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A buddy superhero comedy that never quite lands to due to weak jokes, wooden characters and minimal chemistry between the leads. The basic plot itself is fine, but it takes too long to lay out the stakes, and even then, there’s not a great indication on how bad things will get if the bad guys win. The pacing is all over the place, with narrations undercutting some of the action, needle drops that turn tense moments lighthearted and, like the first film, a lot of time spent following a villain who has no real character arc or sympathetic moments. There aren’t many standout action sequences, and the ones we get are so overloaded with CG it never feels like these characters are actually involved in any of them. The buddy dynamic between Aquaman and his brother falls flat, as Arthur is too silly to identify with while Orn has little personality to work with. And on top of that, the two just have no chemistry together. (Even the octopus sidekick adds nothing to the dynamic. He’s not cute or funny.) There are no real surprises or cameos, and the DCEU wraps things up pretty quietly.
** out of *****