By Gary

The long awaited sequel to Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson show.

Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) seeks revenge on Aquaman (Jason Momoa) for his father’s death. Wielding the Black Trident’s power, he becomes a formidable foe.

To defend Atlantis, Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother (Patrick Wilson). They must protect the kingdom.

Yes, this is Comic Book nonsense, but it is glorious and over the top and has really incredible visual effects, director James Wan does a great job again with the underwater scenes.

Jason Momoa’s charisma and screen presence is basically the backbone of the movie, and it pretty much carries it through.

His timing, especially humour, is spot on, while his Aquaman is also convincingly authoritative. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s somewhat wasted here.

A capable actor, but he’s reduced to portraying a stock baddie out for revenge, while his right arm, Stingray (Jani Zhao), is as one dimensional as they come.

I liked Randall Park’s performance as the bad guy with a conscience, he is just a scientist, and can he help it if his boss happens to be insane.

Don’t have any complaints on Amber Heard or Nicole Kidman, but they don’t have enough screen time to make much of an impact.

Kidman’s talent is such that, even small screen time doesn’t stop her from exuding enough screen presence to make her contribution count.

Which leaves me with Patrick Wilson. His portrayal of Orm is brilliant, suffusing the character with the tension his inner conflicts have with his motives – “do I live in hate, or do I forgive?”

The fact that Wilson achieves this without any acting histrionics but leaves his angst just right above the surface, just enough for us to feel it, is probably the standout feature of Aquaman and Lost Kingdom.

My Rating: 7/10