Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the sequel to 2018’s Aquaman and reportedly the last film in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe).

Set sometime after the events of the first film, a few things have changed for the Atlantean. Aquaman (Jason Momoa) is married to Mera (Amber Heard), he’s a new father, and is King of Atlantis. He’s leading a charge to have Atlantis reveal itself to the surface world. He believes a union between the surface world and Atlantis could help save the planet from a global warming catastrophe.

Meanwhile, David Kane aka Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Matteen II) is hell-bent on getting revenge on Aquaman. Manta is looking for Atlantean tech to help fix his suit that was damaged in the first film. He finds an Atlantean kingdom buried underneath the arctic ice. In the ruins, Manta finds a mystical black trident that connects him to the creator of it. The creator offers Manta power to destroy his enemies if Manta helps free him from whatever prison he’s in.

If that’s not enough….five months later, Black Manta and his people have ships and weaponry they’re using to steal an element called orichalcum that powers old Atlantean machines. The element also produces greenhouse gases that are being used to heat the planet.

This ridiculous plot set up leads to Aquaman teaming up with is brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to find Manta and stop him before he destroys the planet.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom isn’t the dumpster fire many thought it might be, however, it is an incoherent film that’s frustrating because it could’ve benefited from a few simple changes.

The first thing: Try something new. Lost Kingdom never attempts to do anything fans haven’t seen before. There’s a sequence in the film with Orm and Aquaman that feels like a scene from Journey to the Center of the Earth. Nothing about the characters, the world building, and even the plot points are distinct. It all feels like a bad remix of things fans have already enjoyed.

Second, the film is at least 25% better if they leaned into the comedy. It’s a ridiculous story and setting that’s ripe for comedy. Why not center the film and characters on how funny Aquaman can be? When the script lets Mamoa and Orm banter back and forth, the film is really entertaining and interesting. When the two of them are on screen, the film is a cliché buddy cop film, but it really works. Both Wilson and Mamoa are charming onscreen. I don’t know why letting them be charming onscreen gets undercut at every turn. Even Randall Park’s dry humor as the conflicted scientist works. As soon as the film starts to be funny and fun, it’s followed by a big CGI explosion or some monologue by someone with floaty hair that attempts to make the film more serious.

Because Lost Kingdom can’t settle on what it wants to be, the story feels empty. There is nothing to grip the audience or keep them engaged other than the brief moments of comedy.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s performance is good. He’s a menacing Black Manta when he’s out for revenge. Sadly, it doesn’t belong in this movie. If the film could decide what it wanted to be, his performance wouldn’t have been wasted in a forgettable film.

There are things to like about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and there’s plenty to pick at from the CGI, to the script, to the CGI bad guy that’s an under the sea Sauron. It’s not a complete disaster. If this is indeed the end of the DECU, it ended with a whimper and not a bang. There are parts of the character and world James Wan built that I hope James Gunn uses with the character moving forward.

Grade: C-