A win for DC

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2019)

Aquaman always seemed like a character that wouldn't translate well to the big screen. A bit over a decade ago, HBO's "Entourage" did a season-long storyline about the ridiculousness of the concept of an Aquaman movie. Even before that, the character had routinely been a punchline to many, even comic fans. That's why it was pretty surprising that Jason Momoa's portrayal of Arthur Curry/Aquaman in 2017's Justice League was one of the highpoints of the film. For those who enjoyed Momoa's performance in Justice League, his solo movie is more of the same, if not better.
Director James Wan's greatest decision with Aquaman is in the fact the tone is kept relatively light and fun. Wan is smart enough to realize that a dark, brooding Aquaman just would never work. Wan doesn't overload his film with too many jokes, but keeps the dialogue snappy and occasionally tongue-in-cheek. Complementing the tone is great use of color to match the beautiful ocean cinematography. A lot of comic book adaptations have a very similar look to them, but Aquaman is infinitely more colorful and distinct in its color palette. The only real problem with the look of the film is that a lot of the CGI resembles a video game. This is the most common problem with blockbusters today, as even pretty good CGI is still obvious CGI, which tends to take me out of the movie a bit.
Despite the overuse of CGI for the costumes, none of the actors come off as ridiculous. Jason Momoa gives a charismatic, fun performance. Amber Heard's performance has received some criticism, but I found nothing wrong with it. Dolph Lungdren makes the most of his small role, though it's weird to see Lungdren in a role where he doesn't punch anything. Patrick Wilson comes the closest to almost crossing the line between silly and foolish, though that's due more to the dialogue he's given more than anything else. Wilson still makes for an effective villain. The scenes with him and Momoa going against each other are amongst the more interesting, although the final confrontation is slightly disappointing.
It's unclear at this time whether an Aquaman sequel is in the works as Warner Bros. seems unsure about what to do with their DC series right now. Despite minor problems, Aquaman is the most entertaining DC film released this decade. What could have been a disaster is an absolute blast from start to finish and James Wan's strongest film yet. Recommended to even those who don't particularly love the titular character. 7.5/10