A film that keeps its head above the surface due to its visuals and fun action, but the script is thin as a paper boat

Rating: 5/10 (20 April 2020)

In James Wan's adaption of DC's classic Athalntean superhero Aquaman, the focus is clearly on entertaining fight scenes, vibrant underwater settings, and some non-imaginary one-liners, with less so on storytelling, pacing narrative, and dialogue that doesn't make you cringe. Jason Mamoa is the film's lead as the land based aquatic demigod who sets out to stop his half-brother, King Orm (Wilson) drom waving against the humans. Honestly, not being any environmentalist of any sort, King Orm's war seems justified as humanity's littering of the oceans is a driving factor for him but I'll just set aside that part I guess. So, what we're left with a film that reminds me of the quite tacky, yet often entertaining, superhero movies of the early 2000s, before Disney bought Marvel and turned comic book superheroes to the latest cinematic craze. "Aquaman" is of course visually superior to those old(er) movies, in fact, the underwater environments in the film are breathtakingly beautiful and stunningly well-made, and, besides the action, the CGI and visual effects are what makes "Aquaman" float. I wish the writing duo Johnson-McGoldrick and Beall would have polished the script somewhat, cutting down on unnecessary scenes, made Black Manta (Abdul-Mateen II) feel relevant, increased the villain vibes from blondie King Orm, and thought the dialogue through one more time. Damn that dialogue. It's unbearably awkward at times, especially when Aquaman and Mera (Heard) have their more romantically tense moments. It is easily overshadowed by the action sequences, yes, but I wish "Aquaman" would have a more mature atmosphere and focused less on filling its tank with the most clichéd superhero elements known to man.