Aquaman - Mostly refreshing

I'm not sure how to write this review. Aquaman is a rare film that has equal amounts of quality and lack thereof in almost every single aspect of its presentation. For everything that this film does well it is carefully counterbalanced by something that doesn't make sense or feels underdeveloped. Even so, it still succeeds in being a fun ride with fresh characters and a decent take on the traditional hero's journey. In comparison to any other DC Comics superhero film released in the past few years, with the notable exception of Wonder Woman, Aquaman is leagues above them all in quality and entertainment value, but sadly still falls into the unfortunate traps left by the previous films and the wrong-headed last minute choices made by Warner Brothers. Despite all that, while I would not dare to rank this movie on par with the likes of Black Panther, I will say that I enjoyed the hell out of it and genuinely hope that DC & Warner Brothers learn some valuable lessons. Sometimes, all you need is a little crazy. 

The story follows Arthur (Jason Momoa) a.k.a. Aquaman, as a man who is half human and half Atlantian: a race of people who live deep in the Oceans of the world. When Arthur is not helping innocent people from pirate attacks or saving marine wildlife, he spends his time drinking at the local fisherman's bar lamenting about his lost mother and how much he hates Atlantis for betraying her. That is until one day a new Atlantian friend named Mera (Amber Heard) approaches Arthur with news about his other home. It turns out that his half-brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson) has grown tired of hiding from the surface world as they pollute the oceans and threaten their very existence, and has decided to declare war on the surface. To so do he must first assemble an army of all six kingdoms of the seas to join him. To stop King Orm and save his home and loved ones, Arthur must seek out the ancient Trident of King Atlan, the first King of Atlantis, and challenge Orm as the rightful heir to the throne, securing peace between Atlantis and the surface world. Meaning Arthur will also have to prove himself worthy of being King. The question is, does he want to take on the new title, and is he even ready for it?

First, let me talk about what I liked about the movie, and fortunately, there is a good deal of quality stuff here. 

Almost the whole cast, especially Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, are fantastic. Everyone seems to have fully embraced the fantastical nature of the film and are having a lot of fun. It often at times feels like watching kids play an epic round of "let's pretend," and I mean that in the best possible way. Jason has a surprising charisma about him that was sadly not present in his previous outing as Aquaman, Justice League. Amber Heard as Mera is fun, energetic, sympathetic, and badass, like Ariel from The Little Mermaid if she knew how to fight. Patrick Wilson as the villain is incredibly entertaining to watch as Mr. Wilson successfully balances the dual nature of his character. He can be calm and diplomatic one moment, only to shock you into submission with killer aggression the next. Although, my favorite supporting character has to be Willem Dafoe as Vulko. He's like an amalgamation of Yoda and the relaxed yet caring uncle who takes you fishing. No pun intended. 

The action scenes are phenomenal. No two fight scenes or chase sequences ever look or feel the same. Each one gets progressively exhilarating and more impactful to the general story. At the end of each action set piece, I felt out of breath like I was the one running and fighting. A true testament to the talent at play in the director's chair. Speaking of whom...

The film was directed by James Wan, who is genuinely showcasing himself as quite a versatile director. Starting as a horror specialist with great modern chillers such as Insidious and The Conjuring, James Wan put horror cinema back on the map with his exquisite direction of the camera, spooky atmosphere, and well timed scares, not to mention his excellent workflow with actors. After ranking in tremendous success with his scary movies, Mr. Wan tried his hands at the action genre with Furious 7. Much to everyone's surprise, despite the original perception that he might have been well out of his comfort zone, Mr. Wan delivered an incredibly fun action movie. Complete with silly yet thrilling set pieces and a reasonably compelling narrative to boot. All of that has been further showcased in Aquaman as Mr. Wan effortlessly delivers fantastic action scenes with comprehensible camera movement, fluid editing, and satisfying choreography. Also, his handling of the quieter moments is equally stunning. I'm looking forward to seeing his future films. 

Unfortunately, as I have already said at the beginning of this review, for everything good about this movie, there is a negative counterpart. 

Starting with the writing. While the general story and overall theme of heritage vs. personal identity is pretty well executed, the rest of the script, at least for the most part, is not. Half the dialogue is relegated to unnatural-sounding exposition, and most of the other half is incredibly amateurish. Like it was written by a sixteen-year-old surfer dude over the weekend. Also, as sympathetic as Arthur-Aquaman is, and as much as a genuine hero he turns out to be in the end, it is challenging to believe that he would be a genuinelyly great leader of a Kingdom he has never visited or cared about until now.  Also, King Orm's motivations, while understandable, don't make much sense within the narrative. Minor spoiler warning, when Orm says he wants to wage war against the surface world for killing the Ocean and destroying their home, we never actually see any of that stuff happen. In fact, whenever we look at the Ocean in the movie, it is perfectly clear and free of garbage say for one or two small moments. And even then, it's not really all that devastating. Also, we never see how any of this affects Atlantis. Actually, I'm pretty sure it never does. The script is full of plot holes like this that, granted didn't really change my overall experience, but it did make me long for something more clever. 

Another issue I personally have with this film is its treatment of its supporting villains. Namely, the ruthless pirate Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) as well as his father (Michael Beach) who is also a pirate. As characters, they are perfectly fine. They have a rich and sympathetic backstory (not unlike Kilmonger from Black Panther), they are played well, and they provide some of the more impactful action scenes. The big problem I have however is the fact that these two are literally the only black characters in the whole film that I can remember. Under different circumstances, this might not be a problem. But when the only black characters you have in your movie are ruthless killers, it kind of paints a bad sign, however unintentional. The good news is, at the very least, the film never forces them to devolve into any sort of stereotype that would otherwise further any unwarranted negative implications on the characters. So while they are still murderous villains, they are never really dehumanized. If anything, they are arguably more interesting than the actual main villain, King Orm. Almost makes you wish the movie was more about Aquaman dealing with them rather the politics of the throne. 

The last thing I have to nitpick about the movie is pretty minor but is worth mentioning. The transitions between the more quiet moments and the action scenes are just too repetitive. The first time a softer moment is suddenly interrupted with an explosion to the face was just fine. It gave me a good jolt and informend me that something big was about to go down. However, when that same tactic is utilized for almost every single action scene, it gets a little dull. 

To be fair, a lot of this was kind of inevitable. Because of the misguided standards initially put into place by Zack Snyder, and the studios sudden and drastic desire to change course, there were going to be some issues like these with this movie. Even so, much like Justice League from last year, there does seem to be some real effort put into making these movies better and more fun. While I still have my reservations as to whether or not they can succeed in turning their plans around for the better, I feel more hopeful now than I ever did before. 

While Aquaman is not necessarily the new pinnacle of quality for DC superhero movies, I do argue that it is at least, for the most part, a good step in the right direction. If for no other reason that it is one of the few DC movies in recent years that actually does understand what a hero is and actually likes them. If Wonder Woman is the highest possible execution of good DC superhero movies (and it really is), then Aquaman is the result of a humbled fool trying to follow the good example made by her. It may not be the next best thing for DC movies, but it's getting closer. Let's hope they continue to improve from here on out. 

Is this movie worth seeing? 

Maybe 

Is it worth seeing in theaters? 

Yes. 

Why? 

While it may not have the best writing or use of characters, it succeeds in being a thrilling visual presentation that is best experienced on the big screen. If you can look past its flaws, you'll be in for a pretty cool ride. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.