Under the Sea

Ms. Spenser was really excited that I wanted to watch Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) the day after Madame Web. It meant that she could ignore the movie and get some work done. 

It starts with Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman/King of Atlantis living his best life. He knows people think he's a goof who talks to fish, but doesn't care, because he gets to bust heads. He spends a lot of time with his dad Temuera Morrison and baby - although his wife Amber Heard seems to be spending her time under the sea, and isn't really missed. Momoa's only problem seems to be the boring business of being king. What he doesn't know is that the Black Manta, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, has a big scientific project to find some powerful McGuffin. This project, headed by Randall Park, turns up a black trident that gives him powers and maybe breaks his brain. 

His crew breaks into the Antlantean orichalcum reserves and steals it all to power his ancient machines of mysterious import. Orichalcum was used by Atlantis in the bad old days, but it emits greenhouse gases that almost caused global extinction. But Abdul-Mateen don't care. Anyway, this gives Heard a chance to do some fighting and get hurt enough to be excused from the movie.

Momoa doesn't really know what to do here, but he has a half-brother, Patrick Wilson, who understands the criminal mind. In fact, he's currently incarcerated in a desert to sap his powers. I think this is in the last movie, but don't feel like looking it up. Anyway, he breaks Wilson out and they head for the undersea underworld. This criminal kingdom is headed by the Kingfish, voiced by Martin Short (whose cameo it too short). 

This leads to the usual thing - a quest for the clue that will lead to the map that will lead to the instructions for how to use the device ... wait, that was Dial of Destiny. You get the idea. This gives them a chance to go to all kinds of locations. Unfortunately, I kept losing track of whether these were on land or under the sea. Also, what the stakes were and what was going on.

Also, things kept blowing up, I guess because director James Wan likes to blow things up.

Yes, Wan is back directing, and once again it's hard to feel his style, There are some mutant CGI monsters, but that's about it. 

I felt like this was a bit more of a mess than the first one, and that was no model of clarity. But I do want to say that the leads did a great job. Momoa's cheerful lunkhead is as charming as always. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is awesome, way too good for this movie. His intensity and evil throws off the balance of this essentially lightweight movie. And Patrick Wilson - I've decided I want to see him as Aquaman. For me, the comics Aquaman is a slim, blond athletic guy, maybe modeled after Alan Ladd (a swimmer before he was a movie star). Wilson kind of fits. 

In conclusion, Aquababy saves the day.