Aquaman (2018) Review

"Something something trident."

-Arthur Curry

Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), aka Aquaman, is half-human and half-Atlantean, but wants nothing to do with the underwater kingdom of Atlantis after they murdered his mother, but when his half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), starts seizing control of the other underwater kingdoms to wage war on the surface, Arthur is reluctantly drawn into the conflict.  Arthur has to find the ancient Trident of Atlan so he can dethrone Orm, but he will have to face many vicious creatures of the deep along the way, along with Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a pirate with a murderous grudge against Aquaman.

What Works:

Aquaman is truly a visual marvel.  I can't get enough of the visual effects.  Director James Wan really went all out with the effects and they add a lot to the movie.  The underwater kingdoms and fight scenes look fantastic and the use of color is phenomenal.  I can't emphasize enough how much I like the look of this movie.  It's a beautiful film.

I love the costume designs in this film as well.  I know nothing about Aquaman and his villains, but I can't get enough of the Black Manta costume.  I love the look of it and it's one of my favorite costumes in all superhero movies.  Orm, aka Oceanmaster's costume is also really cool.  His mask is awesome and I couldn't help but admire it every time we were given a close up.

The cinematography is also excellent.  The camerawork during some of the fight scenes is very fluid and a lot of funt.  We get one early in the film with Arthur's mother, Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), that's basically one long take.  We also get another sequence of a chase/fight across the rooftops of a Sicilian village.  The camerawork here is also excellent as we zoom back and forth between the two major fights that are happening.

As I said above, I knew nothing about Aquaman before watching this film, but I have to say, the lore of the various underwater kingdoms was really interesting to me.  There are seven kingdoms and over the course of the film, we get more and more information about them.  I found all of it fascinating and want to know more about them.  This film does a great job of making you want a sequel without letting this film feel hollow.

Finally, I love the tone of this movie.  Anyone who knows me knows I love a good schlock-fest.  When movies get really goofy, absurd, and over-the-top, I'm almost always on board.  I know not everybody likes that and I know Aquaman won't be everybody's coup of tea because of this, but the pure insanity and goofiness of this movie's tone only endears it to me and I enjoyed it the whole way through.

What Sucks:

There are two moments in the film with really bad acting.  The first comes from Black Manta when he has a dramatic moment.  He shouts, "Damn you!" in a overly dramatic fashion and I couldn't help but cringe.  The second, and even worse one, comes in a flashback to when Arthur was a teenager and played by Otis Danji.  They try to give him a heartbreaking line about his mother and it is laughably bad.  My audience straight up laughed when it happened.  That's not great when you're going for a really dramatic moment.  It was just one scene.  You really couldn't have recast the role?

This movie will not win any awards for writing.  Some of the dialogue is extremely cheesy, and I'm talking nachos levels of cheese.  Most of the time, I enjoyed this dialogue because it added to the schlock of the film, but even I have to admit there were times where it was a bit much.

Verdict:

I went into Aquaman with fairly low expectations and I was more than pleasantly surprised.  This may be a hot take, but Aquaman is my favorite film in the DCEU.  I love how the film looks, the tone of the film is a blast, and I found the lore intriguing and I'm actually really excited for a sequel, which is something I can't say very often.  The dialogue is a little too cheesy at times and there are a couple of moments with very weak acting, but I had a blast watching this film and it certainly has got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good