So good. So much more than a just a superhero movie

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2018)

Aquaman is unlike anything I've ever seen on the big screen. The look and feel of Atlantis, the costume design, creature effects, are rivaled only by Avatar and the Middle Earth movies amongst recent tent poles. More than just a really good superhero movie, Aquaman is a great sci-fi/fantasy epic. It can't be stressed enough, the underwater world of Atlantis is so rich and absorbing as to merit the price of the ticket on its own (not that the dry land stuff isn't good too. It is, but it's not game changing like the underwater stuff is).
And don't be worried about the underwater sequences as it pertains to the movement and talking either. It was outstanding. The action, especially the third act stuff was phenomenal (among superhero movies released in the last 3-4 years only Infinity War's was better).
The only weaknesses the movie had were the handling of Arthur/Aquaman and the movie's ambition: Jason Momoa spent most of the movie playing Aquaman as Arthur, the dudebro, which got a little tiring (many of his comedic moments were spoiled in the trailers, and others fell flat). But once the third act came around and the dudebro stuff gave way to more kingly matters, Jason really came through. All the other actors were note perfect: Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, William Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, Temurea Morrison, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Julie Andrews. They were all terrific.
And on the ambition: just how much story there was to tell was probably the only real negative. The many side plots and changes of scenery, and the degree to which they necessitated a change of tone did make the movie feel a tad bit uneven and clunky at times, but ultimately, every single plot thread was entertaining and interwoven. The ending was fantastic, and there was really no fat to the movie. It was just a really big, decadent, swashbuckling superhero sci-fi-fantasy epic with a little Shakespearean tragedy, comedy, and a smidge of horror. So much to digest. So good.