Aquaman

Overview

Half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry is taken on the journey of his lifetime to discover if he is worth of being a king.

Rating

13 Reviews

• 

  Snapcase

  4 Sep 13, 2019

  I am so conflicted. We're introduced to the atlanteans with Nicole Kidman in a leotard and wet hair looking out of place in a living room and eating a gold fish. The first fight scene has so many dramatic zoom-ins with dramatic music I thought I was watching the dramatic chipmunk video. Willem Dafoe riding a fish! Cheesy lines like a bad 80's action parody. Some amazing CGI environments, others looked like they belonged in Diablo 3. Awful compositing throughout. Unnecessary detour through the Mines of Moria. Puzzles worthy of Lucas Arts point and click adventure games. A villain from 90s power rangers. Amazing scary trench scene! Giant sea creature war with fireworks and laser beams! Not good, and not bad enough to be entertaining.

• 

  Nathan

  6 Jul 10, 2022

  _Aquaman_ delivers a fun and ambitious adventure for the DCEU, but flounders at its opportunity for true greatness. There is so much to like about _Aquaman_, for starters the action is on another level. The DCEU has really mastered its fight choreography allowing for the directors to get wide, interesting shots of the action without having to add unnecessary cuts. There were so many fight sequences that had me thoroughly impressed with the creativity and the scope of the action. I particularly like how James Wan was able to transition across to the battlefield to show individual fights. It gave them a sense of connectedness that is sorely missing in many superhero films today. The plot of this film had me intrigued, although it does tend to get quite weighed down by how involved the movie is. There are so many kingdoms of Atlantis involved and their relationships can get a tad confusing during the first watch. I was constantly trying to understand the relationships between all of the main members of Atlantis, but luckily, I could grasp the gist of what the story was trying to tell. I really appreciated the fantasy parallels that the directors were going for when it came to Atlantis. It gave it a grand feel on scale to a light version of Game of Thrones. The diversity of the nations was a really nice touch as well, I found it fascinating how each nation evolved independently from each other. The main criticism that I have with the story is the writing. There are so many scenarios or lines of dialogue that were incredibly awkward to watch. I think James Wan was really out of his element writing this movie compared to his cookie cutter horror films that he has built his reputation on. Hopefully he can learn from his mistakes for the sequel. I was not overly impressed with the acting in this film either. Jason Mamoa was acceptable as Aquaman but like I said previously there were quite a bit of lines that were delivered awkwardly. I found that the comedic timing of the jokes did not really land and felt out of place in this film. The chemistry between Mamoa and Amber Heard was non-existent, I did not buy for a second that the two were truly in love and the whole build up to the relationship felt incredibly forced. Willem Dafoe was excellent as always and Patrick Wilson was fairly adequate as well. This film had an all-star cast, so it is odd to me that so many lines were delivered awkwardly, I think it is more so on the writing and direction rather than the actors' abilities. Even with all my complaints about the film, I still found myself having a good time. Although, I can’t help but wonder, if given a more suitable director and writer, how amazing this film could have truly been. **Verdict:** _Decent_ **Score:** _68%_

• 

  Martha

  6 Jul 26, 2022

  Honestly I wasn't expecting anything SPECTACULAR but it wasn't bad as I thought it would be. Mamoa pulls off Arthur very well it's the supporting cast... no, one cast member that turned my stomach to watch. AMBER HEARD. After all she did to Johnny Depp I got physically ILL watching her on screen. The rest of the movie would have been FINE if she wasn't in it. Honestly, I wish I could just BLOCK her out. I loved William Defoe's character... and I would have loved MORE interactions between him and other characters. I loved the visuals. Underwater is hard... so them making it so SEAMLESS, was awesome.

• 

  GenerationofSwine

  5 Jan 13, 2023

  I am so tired of CGI battles it's getting to the point where they put me to sleep. It was just too much there. However for most of the film it felt like an adventure, that is an improvement over Wonder Women which felt too much like it was trying to be the Dark Knight. Unfortunately, Aquaman goes into Dark Knight territory enough to irritate the audience. That was my complaint about MOST DCEU films, they aren't made to fit the character, they are all just Batman clones. It should have stuck with the adventure feel and been a great film. Instead it went in the same direction that ruined Wonder Women and every other DC film of late, it tried to emulate Batman

• 

  The Movie Mob

  8 Feb 11, 2023

  **Aquaman truly feels like a comic book come to life with bright, vivid colors and all-out action from start to finish.** Aquaman isn't a perfect movie, but even with its flaws, it's a blast that builds a massive new world in its own corner of the DCEU. Entire races and armies battle against each other for control of the world's oceans. Beautiful aesthetics fill this movie with stunning Greek landscapes to vast underwater kingdoms to haunting dark caverns. Aquaman is a fun Indiana Jones homage rolled into a comic book origin story anchored by Jason Momoa's tough-guy action hero. One of my favorite comic book characters of all time is Mera, and getting to see her in action was fantastic. Still, some of the changes they made to her backstory were a little disappointing, and her portrayal by a highly polarizing actress seems to have sidelined the character in future films. I loved the excessive action scenes and James Wan's over-the-top climactic undersea war. Everything about this movie felt full throttle, and even though it was a bit much at times, it made for a very entertaining popcorn flick.

• 

  Dr_Nostromo

  7 Feb 28, 2026

  67/100 Details the origin of Aquaman and how he became the King of Atlantis. Grand in scale, this exquisitely gorgeous display of action and spec fx is mesmerizing ...certainly an equal to any Marvel Cinematic Universe production. However, as wonderful as it is, I still can't place it in the same echelon as the MCU. I think it has to do with the MCU's brilliant knack for casting just the right person in just the right role making them iconic. Here, the acting is great but I just don't feel that extra level of identity. Regardless, this is a definite must see film for comic fans. -- DrNostromo.com