The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) started in 2008 and within a few years, it turned into a dominant box office force. Not to get left behind, DC Comics responded with their own DC Extended Universe (DCEU), a similarly ambitious franchise that launched with 2013’s Man of Steel.

Though some DCEU movies did well, the series as a whole never approached the consistent results and cultural traction of the MCU. Desperate for a change, DC recently brought in Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn to spearhead a whole new direction for their characters.

As such, late 2023’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom becomes the last gasp of the DCEU. Unsurprisingly, it offers a follow-up to 2018’s Aquaman.

Now king of Atlantis, Arthur “Aquaman” Curry (Jason Momoa) faces a challenge when his old foe David “Black Manta” Kane poses a new threat. Manta obtains the power of the Black Trident, a device that brings about a massive and evil force.

To confront this new problem, Aquaman needs to recruit an unlikely ally: his disgraced and imprisoned brother Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson). Along with some other support, Aquaman and Orm battle this mutual enemy.

As noted at the start, the DCEU never reached the popular highs of the MCU. However, this didn’t prepare those involved for the intense lows the franchise would reach in 2023.

Of the four DCEU movies released that year, Kingdom became the most successful of the bunch. However, it only sputtered to 20th place at the US box office for 2023, and its $434 million worldwide paled next to the $1.1 billion the 2018 movie earned.

With a $205 million budget, Kingdom failed to turn a profit. Still, given the other three 2023 DCEU flicks all lost buckets of money, the fact Kingdom at least approached the break even point counts as a victory of sorts.

The financial woes of the DCEU go back as far as 2020, however, when Birds of Prey struggled at the box office. 2019’s Shazam! winds up as the final profitable DCEU movie.

All of this seems to make it easier for Gunn to restart the DC properties, though he doesn’t escape scot-free from the ruins of the DCEU. He wrote and directed 2021’s The Suicide Squad, another DCEU flick that lost money – though its “world still emerging from COVID” release date likely hurt it as well.

Ticket sales aside, I’d love to claim that Kingdom wraps up the DCEU on a strong note. Unfortunately, it delivers a spotty affair.

Which doesn’t make it a bad movie. Indeed, I actually prefer it to the 2018 flick.

View that more as my less than rapturous reaction to the prior movie, though. Audiences appeared to dig Aquaman but I found it overly bombastic and messy.

I could label Kingdom with those same terms, honestly. If one seeks a coherent, well-told narrative, avoid this movie.

I don’t care for the reuse of Manta as villain. This seems uninventive and even with some twists along the way, it feels stale.

Given the decades since Aquaman emerged, can’t DC find a second baddie? Abdul-Mateen gives the part his all, but the sequel needed a new foe.

Beyond that weakness, the plot tends to make little to no sense. Granted, no one comes to a movie like this with expectations of a concise affair, but even by genre standards, Kingdom rambles and fails to find a logical path.

Kingdom also suffers from a slow start. Indeed, the movie’s entire first half becomes a bit of a snooze, and this made me fear the whole film would drag.

Happily, Kingdom improves as it goes. Some of this comes from the chemistry between Momoa and Wilson.

Yes, Momoa overplays Arthur’s goofy “bro” vibe, clearly to emphasize how Aquaman differs from the stiff and uptight Orm. This can get annoying.

Nonetheless, Momoa and Wilson mesh well enough to largely let me ignore Momoa’s excesses, and these tone down over time anyway. The two actors create an involving pair and their connection helps lift the movie out of its first half doldrums.

Kingdom also cranks into some fairly impressive action during its second hour. Despite occasionally dodgy digital effects, the film’s battles possess enough gusto to give the tale the kick in the pants it needs.

Does any of this make me depressed that we won’t get a third Aquaman - or at least another King of Atlantis tale under the same cast and crew? Nope – I didn’t care for the first film and this one doesn’t zing for me either.

Still, Kingdom clearly fares better than its predecessor, and it comes with some charms. Expect a spotty but moderately entertaining comic book adventure.

Footnote: despite genre tradition, no extra scenes appear during or after the end credits.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a top-notch Dolby Vision presentation for this native 4K film.

Sharpness seemed strong. Nary a hint of softness impacted the image, so it remained tight and concise.

I saw no shimmering or jaggies. Both edge haloes and print flaws remained absent.

Like every other modern action movie, Kingdom opted for an amber/orange and teal orientation, though it came with splashes of greens, reds and purples as well. The disc depicted them in an appropriate manner, and HDR added range and impact to the tones.

Blacks showed good depth, and shadows offered largely nice clarity and smoothness. HDR contributed power and force to whites and contrast. In the end, the movie provided pleasing visuals.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Kingdom brought us a strong Dolby Atmos soundtrack. As one would expect, the soundscape opened up best when it indulged in its many action sequences.

These used the various channels in a vivid, immersive manner that placed the elements in logical spots and meshed together well. The track gave us a strong sense of place and action.

Audio quality also pleased. Speech remained natural and distinctive, while music was full and rich.

Effects came across as accurate and dynamic, with tight low-end. I liked this mix quite a lot.

Eight featurettes follow, and Finding the Lost Kingdom runs 21 minutes, 22 seconds. It offers notes from DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee, director James Wan, production designer Bill Brzeski, prop maker Sophie Tarver, supervising props painter James Wickerson, stunt coordinator Jon Valera, producers Rob Cowan and Peter Safran, visual effects supervisor Nick Davis, and actors Jason Momoa, Temuera Morrison, Randall Park, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Indya Moore, Dolph Lundgren, and Patrick Wilson.

“Finding” looks at story/characters, sets and locations, cast and performances, props and production design, visual effects, stunts and action.

While we do get information on those topics, much of “Finding” acts more as glimpses of the set. In that regard, we find some interesting shots, even if the comments lean to the fluffy side.

Worlds Above and Below goes for nine minutes, 38 seconds. It involves Wan, Safran, Brzeski, Davis, and Moore.

As implied by the title, we get more info about sets and production design as well as characters and visual effects. It becomes a decent view of some of the movie's fantastic domains.

Next comes Atlantean Blood Is Thicker Than Water. A four-minute, 17-second reel, it brings comments from Wan, Momoa, and Wilson.

"Blood" looks at the Arthur/Orm relationship. We get minor insights along with happy talk.

It’s a Manta World spans 10 minutes, eight seconds. Here we find info from Abdul-Mateen, Wan, Cowan, Brzeski, special effects supervisor Mark Holt, costume designer Richard Sale, FBFX co-founder Grant Pearmain, and supervising art director Tom Still.

Like we expect, "World" covers the movie's take on Manta and related domains. Though some fluff appears, this one becomes more substantial than its predecessors.

With Necrus, The Black City, we find a five-minute, 51-second piece. It provides remarks from Wan, Safran, Momoa, Brzeski, Davis, Valera, Sale, and special makeup effects designer Justin Raleigh.

More details about sets emerge along with thoughts about stunts/action, costumes, and character makeup. We find a fairly solid recap.

Escape from the Deserter World occupies eight minutes, five seconds. We locate statements from Wan, Safran, Brzeski, Wilson, Momoa, Cowan, Sale, Valera, supervising prop modeler Paul Marsh and costume prop modeler Kevin Giles.

We learn about additional sets/production design, costumes, stunts, effects and locations. This becomes another useful program.

After this we see Brawling at Kingfish’s Lair. This one fills four minutes, seven seconds with notes from Wan, Momoa, Safran, Cowan, Brzeski, and Still.

"Lair" looks at the same sorts of topics from the last few but focused on the Kingfish's territory. It seems short but worthwhile.

Finally, Oh, Topo takes up two minutes, 12 seconds. Look for comments from Wan, Wilson, Safran, Cowan, and Still.

Aquaman's octopus sidekick comes to the fore here. We don't learn much, however.

With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the DC Extended Universe of films comes to a close. While I can’t claim it sends off the series with a bang, I like it more than the 2018 Aquaman and think it offers decent entertainment after a slow start. The 4K UHD boasts stellar picture and audio as well as a collection of featurettes. This winds up as an inconsistent but decent superhero tale.