Streaming Standard: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

 More like 'The LAST Kingdom,' am I right?

All kidding aside, this was the final Film of the DCEU and now I can cross it off of my list.
There's certainly not a 4-hour, sepia-toned disaster that I'm ignoring for my own sanity.

Can the DCEU go down fighting?
Will the final Film show us what we're going to be missing without it?
Or will it be more of the same?

Let's find out...

Aquaman is now the King of Atlantis.

He breaks the 4th Wall a bit (I think he's actually talking to the kid, but whatever) to recap the Plot of the last one.

We learn that the job is not what he expected, as he can't do a whole lot, but does have to sit in on meetings in full costume.

He's also had a kid- Arthur Jr- in the ensuing 4 years.

Just don't expect to see too much of his wife Mera, as Amber Heard was going through lots of legal issues at the time and, even though she won, some people still hate her.
They chopped her role up like fine sashimi.

Look at the cute kid- forget how she's barely more than a Plot Device.

Black Manta is still around and he still wants to kill Aquaman.

Remember- our Hero pinned his Dad to a sub wall (while they were robbing it- TBF) and left him to die in the last Film.

This leads Manta- who is almost always called by his real name for some reason- to find a Black Trident and get put on a mission by a Villain who is totally not Sauron.

After a brazen attack on Atlantis to steal some MacGuffin Minerals, Aquaman decides that the only one who can help him find and stop Manta is his Brother- aka the Villain of the last Film.

Even when Momoa is NOT in a Fast & Furious Film, we're instantly redeeming Villains (that also happen to be Family {TM}) here.

Can they work together?

I should also note the extremely random Voice Cameos.

We get John Rhys Davies as a Crab Man (not this one) and Martin Short as a Fish Man.

Who had Martin Shot Appears in a DC Film on their Bingo Card?

Can they stop Manta (and Not Sauron by proxy) from reviving the monstrous members of the titular Lost Kingdom?

Can they stop the disposable CGI Army?
Can they rip off the ending of Black Panther and get away with it?

Will this Film somehow do the Plot of Black Adam worse than that Film?

To find out, stream it now.

It is certainly lots of Film and lots of money was put into this one!

The Film is a big old bundle of crazy visuals left, right and center.  They clearly spent lots of money on the CGI to create crazy monsters, locations and Villains.

How is the actual Story though?

It's...alright.

I was hoping for better, but they front-load the Story, go on a bunch of adventures and then suddenly remember the Story for the finale.

The Film is mostly made up of silly pretenses for why they have to go to various locales, from a Jungle to a Desert to Antarctica and more.  It is just the flimsiest of flimsy here.

The biggest issue to me is the ratio of Build-up to Payoff.  Without SPOILING the details, the fight with the main Villain kind of sucks.

They literally did this better in Black Adam- something that feels weird to type!

Ultimately, there's two ways to view this Movie. 
In the moment, you'll likely be entertained by the breakneck speed at which they go from place to place.

With time to think about it (and overanalyze), you'll wonder what you just watched.

Iti s not bad.
It is just very busy, visually overloaded and kind of silly when you think about it.

Oh look- another fake AI created Trailer image.  This time with not-so-subtle misogyny (and terrible compositing)...

A fun Film in the moment with bright visual, jokes and action.  In the long run, however, it is about as shallow as a puddle.