“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”, which is the last product from DC Extended Universe (DCEU), is not a catastrophe at all to my relief even though I was not so impressed by its overall result. While it does not surpass its predecessor that much on the whole, it is not exactly the bottom of DCEU compared to most of disappointing DCEU flicks such as, yes, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016), and there are actually some goofy charm and fun despite being another your average superhero adventure flick.

The opening part quickly establishes how things have been fairly good for Arthur Curry / Aquaman (Jason Momoa), who, as many of you remember, became the new King of Atlantis at the end of “Aquaman” (2018) after beating his younger half-brother Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson). While he continues to do heroic stuffs including fighting against a bunch of pirates, Curry also has to go back and forth between his domestic matters on the earth and his royal duty in the sea, and he actually prefers the former because, well, he has been frustrated with what he can or cannot do as the King of Atlantis. As a result, he is often absent in Atlantis as spending more time on the earth along with his family, and we get a series of silly moments associated with his little baby son.

Of course, there soon comes a serious threat to not only Atlantis but also the whole human world on the earth. Still quite determined to revenge for his father’s death caused by Curry, David Kane / Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) has looked for any possible opportunity for that, and, what do you know, he and his cronies eventually come upon a mysterious place in the Antarctic region. This place turns out to be associated with the old hidden history of Atlantis, and its dark evil power, which surely feels as insidious as that ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, promises Kane that it will help him fulfill his goal if he follows its bidding to the end.

As Kane embarks on a diabolical plan involved with accelerating the ongoing global climate disruption, he soon comes to draw the attention of Atlantis, and Curry must stop his opponent as soon as possible before it is too late for both the human world and Atlantis. After discerning that Om may help him in locating Kane’s hideout, Curry has no choice but help Om escape from a dangerous prison where he has been kept during last several years, and it goes without saying that Om is not so pleased to see his older half-brother again even though Curry takes a considerable political risk for his escape.

The movie works best during its middle act which mainly focuses on Curry and Om’s strained partnership. While he eventually agrees to help Curry because he cares about Atlantis as much as Curry, Om still does not like his older half-brother a lot, and the mood becomes amusing as they often bicker with each other on their family issues. Even during several silly moments including the one involved with a cockroach, Patrick Wilson plays straight as much as possible in front of Jason Momoa’s more laid-back attitude, and they are as engaging as a mismatched duo as, say, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston in those Thor movies from Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

As these two main characters bounce from one spot to another for locating and stopping Kane, the movie provides a number of entertaining moments which show more of the world hidden from the human one. While we surely see more of Atlantis, the movie also serves us several different colorful places ranging from an underwater gangland (Martin Short makes a hilarious cameo as its crime lord, by the way) to a tropical island full of gigantic animals and plants which may remind you of “Mysterious Island” (1961).

It is a shame that, instead of savoring these good moments more, the movie is too busy with heading to its eventual climax sequence drenched in lots of CGI. Director James Wan, who wrote the story along with several co-writers including Momoa, and his crew members including Oscar-nominated cinematographer Don Burgess certainly try hard for impressing and exciting us more, but things become less fun than before, and I got rather distant as becoming more aware of the weak aspects of the film including its incoherent storytelling and thin characterization.

And I was disappointed to see that many of notable cast members in the film are under-utilized while merely filling their supporting roles. As the main villain of the story, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who has been known for his Emmy-winning supporting turn in HBO TV miniseries “Watchmen”, is as intense as required, but that is all he is allowed to do throughout the film. In case of Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Temuera Morrison, Randall Park, and Nicole Kidman, they simply come and go as demanded by their perfunctory parts, though Morrison manages to make the best of his few scenes with Momoa.

In conclusion, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is not recommendable enough, but it will probably entertain you to some degree if you just want to spend your free time at your home. Considering how much we all have been tired of heaps of run-of-the-mill superhero movies for last 10 years, the movie may look a bit better several years later, but it is still an underwhelming end to DCEU, and I can only hope that I and others will be more entertained by whatever is being planned by James Gunn at present.