I saw Aquaman 2

DC/WB's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan, who cowrote with David Leslie Johnson-Goldrick (et al), is the filmmakers' long-awaited sequel to the 2018 blockbuster. For the follow-up, the Arthurian legend is retooled as a buddy movie, with emphasis on Jason Momoa's titular protagonist, aka Arthur Curry, making amends with his brother, Patrick Wilson's exiled Ocean Master, aka Orm (in a Thor/Loki-fied deal), to combat Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's vengeful Black Manta, aka David Kane. 

The premise is tried-and-true enough to hold one's interest (as it avoids any out-of-the-box hiccups), with the brotherly component making the best use of the formula's angst, rivalry, amusement and redemption, framed by global-warming humbuggery, 20,000 Leagues tech and for cuteness sake, a surrogate, baby Aqualad. 

To fortify the formula further, Black Manta is more ruthless this time out, in particular, when he taps the Black Trident, summoning a hidden, hellish kingdom with the power to flatten all of Atlantis and beyond. In his sleek, head-to-toe armor, Black Manta is nothing short of an aquatic Darth Vader as he carries the ancient world's relentless evil, pressing a significant, story asset, for any heroic fable is only as good as its villain is bad. 

The movie's supporting performers and their characters reinforce the inflating tensions: Dolph Lundgren's King Nereus; Nicole Kidman's Atlanna; Temura Morrison's Tom Curry; John Rhys-Davis' Brine King; Martin Short's Kingfish; Randall Park's Gus Gorman-esque Dr. Stephen Shin; and Amber Heard's Mera, whose role may have been shortened for this sequel, but her regal presence is still felt. 

In fact, the successful ensemble feels more than right to birth Aquaman 3, except that WB execs wish to steer the DC, cinematic franchise in another direction. (Perhaps if The Flash had hit bigger, that would have given more cause to keep a strand of Zack Synder's multiverse in play.) On this basis, it's easy to get sentimental over what may be a so-long chapter, but at the same time, a sense of betrayal can't be denied. To rephrase, it's a tad hard to invest in something, no matter how sublime, if the rug is being pulled from under it (case in point, DC/WB/Max's Swamp Thing, revival series).

Regardless of the studios' plans, Lost Kingdom is now part of hero-cinema history, which by that relegation, means it won't be soon forgotten, anymore than Kick-Ass 2, Sin City: A Dame to Die For, Wrath of the Titans, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor and Conan the Destroyer have been. After all, round-two myths never die; they just get revisited.