Not enough to save the DCEU

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2018)

Aquaman was good in the Justice League movie last year, and they picked a good actor who fitted a dark gritty version of Aquaman: Joan Momoa. Now we have a full on Aquaman movie. Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, and directed by James Wan. Makings of a great edition to the DCEU, the problem is it runs on a by the numbers story for the main character. Warner Bros did something out of the blue: they had the ensemble movie first, with each new character a follow up solo movie; the beginning of Aquaman gives us a backstory, with the main movie focusing on the aftermath of Steppenwolf.
The story takes place sometime after the events of Justice League, with Arthur Curry (Aquaman) being forced into the open when Orm, his half-brother and King of the Legendary Atlantis is trying to begin a new war with the surface world. Now Arthur has to embark on an adventure with another Atlantean, Mera, to find a way to defeat arm and unite their two worlds.
For positives, the visuals are amazing. Atlantis looks phenomenal, the action set pieces are well done, especially the continuous shots that Wan is known for in his action films. The set designs and costumes are inspired, especially the classic Aquaman suit and Black Manta's armour. The budged for the CGI was definitely well spent, we get the studio mandated third act battle but I didn't care: we get War Sharks and War Sea Horses and King Crabs and a GIANT KRAKEN, THING! with missiles and lasers on them, smashing into each other while flaming balls of molten magma are being flung around on CATAPULTS!; I felt like I tripping balls for 10 minutes but it's so worth it.
The film has fun montages and flashbacks, and funny moments of humour sprinkled throughout. Amber Heard is very good as Mera. The way the Atlanteans live and function is interesting to see. The film is well paced and keeps you interested; can't say there were any times it was starting to bore me.
All that being said, Aquaman is very good on its own; if it had been the first instalment in the DCEU, or the second, after Wonder Woman, the DCEU could have continued on a better thought out franchise, instead Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck have left, Batman v Superman and Justice League were messes, and Shazam doesn't come off like it'll be a surefire hit at all. Wonder Woman 1984's already in production so the train can't stop now, and the DCEU movies are heading into pre-production before any well thought out thinking can be done, It's gonna be distracting going forward; I still think they should have rebooted it post Justice League, especially since they're gonna have to "Don Cheadle" Superman and Batman now. The DCEU still has no concrete plan for their universe, and they certainly don't have a competent Kevin Feige figure.
But, for two hours of fast paced, action packed entertainment with a charming lead and supporting characters, definitely give Aquaman a see.