Aquaman Movie Review

Aquaman (2018)

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Written by: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall (screenplay by, )Geoff Johns & James Wan and Will Beall (story by), Mort Weisinger, Paul Norris (Aquaman created by)
Directed by: James Wan
Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.

Verdict
With the dearth of comic super hero movies, it's easy to get overloaded. Momoa does a great job of making Curry more than a bland hero. While the movie is mired in superhero tropes, the plot has intriguing political elements that unfortunately aren't fully explored.
It depends.

Review
It's front loaded with exposition. I don't know why the movie doesn't let the story unfold on screen without narration. It doesn't even need dialog. This is a massive origin dump and the movie would be better without it. There is no need to have an upper level actor play a parent either. This should focus on Aquaman, not his parents.

I'd much prefer this start with Aquaman as a kid. Sure it's pretty typical, but that at least gives us a quick intro. I like Momoa in general and this feels like his wheelhouse, a snarky almost non-hero. I don't know if this is how Aquaman is traditionally portrayed or if the character is skewed to fit the actor.

Aquaman can talk to fish and breath underwater, but he also has strength and impenetrable skin. We see him from the start stopping pirates that have commandeered a submarine. This is tied weakly to a villain origin story, but I like that this movie has two villains even if Manta could be cut entirely.

Momoa has more than a few one liners and there's bar fight trope that turns into a selfie with Aquaman. It's fun and this movie needs to focus on fun. It's pretty wild in its own right with underwater laser gun. Character voices are rather clear despite being under water, and they also movie with virtually no resistance. I was disappointed water wasn't used as a more of a weapon.
It's a lot of spectacle, but it's fun in a somewhat silly way. Despite the fun this movie has, it does nothing with mermaid and water creature myths.

The issue the water races are facing is that Aquaman's half brother wants to start a war with the people on dry land. This could have gotten political and I wish it had. As presented it's little more than a megalomaniac's quest for power.

This is one of the better DC movies, though Wonder Woman (read my review) is still much better at crafting a story and character and this reigns in the over the top tendencies of Batman v. Superman (read my review). This still needs to be more focused.