Aquaman 2, in theory, should've been a layup for DC after the success of Aquaman. This is a movie that, on paper, should've been the sequel we all wanted and a sequel that blew us out of the water, obvious pun intended. This should've expanded on Aquaman and Orm's relationship, this should've given Aquaman legitimate growth so he can become something more than the lovable "dude bro" goofball that he is and Atlantis should've seen some level of exploration or expansion that made such made what was a visually stunning underwater city even cooler. And, honestly, this sequel should've made us at least feel something while watching it. Instead, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom can be added to the pile of terrible DCEU-Era films that were very clearly butchered during their post-production process. Just like with Wonder Woman 1984, this movie fails to capitalize on anything that made us love the first Aquaman film. I genuinely can't emphasize this enough: this is an extremely disappointing sequel. We deserved something so much better than what we got. What makes all of this so frustrating is that it feels like somewhere in the deep depths of Atlantis, this movie was supposed to be this heartfelt adventurous movie about two brothers who couldn't be any more different finally bonding and finally working together for the greater good. It felt like somewhere along the lines, Orm was finally going to get his deserved emotional redemption arc that finally brought Aquaman, his family, and the Aquaman supporting characters together. It felt like finally we were going to see a DCEU film that was going to pull at our heartstrings because we were finally getting to see previously developed characters grow beyond their origin story movies.

And though you can semi-see some of these plot points throughout the film, none of that is actually in the movie because all of the setup and moments that should've helped this hypothetical story come to fruition were just… missing. It's hard to even say that this movie has an identity because it's tonally different in each part of the movie. The beginning is a fun comedy movie that matches the feeling of the first film, the super-fast middle section of the movie is a buddy-cop comedy film with Aquaman and Orm going on a relatively short journey to find Black Manta's headquarters and then the final act of the film - which is also short and extremely unclimactic - feels like the ending to an emotionally epic superhero movie that simply doesn't exist with the theatrical version of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. This sequel's theatrical cut might be so bad that it rivals the original Suicide Squad's theatrical cut. That's how bad Aquaman 2 is. You experience nothing but complete whiplash throughout its entire run time.

Honestly, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom should've been called Aquaman and his lost sense of Cohesion because this movie lacks any sense of cohesion whatsoever. One thing happens in one scene, the next scene comes along and it feels completely disconnected from what just happened in the scene prior. One character acts one way in one scene, they act completely different in another. One moment that should be emotional is happening right in front of you and then it's immediately followed up with epic music for what should be this epic payoff moment that pays absolutely nothing off because there's zero setup in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. There are so many moments or elements in this film that just don't add up due to the movie's butchered editing and all of the flaws ultimately make for what is a frustratingly disappointing experience.

After a long, tedious, dramatic, epic and semi-humourous adventure together, both Aquaman and Ocean Master come to the agreement that they're stronger when they put their differences aside and work together. Together, they create "New Atlantis": A brand new kingdom of Atlantis that's bigger and better. Why? Because this era of "New Atlantis" allows Aquaman and Ocean Master to lead by examples and show both new and old Atlanteans that things don't need to be as they always there. This leads to everyone in New Atlantis being happy, Aquaman & Ocean Master creating new morals for New Atlantis and ushering in a new golden era for the people of New Atlantis. Despite this happiness though, Aquaman still feels that the land is his home instead of Atlantis. This leads to him realizing that Ocean Master would be a better fit for being the full time leader of New Atlantis as he (Aquaman) comes and goes despite them agreeing on Aquaman still very much being a leader of New Atlantis. Before leaving, he tells Ocean Master that if there's ever an emergency, he's one call away and he'll be there no questions asked due to their experience together throughout the movie. Aquaman gives one final speech to New Atlantis before he leaves. You know to hype up Ocean Master to the people of New Atlantis and to show them that he has his full trust. This leads to Ocean Master getting emotional and him telling Aquaman that he's sorry for their past and that he's gonna make him proud thus giving them their final brother-to-brother moment in the DCEU. Aquaman finally leaves to go back home to his father who I'm sure misses him dearly after their long adventure, Ocean Master stays with the main goal of making Aquaman proud and it's happily ever after for this era of Aquaman and this iteration of Atlantis.

POST CREDIT SCENE BONUS GUESS: Aquaman is at a bar getting drunk as hell, just like he did in The Flash's post credit scene. In the background of his bar, we hear a newscast briefly mentioning a new hero in Palmera City rather than the direct events of Blue Beetle (you know, to give a nod to Blue Beetle recently coming out and leaving room for DC Studios to play with the canon DCU Blue Beetle lore). Suddenly, Bruce Wayne walks into the bar because he wants to talk to Aquaman about what happened with The Flash but rather than this being a hype moment like it would be in any other case it's incredibly funny because Aquaman is really confused. Why? Because it's George Clooney, again. George Clooney reintroduces himself to Aquaman, leading to Aquaman being immediately dismissive and saying "you ain't Bruce Wayne" or something like that. No matter what Clooney's Batman says to him, Aquaman doesn't believe him, says he's too damn drunk for this and just gets up and leaves. George Clooney's Batman sits there in complete disbelief and confused as hell, making this whole thing one big joke and confirming to the fanbase that yes, Aquaman stays in the past DCEU timeline.