Look...He's talking to fish...

Rating: 7/10 (13 December 2018)

...That shark scene in the aquarium is just the best.
Aquaman...he used to be a joke, way before mainstream comic book movies became the norm. But to make his comic book suit work on film, is just an astounding feat. Those orange scales and green leggings, fit perfectly and does not look cheesy at all. For that - I applaud the team for not shying away from the character's roots.
As to the movie itself. I admittedly enjoyed the second half, way way more than the first half. First half (after the linear introduction of his origin to that of present day - which was great) was well...full of expositions that was somewhat weirdly edited to intertwine both present and past. It happens kinda often that it really took me out of the storytelling. Being able to mentally recall the last time it did that, it just felt repetitive and overuse.
And speaking of repetitiveness - that Michael Bay 360 camera rotation technique is just er...not good at all. If I recall correctly - it is used like three times for first half of the movie. And then there are those character building time scenes that was suddenly disrupted to lead into the action scenes - that got very repetitive too. Basically - it feels like the rhythm of the edit was very jarring.
Even the sounds got abruptly cut off, as the camera pans up from the drumming octopus to those in the "lobby deck" - was a very weird choice, instead of having it naturally fade out. And there is that one scene with Black Manta and a song playing full on, that felt so out of pace and out of place.
Besides all the technicalities above, after all the setups, once Arthur and Mera finally went on their expedition - that was when the movie kicked into another gear. It became a story that I found interest in. That was more enjoyable. Both Jason Momoa and Amber Heard exudes a believable chemistry. And Black Manta was comic book perfection - to make his look work on-screen too. And I felt the heart of the movie - when he met with his mom, his brother meeting his mom, and lastly his dad meeting his wife - those were very nice touches.
Anyways, this film makes it cool to want to talk to a fish.