I had practically no expectation for the DCEU’s Aquaman going in because A) it’s Aquaman and B) it’s the DCEU which has produced far more misses than hits at this point in its quest to emulate Marvel. If any movie in this universe seemed destined to fail it would be the one with the hero even die-hard DC fans probably care about the least in the scheme of major Justice League players.
And yet Aquaman works. It really does, and I was stunned not only by its fantastic action and visuals, but by the fact I genuinely liked it. This isn’t a “it’s so goofy and bad it’s kind of entertaining” situation like say, Venom. But this is a legitimately impressive popcorn flick, cementing James Wan as one of Hollywood’s best blockbuster directors, and lead Jason Momoa as a true star.
If Aquaman falters anywhere, it’s in its script, which is not terribly impressive, featuring few emotional beats that land very well. Also, for as much as this movie might be praised for its lighthearted tone and sense of humor, if you look closely it’s literally only just Momoa’s Arthur Curry cracking jokes, as every other character is taking the war for Atlantis and earth very seriously. It’s odd to have him be the only “funny” character in this movie, while MCU movies, known for their comedy, thread it throughout most of the films, not just singular people.
So why does it work then?
It has been a long, long time since a superhero movie has impressed me with its visuals and action sequences. At this point, we’re getting 3-5 superhero movies a year between Marvel, DC and others, and they all start to blur together eventually.
Aquaman stands out very clearly. The Atlantis has been realized is obviously beautiful, but I was most impressed with how “underwater” filming was handled, given that 80% of the movie takes place in the ocean. There are large scale issues that are expertly overcome like how to make underwater fight sequences not look goofy, down to more minor potential problems being solved like making everyone’s hair wave convincingly underwater, or implying just enough of a voice and visual filter to remind us we’re underwater without making the concept overwhelm the film.
In my title I claim Aquaman as the best DCEU movie besides Wonder Woman, which I do view as a superior film overall, but Aquaman is hot on its heels. And one thing Aquaman does very well is create badass, interesting, dimensional villains, which is something significant Wonder Woman lacked, despite its other strengths. Black Manta is given a convincing backstory as to why he would hate Arthur, and somehow the movie’s costume department even makes his giant laser-shooting helmet work onscreen. I was even more impressed with Patrick Wilson’s Oceanmaster, who actually makes kind of a good point about how humans are trashing the oceans with little concern for what lives there, and his climactic battle against Aquaman might be the best I’ve seen in any DC movie to date.
And then there’s Momoa himself, the best comics-to-screen visual representation of a hero across Marvel and DC in quite some time, probably since Cavill’s Superman, even though we’re a long way from the original blonde haired white dude look. I said there were not that many emotional beats that landed in the film, but when Aquaman (mild, obvious spoilers) secures his legendary trident and dons the orange scale armor for the first time, it’s an absolutely jaw-dropping moment, and the ensemble looks incredible onscreen when it easily could have been terrible.
DC does a great job of making its heroes and villains seem truly powerful in its action scenes, and that is certainly true of Aquaman despite the challenge of so much action taking place underwater. They use the “quiet conversation interrupted by an explosion” trope too many times for my liking, but outside of that, pretty much every action sequence in the film is memorable, particular the enormous end battle of Oceanmaster’s shark-riding army taking on a rival nation, interrupted by Aquaman and uh, well, you’ll see, I won’t spoil that one. But it’s better than say, the final fight of Infinity War, and reminded me of Lord of the Rings, back when epic CGI battles felt genuinely impressive onscreen. Aquaman recaptures that magic.
This is a pretty great film, even more so, perhaps, because I wasn’t expecting much more than a dud. The DCEU is still rifle with problems and Aquaman furthers the huge divide between the various tones of the films within it, but it’s nice to know that it can produce more than one gem, and with the right hero, the right star and the right director, anything is possible if they can turn Aquaman of all characters into something this entertaining.
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Read my new sci-fi thriller novel Herokiller, available now in print and online. I also wrote The Earthborn Trilogy.
