Review of Aquaman (2018) by Santiago S — 26 Dec 2018

Enjoyable but overly long comic book movie that pays respect to its comic book roots but could have used some edits. The cast is solid across the board, with Jason Momoa continuing his 'bro-ish' version of Aquaman to great effect while Amber Heard is a solid straight woman against him as Meera.

Patrick Wilson makes a compelling villain though a bit one-note at times (he is given some shades, as the fact he is Arthur's brother is put to use). However, the scene stealer Yahya Abul-Mateen II as Black Manta, who through a combination of his intense performance and brilliant costume design, is one of the most fully realized adaptations of a comic book character to the big screen (it is thrilling seeing his trademark eye lasers fire).

Behind the camera, James Wan crafts a fun comic book film that sticks close to the source material (all the characters look straight from the comic, and even Aquaman's classic costume is put to great use).

The action and visual effects are second to none (how the FX team didn't get an Oscar nomination is a travesty) but at nearly two hours and thirty minutes, the film could have used an edit, with a plot too complicated for it's own good (Black Manta isn't quite worked in as effectively as he could have been).

Overall, this is the DCEU's second best movie to date after Wonder Woman, and for the record, it's second actual good one as well, showing the DC comic book movies might finally be on the right track.