Very conflicted about this film!

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2018)

To be totally honest and up front I am personally suffering from Comic book film fatigue at the moment, there is just an over saturation. I'd even go as far to say that I am getting less and less bothered or interested in them, the more that come out. I am more of a DC fan than Marvel but I have enjoyed films from both however I really couldn't care less anymore. Maybe thats just me.
With that overly long intro out of the way onto the film itself, which I have to say I am very conflicted on because there are parts I really enjoyed but that there are also parts that were just ok for me. Unfortunately though that is the overriding feeling after viewing this film is that, it is just ok. Which is a real bummer because I go into every film hoping to love it.
Lets start with positives firstly, James Wan. Wow can that man direct!! This probably from a visual standpoint one of the most amazing and breath-taking comic book films you're going to see. Some of the visuals underwater in the world of Atlantis are just incredible, and more importantly the camera work throughout some of the action scenes. Idea of showing two different action scenes going on simultaneously, switching between the two without cutting away is a brilliant way to give perspective on the overall area and scale of the action. Overall though it is nothing less than I expected from Wan because he is an uber talented director and he definitely added something fresh to comic book films in that respect.
Strangely I thought that Jason Momoa was a good as I thought he was gonna be nothing spectacular but not terrible either, however I think there are couple other performances that really stood out to me. Firstly Nicole Kidman, she is one of the best around today period. So it shouldn't really be a surprise that she is really good, but you do worry now and then when you here about a huge name staring in a film like this. Are they just doing it for the pay check?? I thought her performance was really strong and is the heart of the film even though she has "limited" screen time. Every time she does appear on screen she is a scene steeler. Overall top class. The other scene steeler and this one was a shock is Amber Heard as Mera. Now this might be just me but I'm not the greatest Amber Heard fan, don't actually think she's that good an actress, average at best, maybe a little harsh. Wow has this got to be her best performance of her career as of yet. She commands the screen whenever she is on and I think she does a better job of carrying the film than Momoa. As soon as she is introduced to us you immediately warm to her or just latch onto her character and her motivations. However the best thing and probably the most harshest thing I could say is that she wasn't playing Amber Heard, she was actually playing a character......Do you get what i mean? Maybe my bar is set really low for her and actually this isn't really that good but who knows really......each to your own.
All the other performances are really strong Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe and even Dolph Lundgren. They all do well in there respective roles.
Now onto the negatives. Firstly the tone of the film, which needless to say is all over the place. In a way it sort of reminds me of the tone of "Justice League" or some of the Marvel films, one minute begin serious the next second being light hearted out of nowhere. There are so many ups and downs with the tone that it never really felt like an overall theme or tone to latch onto........Is it just me or am I going crazy. I can't quite put my finger on in it, but there was just a strange tone.
Did we really need the character of Black Manta and he's sub-story? There is a lot going on in this film and I just think it might have been helped a little with a bit more of a simpler story with less characters. The character of Black Manta, although there was nothing wrong with the character itself or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II performance its just felt a little shoehorned in.
Finally there wasn't anything in the film that made my jaw drop or was really fascinated by. Erm.......................can't find the words to describe it really, the film was just fine there was a lot of it that was forgettable not because it was bad but it wasn't really that great. Ah thats it there was no great moments in the film for me plenty of fine/ok moments, some good directing and performances but nothing......great.
Overall this film is just 65% out of 100 or 6.5 out 10 it is ok/average, which is a real bummer because if you'd told me that about 2 and a bit years ago I wouldn't have believe you. I'm just a bit worn out with these films whether that is Marvel and sadly even DC now, and boy have I given DC some passes recently.....I'm looking at you "Justice League", "BVS" and "Suicide Squad". Some good directing from James Wan, two standout performances from Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard but as I said nothing great.......just fine.