Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

I didn’t think I would get to see ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ at the cinema before the end of 2023. Thankfully, I have, and I’m glad I saw it on the big screen since this happens to be the final film of the ‘DC Extended Universe’ film series. I didn’t realise that fact when seeing the film at the cinema.

Back in 2020, I saw the first ‘Aquaman’ film on Amazon Prime Video. I didn’t see the film at the cinema when it was released in December 2018. So, it’s fitting I should check out the second ‘Aquaman’ film on the big screen, as I greatly enjoyed checking out the first ‘Aquaman’ film at home.

Mind you, there was a lot going against this sequel when it was released in December 2023. As well as being the final film of the ‘DCEU’, there’s also the issue of Amber Heard appearing in it (more on her later) and the fact that previous ‘DCEU’ film instalments didn’t do very well over this past year. 😦

‘The Flash’ wasn’t very well-received when released at cinemas and ‘Blue Beetle’ was a box-office bomb. I didn’t get to see ‘Blue Beetle’ at the cinema this year, sadly. Hopefully I can make up for that by catching up on ‘Birds of Prey’ and ‘Blue Beetle’ when revisiting the entire ‘DCEU’ film series in future.

Perhaps for ‘Bradley’s Basement’s 10th anniversary in 2025. Meanwhile, here are my general thoughts on ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’. I enjoyed the film, although I don’t think it’s as good as the first ‘Aquaman’ film, as there are things getting repeated from the first film in the second film.

The film depicts Arthur Curry/Aquaman balancing his life as a father to his new-born son whilst being the king of Atlantis. Unfortunately, Arthur must seek help from his half-brother Orm in order to prevent Black Manta from killing his father and using the cursed Black Trident to overheat the world.

There’s also the mission to search for the lost seventh kingdom of the seas. Now, when comparing the second film to the first film, I felt a sense of wonder about the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. There are elements of ‘Finding Nemo’ with seeing the Atlantis kingdom in the first ‘Aquaman’ film. 🙂

I didn’t feel there was enough of that wonder in the second ‘Aquaman’ film, as I was distracted by the plot and exposition that went on with Aquaman saving both land and sea worlds on planet Earth. There’s also the return of previous villains from the first ‘Aquaman’ film like Orm and Black Manta. 😐

Not that I mind returning characters from the previous ‘Aquaman’ film being in the second film, but I think the film would’ve benefited having a new villain to enrich Aquaman’s world, as many uninitiated DC Comics fans would be unfamiliar with it. At least, Spider-Man has a rogues’ gallery. 😐

Jason Momoa (who worked on the film’s story apparently) returns as Arthur Curry/Aquaman. There’s also Patrick Wilson who returns as Orm Marius, Arthur’s half-brother. Amber Heard returns as Mera, who happens to be the brand-new queen of Atlantis, Arthur’s wife and mother of Arthur Jr.

I was surprised to see how much of Amber Heard is in the film, since I assumed she would have had a lot of her scenes cut from the final edit of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’. This is especially considering the recent trial that she had with Johnny Deep, which had been widely publicised in 2022. 😐

There’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane/Black Manta; Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin; Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, Mera’s father; Temeura Morrison as Tom Curry, Arthur’s father; and Nicola Kidman as Atlanna, Arthur and Orm’s mother. There’s also familiar voice-over characters in the film.

There’s Martin Short who voices Kingfish, the ruler of the pirate haven called the Sunken Citadel, and there’s John Rhys-Davies, who was in the first ‘Aquaman’ film, as the voice of the Brine King. There’s the octopus Topo, who was in the first film, and sounds like Dr. Zoidberg from ‘Futurama’. 😀

‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ has been an enjoyable film to check out at the cinema recently. It’s not as good as the first ‘Aquaman’ film, but it’s good enough to spend 124 minutes to. The performances of the cast are good and generally, the storyline featured in the sequel is decent enough.

It’s a shame the ‘DCEU’ film series has to end on this note, as it’s had a rough ride since it began with ‘Man of Steel’ in 2013. I don’t know what the future of DC superhero films will be like under James Gunn’s management, but hopefully it should be interesting to check out as well as be entertaining. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂