Make no mistake about it... Aquaman, as a superhero, is pretty lame. He's the king of the sea and his superhero is, wait for it, that he can talk to fish. Needless to say, the bar was set pretty low going into the cinematic debut of Arthur Curry's alter-ego. On top of that, the fact that the future of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is basically hanging by a thread made this an almost no-lose situation for director James Wan (of Fast& Furious fame). It seemed like he had absolute creative control in this one. From concept, to creation, to editing, it seemed like Warner Bros. handed over the reigns completely. The result is a laudable mess of a movie that almost worked. It's filled with insane CGI sequences, laughable costumes, and a script full of gobbledegook dialogue that is almost saved by Jason Momoa's charm. It's like everyone was in on the joke, but still had a passion for it.
Aquaman has a loose connection to the previous DCEU films. There's a brief mention of the events in Justice League, but that's about it. It serves as a re-branding of sorts for the DCEU. We are shown Arthur Curry's origins as the son of a fisherman and a queen from the underwater world of Atlantis (played by Nicole Kidman in a performance that could easily be called "just woke up from an ambien nap."). Fast forward 30 years, and Arthur Curry is a reluctant hero. He doesn't want to take up his birth right as the rightful king of Atlantis... even though Atlantis is descending into chaos by the rule of his half-brother (Patrick Wilson in a camp movie hall of fame performance) and his attempt to declare war on the surface. Enter Amber Heard (in full "Ariel from The Little Mermaid" costume) as Mera. She convinces him to help her on a globetrotting quest to locate the trident of the original king of Atlantis. This trident will grant its owner the power to rule the seas.
Other than that brief description of the plot, I can't really go much further, as the term "plot" is used very lightly. There's clans of fish people, crab people, and Dolph Lundgren (yes, that Dolph Lundgren) as a king of a clan of water-dwellers. The scenes on earth look like they're more computer generated than the scenes under water, and there's about 3-4 too many villains working at the same time. The final battle is a cacophony of CGI fish, people, crabs and monsters that might be the most insane battle sequence I've ever witnessed.
The movie is almost saved by its star, Jason Momoa. He's not the best actor in the world, and yet he was arguably the best part of Justice League. Given room to shine, he wears this character like a glove. It's like he rolled out of bed and jumped straight on set (and I mean that in a good way). He has an every man's charm about him that you can't help but get behind. I'd be interested to see where he takes this character (assuming the DCEU doesn't completely reboot again).
I'm giving Aquaman 1.9 stars out of 4. It's a completely bonkers romp of a superhero movie that you'll have a decent time watching.
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