Review of Aquaman (2018) by Htgamer — 30 Dec 2018

Aquaman is a good superhero movie from DC. It's a definite improvement over their previous garbage movies (Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman and Justice League), but it's not as good as Wonder Woman.

Jason Momoa looks nothing like the Aquaman from the comics, but he brings humor and some laid back, "brawn-with-a-heart-of-gold" attitude. Momoa's Aquaman is like a random dude enjoying life's little pleasures.

The film tries to be more humorous than the other darker DC movies and approach Marvel's quasi-comical style, but the writers' attempts at making jokes mostly fall flat. I'll never forget the tough guys gang with the pink smartphone asking for a selfie with Aquaman. Yikes!

The script has a few good core ideas but overall is a complicated mess. There is so much going on, too much backstory and legends thrown into the mix, and so many characters walking around, that the plot quickly loses its focus and characters don't have enough room to develop. The movie's story is at its best when talking about marine pollution, the desire of underwater people for revenge, and the strange relationship between half-brothers Aquaman and Oceanmaster, but the writers decided to also branch the story in a King Arthur and Excaliber-kind of direction because Aquaman's human name is, ehm, Arthur. Well, at least it's not nearly as bad as the infamous "Martha" moment in Batman v Superman. And if all that wasn't enough, here is a large scale underwater battle (rivaling those of the Lord of the Rings movies) to top it off. In Aquaman's first movie!

Black Manta was a highlight of the movie for me, but DC sidelined Aquaman's arch-enemy for the eventual sequel.

After DC released a bunch of horrible movies, Wonder Woman and Aquaman have vastly improved upon their predecessors. Will DC be able to keep up with their upcoming movies like Shazam, Flash, and others? Only time will tell.