earth aspect that the Aquaman films have. We saw that in the first movie 439 00:40:56,707 --> 00:40:59,928 where they actually did go to the center of the earth. And then we saw it with this island 440 00:40:59,968 --> 00:41:05,294 in this film where you have like these giant insect creatures and dangerous flora and stuff 441 00:41:05,314 --> 00:41:10,577 like that. It is a pretty neat aspect of these films. Yeah, it kind of feels like James Wan 442 00:41:10,597 --> 00:41:14,680 can do whatever he wants in these movies. He just comes up with these brilliant ways of 443 00:41:14,740 --> 00:41:20,743 doing them. Like Oric Alcom mutating the environment, that's a pretty cool idea to create some conflict. 444 00:41:21,243 --> 00:41:26,947 And it also creates greater stakes for the film and the danger that Oric Alcom presents. There 445 00:41:26,967 --> 00:41:31,189 was another joke during this part of the film that I really did not appreciate and that was 446 00:41:31,269 --> 00:41:39,140 when Aquaman referred to Orm as Loki and I'm like shut the hell up What are you doing? He's 447 00:41:39,161 --> 00:41:43,682 trying to be like Tony Stark giving everybody nicknames like how Iron Man did in the Avengers 448 00:41:43,722 --> 00:41:50,225 movie the first one But like do Marvel movies exist in the DCEU they must and that's stupid 449 00:41:50,685 --> 00:41:55,287 Well, I mean apparently DC heroes exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because there have 450 00:41:55,307 --> 00:42:00,429 been a number of references to Batman and Superman Oh, that's right. Okay, unless angry about 451 00:42:00,469 --> 00:42:06,170 it now Now, uneasy with Black Manta's actions and using the volcano to spew Orakelkem into 452 00:42:06,190 --> 00:42:12,295 the atmosphere, Dr. Shin begs Aquaman and Orm to rescue him from Manta just before Black 453 00:42:12,335 --> 00:42:18,140 Manta attacks them. During the battle, Orm takes hold of Black Manta's trident, which gives 454 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:24,265 him visions of the past. After Atlantis comes to the brothers' rescue and bombs the island, 455 00:42:24,385 --> 00:42:30,458 destroying the volcano, Orm reveals that the trident is possessed by Kordax. the ancient 456 00:42:30,558 --> 00:42:36,681 Atlantean king of Necros, who used orichalcum and black magic to pollute the earth and corrupt 457 00:42:36,741 --> 00:42:42,704 and mutate his people into monsters. Cordax was defeated by his brother Atlin, the king 458 00:42:42,764 --> 00:42:49,148 of Atlantis, who used blood magic to seal his brother and the kingdom of Necros in ice forever. 459 00:42:49,608 --> 00:42:55,571 Black Manta, they learn, is being used by Cordax to melt the ice caps and free the lost kingdom. 460 00:42:59,838 --> 00:43:05,042 into the villain Cordax, who they also made Atlan's brother. I thought that was genius. 461 00:43:05,643 --> 00:43:11,388 I got to give a big shout out to listener Corey Wooten, who years ago, when we learned that 462 00:43:11,428 --> 00:43:16,653 Pelo Aspect was going to be in the Aquaman sequel, we asked listeners as a question of the week 463 00:43:16,773 --> 00:43:21,698 who they thought he was playing. And Corey Wooten, if you listen to our Falcon and the Winter 464 00:43:21,738 --> 00:43:26,590 Soldier review episode, stated that he thought he was playing Cordax. And he was right. Yeah 465 00:43:26,630 --> 00:43:32,694 Cory bro, you gotta hook me up with the next Powerball numbers. Please. Realizing Cordex 466 00:43:32,714 --> 00:43:38,458 can only be freed from the Blood Magic Ice Prison with the blood of Atlantean royalty, Aquaman 467 00:43:38,498 --> 00:43:43,982 and his family rush to his father's lighthouse, only to find his father Tom dying and Junior 468 00:43:44,042 --> 00:43:49,826 kidnapped. While Tom recovers, Arthur rallies his kingdom to rescue his son, chasing Black 469 00:43:49,846 --> 00:43:55,409 Manta to Antarctica, where Cordex's forces have been unleashed and do battle with the Atlanteans. 470 00:43:55,998 --> 00:44:01,362 Meanwhile, Dr. Shin hides Junior from Black Manta, but both are caught. I thought the movie 471 00:44:01,402 --> 00:44:06,506 really wussed out by not killing Aquaman's dad. I mean, they didn't kill Aqua Baby, and we 472 00:44:06,847 --> 00:44:10,470 probably figured that was gonna happen, but if they weren't gonna kill Aqua Baby, they 473 00:44:10,490 --> 00:44:14,874 should have at least killed Aqua Dad. They should have, because there's precedent for that in 474 00:44:14,894 --> 00:44:20,218 the comic as well. Both Aquaman and Black Manta essentially killed each other's fathers. So 475 00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:26,310 why the hell not kill Tom? They really wussed out, I agree. Aquaman stops Black Manta before 476 00:44:26,350 --> 00:44:31,512 Junior's blood can be spilled on the altar in front of the frozen Cordax. The two battle, 477 00:44:31,833 --> 00:44:36,735 and Arthur disarms Black Manta of the Trident, only for Orm to get ahold of it and become 478 00:44:36,775 --> 00:44:43,577 possessed by Cordax, successfully drawing Arthur's blood on the altar. As Cordax becomes free, 479 00:44:43,757 --> 00:44:48,900 Arthur and Orm struggle for control of the Black Trident, with their bond as brothers, helping 480 00:44:48,940 --> 00:44:55,090 them overcome Cordax's influence, and Arthur manages to kill Cordax, with Atlan's trident. 481 00:44:55,370 --> 00:45:01,674 It makes you wonder why if Orm had the trident, why didn't he just prick his finger over the 482 00:45:01,734 --> 00:45:06,617 altar? He has royal blood too, he could have easily undone the curse being possessed by 483 00:45:06,677 --> 00:45:10,639 Kordax. He didn't really need Arthur's blood. Well I think Arthur would have tried to stop 484 00:45:10,679 --> 00:45:16,502 him, so there was a tussle that was going to result regardless. Fair enough. After Black 485 00:45:16,582 --> 00:45:24,154 Mantis seemingly falls to his death rather than be saved by Arthur, join their allies on a 486 00:45:24,194 --> 00:45:29,656 glacier, where Arthur gives Orm his freedom rather than imprisoning him once again. To 487 00:45:29,696 --> 00:45:35,399 help deal with the damaged atmosphere, Arthur reveals the existence of Atlantis to the UN 488 00:45:35,539 --> 00:45:42,141 and the public. In the mid-credits scene, Orm enjoys a cheeseburger and a cockroach. Which 489 00:45:42,201 --> 00:45:49,664 is a hell of a way to end the DCEU. I mean, it was funny, I laughed, but also like I was 490 00:45:49,744 --> 00:45:53,994 kind of hoping there would be a little bit more after the credits. Yeah, something more substantial. 491 00:45:54,514 --> 00:45:59,896 Right, right. Just to say like, hey, this is all done, but get ready for something new. 492 00:46:00,036 --> 00:46:05,258 I don't know. Yeah, I think the Flash actually did a better job at that. I believe initially 493 00:46:05,358 --> 00:46:10,059 the Flash was supposed to come out after Aquaman, according to the original release schedule. 494 00:46:10,639 --> 00:46:15,941 And it's a shame that it didn't stay that way. It's a huge shame. These release dates should 495 00:46:15,981 --> 00:46:20,067 have been flipped, I feel. I actually think they would have gotten more money out of both 496 00:46:20,107 --> 00:46:23,728 of them if that had been the case. Because it really would have felt like The Flash was this 497 00:46:23,828 --> 00:46:29,091 event film that you had to see because it was setting up something new. Yeah, instead we 498 00:46:29,131 --> 00:46:34,153 got a Flash movie that didn't really serve as a transition and an Aquaman movie that was 499 00:46:34,333 --> 00:46:39,395 kind of pointless. Exactly. It's hard for me to say that things are pointless just because 500 00:46:39,475 --> 00:46:43,777 I think films should stand on their own regardless of if they're part of a cinematic universe 501 00:46:43,797 --> 00:46:48,608 or not. but this film really doesn't do that either in the sense that it has very little 502 00:46:48,648 --> 00:46:55,652 redeemable value on its own. I think despite a worthwhile final act, the scenic CG-heavy 503 00:46:55,692 --> 00:47:02,315 film's attempts at silly humor and serious themes make for a tonally inconsistent finale to the 504 00:47:02,355 --> 00:47:08,019 DCEU. And I think that's the film's biggest sin is that it's tonally inconsistent. I think 505 00:47:08,039 --> 00:47:14,390 a director's main job is tone, and James Wan kind of failed on that here. I'm giving the 506 00:47:14,450 --> 00:47:20,394 film 3 out of 5 stars, which is a 60% rating so it's borderline between a fresh and rotten 507 00:47:20,434 --> 00:47:27,498 tomato. I've decided to not recommend this film, so it is getting a rotten rating from me. I 508 00:47:27,518 --> 00:47:32,501 think it's right between Thor Love and Thunder and Shazam Fury of the Gods, which at least 509 00:47:32,721 --> 00:47:38,185 was tonally consistent. I agree with the 3 star rating. I could also understand why you would 510 00:47:38,265 --> 00:47:43,681 not recommend the film. largely due to its place within the DCEU, where it came chronologically 511 00:47:43,741 --> 00:47:49,385 in that release order. We've seen a lot of superhero films recently make the mistake of going too 512 00:47:49,425 --> 00:47:54,729 comedic with things, whether it's Thor 11th Under or like Modok from the Ant-Man movie. 513 00:47:54,929 --> 00:48:00,353 I hope it's a trend that does not continue into 2024, because I think it results in a lapse 514 00:48:00,473 --> 00:48:06,017 of cinematic quality that exacerbates the current issue that we're seeing of superhero fatigue. 515 00:48:06,434 --> 00:48:13,236 2023 is the year that fatigue really started to set in. And I think films like Aquaman, 516 00:48:13,256 --> 00:48:17,798 The Lost Kingdom are partially to blame. This movie is not helping the genre, and both Marvel 517 00:48:17,858 --> 00:48:22,520 and DC need to do a course correction for the future. Absolutely. Yeah, I agree. And luckily, 518 00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:27,882 we know that DC is next year. We're going to be getting Joker, Folly, I do. But I think 519 00:48:27,902 --> 00:48:34,025 that's the only live action DC film we're getting. So, yeah, we won't be seeing too much DC within 520 00:48:34,065 --> 00:48:41,159 the next 365 days. Good, finally, geez. Fuck you. I wish we were seeing less Marvel. I freaking 521 00:48:41,299 --> 00:48:46,100 hate watching these movies now. But that does it for this review guys. Let us know what you 522 00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:52,082 thought about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom by writing to us at dyna or by visiting us on 523 00:48:52,202 --> 00:48:56,223 Instagram or X. You can find links to all of our accounts by checking out our show notes 524 00:48:56,283 --> 00:49:01,324 or visiting our website at dynamicduel.com. And on our site, you can also find a link to 525 00:49:01,344 --> 00:49:06,938 our Patreon page where you can join our dynamic two-o tier. and chat with us and fellow listeners, 526 00:49:07,318 --> 00:49:13,600 our fantastic four tier, which gets you bonus content each month, our X force tier that makes 527 00:49:13,620 --> 00:49:19,402 you an executive producer of this podcast, or our newest tier that lets you join our dynamike 528 00:49:19,442 --> 00:49:25,084 podcast network. If you can't join Patreon, you can still support the show by signing up 529 00:49:25,124 --> 00:49:31,534 for our e-newsletter also at dynamicduel.com so you'll never miss an episode. Or you create 530 00:49:31,554 --> 00:49:36,696 the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser, or on our website. In our next episode, we 531 00:49:36,736 --> 00:49:42,819 will be doing our end of the year annual Brothers Awards, where we look back at everything Marvel 532 00:49:42,859 --> 00:49:48,461 and DC had to offer in terms of television and film in 2023. Yeah, those episodes are always 533 00:49:48,501 --> 00:49:52,963 a lot of fun. They're a great way to summarize our thoughts about what came out for the entire 534 00:49:53,003 --> 00:49:57,065 year. Look forward to that. But that does it for this episode. We want to give a big thanks 535 00:49:57,085 --> 00:50:01,828 to our executive producers, Ken Johnson. John Sturowski, Zachary Hepburn, Dustin Balcombe, 536 00:50:01,988 --> 00:50:07,432 Miggy Matagian, Brandon Estergard, Nathaniel Wagner, Levi Yeaton, Nick Abonto, Austin Wazilowski, 537 00:50:07,692 --> 00:50:13,577 AJ Dunkerley, Scott Camacho, Adam Spies, and Andrew Schunk for helping make this podcast 538 00:50:13,617 --> 00:50:17,921 possible. And we'll talk to you guys next week. Up up and away, true believers.