Wonderful.

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2018)

Only minor spoilers ahead.
I agree that I was sceptical when I heard that James Wan is going to direct Aquaman. The guy who was famous for - Saw, Insidious, Conjuring, Annabelle, Lights Out - all out dark horror movies. I mean, if you take out Furious 7 from the list, the guy is almost completely dealing with horror stuff. The only plus point that I saw there was that all of them were 'dark' and the DC verse is supposedly 'dark'. Things got worse when I saw the trailer and saw some 'altered' old school scuba divers as villains. I mean it did look like Black Manta from the comics but to cast something that dramatic from a comic into a movie usually calls for disaster. And in the trailer there were underwater shots of Atlanta that reminded us of 'Avatar' and a Gigantic crab that reminded me of 'Wrath of the Titans' - So now you see my dilemma before watching the movie - it could be an Avatar or a Wrath in the waiting!
But my oh my, this fellow blew my mind completely. Right now I believe this movie can bring back the DC movie verse from close to death.
After watching Aquaman (due to early release in India) the one word that is still ringing in my head is - MAGNITUDE.
The sheer magnitude of the sets, the stunts and the visuals got my jaw dropped. There were a lot of wow moments and more than once did I think about the 'scale' of the underwater world that he is trying to show to us. For instance, there's one scene where a giant blue whale looking like a fish when it swims past one of those fallen Atlantan statues under the sea. At that moment you will invariably compare the sizes in your mind.
I would say James Wan has successfully compiled Avatar, the Titan movies, Pacific Rim, Godzilla, a bit of TinTin, Indiana Jones stuff, a pinch of Harry Potter (LOL) - all into one short fun packed movie. There is fantasy, future tech (in its own way), adventure, creature stuff, scary stuff and breathtaking visuals. And thankfully you won't feel that they have made it all too sweet for a PG-13 rating. It is just the right amount of action.
Oh thanks for reading that much - As a DC fan, now you are probably thinking like - I know all that from the trailer but what about the Superhero stuff? What about Aquaman? Did he pull it off?
My simple answer is a firm Yes.
For a start, this was the one of those films where I waited to see who the casting directors were in the end credit (applauds to Anne McCarthy & Kellie Roy). Personally I felt all the actors were spot on for their roles - Nicole Kidman back in the DC world as Atlanna and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta steals the show in the opening moments, Amber Heard as Mera was convincing, Patrick Wilson as the rogue brother was a decent choice. And for a change you will get to see Willem Defoe (a.k.a Norman Osborne from MCU) and Dolph Lundgren, Drago from Rocky, in different roles (though it's hard to spot Dolph in his new looks).
The towering Dothraki, Khal Drogo - Jason Momoa - to top it off. He is literally like a character walking out of a comic book with those chiselled muscles and the looks along with some pretty decent acting skills (he has a few comic one-liners too). He seems to have understood the depth of the character well and we will see him switching from the ignorant meta-human to the King of Atlantis along the way. There's a pretty decent back story (similar to WonderWoman) and a 'Save the World from Pollution' theme to hold on to. So overall the movie has a pretty solid base.
There are some minor flaws like too many things going on in the final fight (but certainly not as bad as Man of Steel or BvS, here it is simply because of the same magnitude that I mentioned earlier) and there are some space-game like action sequences (even the BGM at that time seems odd but I think it might have been intentional) - but those are very trivial ones.
Overall it is an entertaining DC movie and we feel like we are watching a true comic adaptation.
So now you see DC's dilemma now - In the next JL movie - WonderWoman and Aquaman will be running the show unless the Bat and the Man of Steel proves us wrong.
I rate it 4 out of 5. Watch it on a big screen to feel the magnitude.

PS: Just one advice to all of you - PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILERS for DC movies. They simply reveal too much every single time.