Geekatana Movie Review: Aquaman

Aside from being the butt of many jokes for some thirty something years Aquaman is probably the least character in DC extensive roster of characters to make a film with. Even if you watch the Justice League cartoon you will barely see his character pop up in an episode. The mostl screen time the character got in any DC animated film was probably from Flashpoint Paradox.

So one can pretty much tell that Warner and DC making a film about Aquaman just cause of the positive feedback the character got from the Justice League movie is clearly a big gamble.

The story of Aquaman follows the tale of Arthur Curry as the heir to the underwater throne of Atlantis. A role he has shun for many a years due to some tragedy in his past. But when Atlantis suddenly threatens the surface world he is forced to step up and be the hero to protect both Atlantis and the surface world.

The story of Aquaman is good film although the plot is something that was probably done before. Tragic story, heir to the throne is forced into hiding, hero must come back to save his kingdom and reclaim his throne...yes I know the plot is like the Lion King only with a Finding Nemo setting. Next thing you know some fish girl with red hair will be singing "Part of Your World."

I'm not hating the movie really. I think it's one of the best DC film that ever come out since the Dark Knight...probably better than Wonder Woman too since it had a more solid second and third act. Sadly being true to the source material held this movie back as it could have taken risk much like the first Ironman film did where it ignored the characters origin and made its own. This movie could benefited from a different approach to the mythos of Aquaman.

Jason Momoa is clearly the best part of this movie. Him and Amber Heard character Mera play off each other nicely Characters are less darker than most previous DC films too. Also Nereus is a good villain with motivations you can get behind to even though his methods are clearly wrong. Also Willem Dafoe character Vulko was a nice side character and just show how much of an acting range this actor has.

The soundtrack for this film is decent although not as memorable as past DC superhero films for me. There's also this issue of Amber Heard sounding like Scarlett Johannson's Black Widow when she delivers some of her lines. It's hard for me not to draw parallels specially when they both look almost identical with the red hair they might as well be twins.

The visuals and cgi are all great although I did find a scene or two that you can tell it's definitely bad cgi mostly during the aquarium scene with the young Arthur Curry you see in one of the trailer for this film. You won't notice it much unless you're really looking but it did put me off for a minute or two. This is definitely a lot more colorful visually than any DC film put to film lately. Also watch out for a mid credit scene at the end.

Some of the world building scenes could have been a lot shorter however. There's a scene with a chasm that didn't go anywhere that could have probably been taken out that wouldn't change the story at all. A lot of the plot twist in the movie predictable for me I guess since this sort of theme has been done in other movies before. But that's a minor complaint at the top of my head.

Overall Aquaman is a great film with great visuals, a likable villain and clearly a DC film going in the right direction. Jason Momoa nailed the role of Aquaman. Overall a really enjoyable film despite some scenes being a bit longer than it should have been and somewhat predictable plot. It's a great indication that DC movies is finally swimming (<-- see what I did there) into the right direction with their movies.