The DC Extended Universe (DCEU), Warner Bros’ superhero rival to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), was born with Man of Steel (2013) and ends with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). The intervening decade saw a total of 15 films, including the aforementioned, and grossed about seven billion dollars worldwide. It started with a bang and ends with, well, whatever the hell this Aquaman sequel is. The DCEU era is at an end, and in 2025 it all reboots again with James Gunn’s Superman. Plus ça change, and so on.

I have a soft spot for James Wan’s first Aquaman movie, which loudly exaggerated the silliness of the comic book character with all the noise and gusto of a death metal concert. In the hands of star Jason Momoa, Aquaman became a loud, enthusiastic superhero that for once actually seemed to enjoy saving the world. The film surrounding him was tremendously silly, but managed to maintain its tone right on the precipice of disaster without ever falling in.

I am not sure that can be said of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. For one thing, this colourful blockbuster often feels like it was edited in a wood chipper. Scenes never quite transition smoothly from one to the other. There seem odd narrative gaps. Characters are not really introduced so much as start talking and leaving the audience to assume the context. There is a surprisingly large amount of narration and voiceover, which is never good. The film effectively resorts to explain itself as it goes.

Characters from the first film turn up either late in the day or simply fail to arrive at all. Willem Dafoe’s Vulko is killed offscreen. Nicole Kidman and Dolph Lundgren simply appear in scenes without set-up. Amber Heard’s Mera – both Aquaman’s wife and the mother of his plot-critical child, comes and goes without rhyme nor reason.

The bulk of the action, then, is down to Momoa’s Aquaman and Patrick Wilson his estranged brother Orm. They undertake a roughly developed buddy picture on the trail of the villainous Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who has unlocked an ancient magical power to aid in his vendetta against the title character. This fight involves a lot of actors standing against digital backdrops, and seemingly more shots of digital models performing stunts against them. There is a surfeit of visual effects going on here. It is colourful, and often very nicely designed, but it jars against the live-action portions of the film and is difficult to watch for long tracts of the film. When everything looks fake, it becomes difficult to care about anything.

The Lost Kingdom is far from the worst superhero film, but at the same time there is very little in it that feels worth watching. The charms of the original feel diminished, and rather lazy. It often gets a little boring. If Warner Bros can reinvigorate their DC Comics adaptations next year, I am all for it. Better still, they could retire them altogether – until someone comes up with films more interesting than this.