PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, psychological*
In many ways KINGDOM is just a reversal on the events of the successful 2018 AQUAMAN. Both had two of the credited writers in common (including director James Wan) and just as the first film concerned the Sea King looking for an ancient trident to signify his lordship of Atlantis, KINGDOM concerns a trident as well. The "Black Trident" incarnates the malefic magic power of Necrus, the titular lost kingdom, which had formerly been a member-state of Atlantis until its people embraced forbidden arts. It comes out in the end that the ancient king of Necrus, Kordax, is acting through the trident, possessing Aquaman's foremost enemy Black Manta to carry out a world-destroying agenda.
In the 2018 film, Aquaman (Jason Momoa) partnered with Mera (Amber Heard) to prove his right to the Atlantean throne. Four years later, the two of them are married and have an infant son, Arthur Jr. However, possibly because of adverse publicity given actress Amber, the character of Mera is sidelined for most of the movie. This time out, the Sea King needs to set a fiend to catch a fiend, setting free his half-brother Ocean Master, former rival for the throne and for the hand of Mera (though that potential conflict goes unexplored in KINGDOM).
The interplay of Aquaman and Ocean Master is never more than adequate, and the visual effects of the undersea dominions are uninspired this time out. There's lots of climate change rhetoric ladled into the mix, but it's rendered nugatory given that the actual threat is, after all, that of an evil magical subsea kingdom. The strongest action-scene was the climactic battle of Aquaman, Mera and Ocean Master against the hyper-powered Black Manta, but this too just seemed rather rote. The puppet master Kordax doesn't seem to have any real reason to destroy the world with climate change, so he lacks any deeper resonance.
KINGDOM didn't do as well as its predecessor, though it wasn't such a bomb that the live-action franchise was destroyed. Allegedly Momoa wants to play the character again, so this sophomore effort doesn't necessarily prevent the franchise from "graduating" to a higher level.
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