Aquaman (2018) is directed by James Wan and stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, and Dolph Lundgren. The film follows the story of Arthur Curry aka Aquaman. Arthur is a fisherman/superhuman who splits his time between drinking beers and saving lives. Arthur’s mother (Kidman) is the queen of Atlantis and his father (Morrison) is a lighthouse keeper on the surface. After Arthur is born, his mother is captured by Atlantis and executed for breaking sacred Atlantean law. They are not allowed to coexist with people on land. Arthur, although a half-breed, is the true king of Atlantis. When Arthur’s half-brother Orm attempts to incite war between land and sea, Arthur is forced to accept his destiny as king and save both worlds from certain destruction.

   I feel that Jason Momoa’s performance here is the one that often gets unfairly criticized. He plays a sort of reluctant hero who is equally interested in chill vibes as he is saving the world. I can see how this would annoy some fans, but for me it added a certain nonchalant edge that I felt made the character easy to like. It really is a smart approach for this movie. The nature of Aquaman is already so silly. It makes sense to have a lead that doesn’t take himself too seriously.  

Amber Heard as Arthur’s ally and love interest Mera is probably the weakest performance here. Real-world legal issues aside, this performance is completely wooden in hindsight. Even the inflections in her voice suggest something closer to “Valley Girl” than the future queen of Atlantis. Really a basic and forgettable performance.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II gives a fun performance as the secondary villain, Black Manta. His face is able to communicate an absurd hatred in a way that is intensely animated. He almost emulates a comic book frame. Likewise, we get a good amount of backstory that truly makes the viewer sympathetic for his character. Unfortunately, his motivations and one-note attitude make the character a bit too unoriginal.

The rest of the cast including Patrick Wilson give performances that are serviceable but unfortunately feel somewhat boring. All of these characters are completely serious and have no true defining qualities. I think “wooden” would be the right word to describe it. In defense of the cast, I think this has more to do with how the characters are written. All of these wooden characters make Arthur’s personality stand out even more. This movie would surely not work without so much fun injected by the lead. I will say that Temuera Morrison is a treat as Arthur’s dad. It’s one of those cases of perfect casting that could be easily overlooked. Nothing too crazy, I just found myself smiling whenever he was on screen.

The film is extremely well-directed by James Wan. Just the simple fact that this film isn’t a complete joke proves that. The action is all shot in a very unique and kinetic way, but it’s undeniably relentless. The film is so action-packed that I couldn’t help but reach a point where I was just bored with it all. Granted, this action is a step above most superhero films. For example, there’s a standout chase sequence here that I was surprised by. We just get too much of a good thing. It’s like eating chocolate until you make yourself sick. The CGI here is heavily featured and doesn’t always look great, especially when a majority of scenes take place underwater. That all being said, It’s hard to imagine a film with this many special effects looking as good as it does. Yeah, it’s not perfect, but it’s better than expected and gets the job done. 

Surprisingly, the humor here mostly lands. None of it is truly “laugh out loud” funny, but none of it falls flat either. Whether you laugh or not, there’s good comedic delivery/energy. The premise of Aquaman is almost inherently comedic. Instead of trying to make the film into some kind of darkly serious drama, the film embraces its silly elements. Though, it doesn’t embrace this silliness so completely that it sacrifices drama/stakes. The film makes the smart choice of not immediately berating the audience with Aquaman’s silliness. They begin the film by focusing on the romance between Arthur’s mother and father. We become hooked to this story in an emotional sense first. Once the silly elements come into play, we’re more ok with it. We’re already along for the ride regardless. This also supports one of the main themes of the film: family. The dynamic between Arthur and Orm is fun and surprisingly complex. Once again, the film does a decent job of making us sympathetic for Orm. When he finally takes a small character turn in the end, it feels endlessly satisfying. It sets things up well for him being an ally to Arthur in the sequel. This familial element really supports the film’s sort of classic Greek tragedy structure. The film is a mix of Greek tragedy, adventure, and fantasy film. All three of these allow for a bit of silliness and unreality, making them perfect choices of genre for the character of Aquaman. 

What often sinks the film is its tendency to follow the common cliches/tropes of the superhero and adventure film genres. Backstories are unoriginal, motivations aren’t particularly interesting, and things pretty much play out exactly how you’d expect. After about the first 30 minutes of the film, it pretty much shows its entire bag of tricks. Although never boring, none of it felt new. The romantic elements fall completely flat and seem like an afterthought. This is weird considering how long the movie is. Nothing should feel underdeveloped or forced, but it often does. The film is FAR TOO long yet completely overstuffed. It can’t balance heavy exposition, countless action sequences, and its large cast of characters. The film should’ve been 3 hours or they should’ve just cut some elements.

Overall, Aquaman is a mostly standard superhero film that distinguishes itself from the pack due to its unique underwater setting and intentionally cheesy tone. People always talk about what works about this film. I understand this considering that no one thought this character would translate to the big screen. And a lot of things do work that shouldn’t. The thing is, I don’t think the things that work make the film all that much more exciting. It’s still mostly unoriginal and predictable in its plotting. This movie is decent fun, but I could never see this appealing to audiences that aren’t already interested in superhero films. I’m neutral in the genre and even with the film’s unique energy, I still found it to be kind of a drag. C+