A fun generic blockbuster

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2019)

For a decent while now the DCEU has been subject to controversy with the only movie being loved by both fans and critics to be Wonder Woman. Beyond that each film has had some sort of issue in the filming process before its initial release. Rather that be Suicide Squad with all of the Joker scenes being cut or Justice League with its infamous Superman mustache issue. All of these factors and more led to these films getting poor reception from critics and a few fans. So going into Aquaman there were many who were very skeptical.
However with James Wan at the helm I had little worry. The man was known for making films that were commercially viable. The Conjuring 2 film made 320 million dollars on a 40 million dollar budget. Saw made 103 million on a meager 1.2 million dollar budget, and Furious 7 made over a billion dollars on its big budget 200 million dollar production cost. So there was little doubt that the film would do well. As far as quality Wan usually churns out quality work. His Saw series is beloved by many fans, his Conjuring work had been exceptional, and Insidious while not as beloved as Saw is also its own franchise. So I was pretty optimistic on him taking on the visual spectacle that was "Man who can talk to fish: The Movie."
In regards to visual effects the movie isn't all that spectacular. There were areas that I found to be very clunky. Mera from a purely special effects standpoint never looked real, there were a lot of water effects that looked fake. The designs of the home where Aquaman lived were nice looking, but still needed a bit more rendering to be done. The fight scenes I will admit are pretty bad ass. Every fight seemed to find a way to surprise me. The ones underwater seemed to impress me the most with their visual flares.
Jason Momoa also bolstered a lot of confidence and charisma in the role. His flirtatious attitude with Mera and his audacious approach to to his brother always put a smile on my face. He was defiantly perfectly cast in the role of a superhero.
Additionally the film tends to be very funny. It always knew how to make you feel good when you watched. There was a lot of great chemistry between Aquaman and other character that allowed for some really enjoyable sequence that made me grin from ear to ear. It was just a good, upbeat, and fun experience at the movies.
But my favorite aspect of the film was Black Manta. He was a marvelous villain. From start to finish he always kept me interested in the pain he was feeling at the loss of his father and how Aquaman chose not to save him. This anger fuels the antagonist and pushes him to vengeance. This desire makes the audience feel sympathetic to his plight and his desire for revenge.
King Orm wasn't nearly as compelling, but I did like his character. He was more your standard bad guy who wanted to become king for his own selfish reasons and hated the people on the surface. There is a part of me that wishes this was two movies instead of just one. Perhaps then King Orm would be a little bit more three dimensional than he turned out to be.
I really loved Aquaman and Mera's relationship. It was really sweet and funny. Jason played it more in the tone of him seeing her as a sexy catch and she was the sassy redhead who wanted him just as badly, and when looking at it through those eyes then they really work well for each other.
Overall though there isn't really anything surprising here. It pretty standard superhero stuff. There a big awesome fight at the end of the movie that was cool to see. Mera and Aquaman have a overly dramatic kiss, and the movie ends with Aquaman giving a hopeful monologue to the future. So it was good.