Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 22, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
24
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaDec 22, 2023
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom may not be consequential in the long run, but it’s a mostly diverting, upbeat closer, one that could hint at the tone of things to come. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonDec 21, 2023
Much like the original, The Lost Kingdom boasts a gleeful exuberance, whether through Bill Brzeski’s eye-popping production design or in Rupert Gregson-Williams’ knowingly overdramatic score. There is a boyish zeal to Wan’s filmmaking, which is not afraid to embrace the goofy or the playful. Read full review
60
IGNAmelia EmberwingDec 21, 2023
When Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is being an Aquaman story and leaning into the silliness and family aspects of it all, it’s fun. The enjoyable bits are just sandwiched between some ugly effects and a weird first act that feel cobbled together from a very different movie. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenJan 5, 2024
Humongous undersea cities, enormous herds of aquatic creatures and a superabundance of monsters are laid before the viewer. The goal: Make people go, “Wow!” Pardon me, but the overall effect is more like, “eh.” Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussJan 2, 2024
A very fine actor when he’s not directing bad “Insidious” sequels, Wilson is the only performer here who extracts conflict, growth and genuine wit out of David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick’s surface-skimming script. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 2, 2024
The first Aquaman may have been low-brow fun but the second is a chore from start to finish. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 2, 2024
A depressingly uninspired superhero adventure sequel that leans heavily on plot points and battle sequences we’ve seen in at least a dozen other films in the genre — and almost always done better. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)A.A. DowdDec 22, 2023
Winningly goofy but blemished by behind-the-scenes tinkering, The Lost Kingdom is disappointing in the usual sequel way: It rearranges without deepening the elements people liked about its predecessor. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalAmy NicholsonDec 22, 2023
The film has so much visual imagination that it tends to squander it. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkDec 22, 2023
The film hits its plot milestones as fast as humanly possible, cohesion or depth be damned. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanDec 21, 2023
The movie, with all that combat, is staged on an impressively grand scale by the returning director, James Wan, but at the same time there’s something glumly standard about it. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeDec 21, 2023
Momoa loosens up here, leaning into Arthur’s humor and teasing with something approaching depth by dialing up the cockiness. He plays well alongside Wilson’s severity and Abdul-Mateen makes a striking villain. But the film never surprises us by taking any serious risks. We always know its next move. Read full review
50
ScreenCrushMatt SingerDec 21, 2023
This whimper of a farewell somehow feels right. It also feels like a mess — if an endearing one at times— that has been heavily reworked in the editing room. Read full review
50
Screen RantMolly FreemanDec 21, 2023
The problem is that the film wants to be too many things. It wants to be an action/adventure that takes its characters to exciting locales, a heart-warming story of family, an incisive commentary on global warming, and a cautionary tale of how vengeance can consume a person. Read full review
50
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerDec 21, 2023
Momoa’s raw on-screen energy remains infectious even in the driest scenes, and Wan does wring a real sense of human connection out of the scenes between Momoa and Wilson, whose tempestuous fraternal bond is the emotional core of the film. Read full review
50
ColliderRoss BonaimeDec 21, 2023
With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, we get the best and worst of the DCEU, but also a reminder that there’s still hope for these characters, with a bit more focus, and a reminder of what works and what doesn’t with this world. Read full review
45
The Daily BeastNick SchagerDec 21, 2023
A franchise farewell so underwhelming, nary a tear will be shed over its passing. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichDec 21, 2023
Where the previous “Aquaman” was psychedelically high on its own supply and so eager to top itself that it eventually led to Jason Momoa talking to a mythical sea monster who sounded a lot like Julie Andrews, “The Lost Kingdom” becomes more and more formulaic as it digs into its mythos, as if the movie were caught between being its own thing and being nothing at all. Read full review
40
EmpireJames DyerJan 2, 2024
Despite a charismatic turn from Momoa and some fun frenemy banter, this is a disappointing send-off that sees the DCEU go out with a squelch rather than a splash. Fin. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleJenny NulfJan 2, 2024
The last hoorah of Synder’s messy DC Extended Universe – one that could have been a thrilling goodbye and a reminder that not all of it was bland – will likely sink to the bottom of the ocean, a forgotten relic of an era. Momoa’s Aquaman deserved a lot more. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeDec 24, 2023
The lazily generic plot devices (yet again, an ancient evil artefact offers unlimited powers to its holder); performances so thuddingly clunky that much of the dialogue sinks like a boulder in the sea; the lack of any humour whatsoever: these are all minor irritations compared with the picture’s glib trivialisation of the climate crisis. Read full review
40
BBCNicholas BarberDec 22, 2023
There is nothing in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom that's fun or thrilling or moving enough to make you wish for any further sequels. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryDec 21, 2023
Director James Wan again fills the screen with spectacle, some of it unevenly rendered, though even eye-popping digital effects couldn’t compensate for the frequent flatness of the dialogue and situations. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithDec 21, 2023
The best bits of Kingdom come when Jules Verne-esque technology like Manta’s Octobots collides with Atlantis’ psychedelic bioluminescence, a colourful contrast that gets to the heart of this watery franchise’s trippy appeal. Read full review
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