Movie Review: 'Aquaman' Is...Actually Good!

I was talking to a couple friends a few days before going to see Aquaman. One of them asked me what my hopes were for the movie. I said “I hope that it’s fun, and that it doesn’t suck.” Not exactly a high bar to clear, but hey, that’s sadly where we are with the DCEU right now. And low bar that it was, Aquaman blew my expectations out of the water (no pun intended).

The success of Aquaman starts with the titular character, played enthusiastically by Jason Momoa. He brings his signature energy from the moment he first appears on screen to his last shot of the movie. For a character like Aquaman, the actor playing him needs to be able to have fun with the role. And Momoa has no problem in that department. Every scene looks like he’s having the time of his life. But a good leading man can only take a movie so far.

The rest of the cast is fine, if maybe a bit mis-used. Amber Heard played Princess Mera, but wasn’t given all that much to do for someone so integral to the story. However, Heard shined with the light role she was given. The imbalance between her Mera and Momoa’s Arthur Curry probably played into the up and down nature of their on-screen chemistry. Hopefully her role will be beefed up as time goes on, giving them ample opportunity to forge a better connection.

Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and Patrick Wilson headline the rest of the supporting cast. Unfortunately their roles did not come close to matching their skills. If these characters evolve and grow throughout the series, then it will be more forgivable in hindsight. But if not? Well, then there was no need to cast such high-profile actors. Each was clearly over-qualified for their respective roles, Wilson especially. He unfortunately drew the short straw and was stuck with the all-too-common “corny villain” character. He tried, and that’s always nice to see. I think he did as good of a job with Orm as was possible.

After the characters, CGI, actions sequences, and (maybe to a lesser extent) visuals are key aspects to today’s superhero movies. And this is where Aquaman makes up some serious ground. It still has its issues, and it’s far from perfect, but it hits more often than it misses. The shots of Atlantis, in particular, are fantastic. We didn’t see much of Atlantis in Justice League, so the Aquaman crew essentially had a blank slate from which to work. And they took that freedom and ran with it, with mostly wonderful results.

As for the CGI and action, they often go hand in hand in Aquaman. Part of how it sits with you is how much you like key action sequences being heavily infused with CGI. If you’re against it, even with good CGI, then this won’t land for you. But the CGI is mostly good (though, yes, there are some exceptions) so the action scenes are mostly serious fun. And that’s really all I can ask of DC at this point.

Okay, just a couple final points. As much as I enjoyed this movie, be warned there are some truly atrocious lines of dialogue. Like, some of the worst in recent memory. Just get through them and move on. On the plus side, Randall Park! His role is very small but any Randall Park is always good. And his character is teased as potentially having a larger role down the line, and that might be the most exciting thing about the movie (sure, maybe an exaggeration, but I’m always in for more Randall Park).

Oscar hopes: Maybe visual effects or production design? Doubtful but I wouldn’t be shocked.