Everything is 'awesome'...

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2019)

Or so Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) seems to think, considering he uses that word to describe things several times. Aquadude is the offspring of Nicole Kidman's Atlantean Queen, Atlanna (lots of things start with 'Atlan' in the aquatic city of Atlantis, apparently) and human lighthouse keeper, Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison, who we first meet in creepily de-aged form, but later appears normal. Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman just seems to change hair colour from blonde to grey to signify the passage of time). Both actors try to sell the whole 'star-crossed lovers' thing (with mixed results), there's some humour (ever wanted to see Nicole Kidman slurp up a goldfish?), but the beginning's stand-out moments come from watching Kidman's Atlanna kick major butt. Nicole Kidman: Action Star...who'da thunk it? Blah, blah, seemingly-dead-parent origin story, blah. There's nothing really 'new' here (and it pales in comparison to Wonder Woman's origin story).
Things pick up once we're introduced to adult Arthur, who battles a bunch of pirates, including a father/son duo who tries to kill Arthur (learning just how tough he is in the process). They end up needing his help, but he leaves, thus quickly establishing Aquadude as a 'different' type of superhero (yet somehow still less of a jerk than Batfleck or Neck-snapper). Naturally, the son swears revenge against him for his father's death. Dude, your motivation is CRAP. As Arthur rightly points out, you guys got YOURSELVES into this mess/killed innocent people, and then blame *him* for your father dying when it was HIS OWN actions that led to his fate? You get no sympathy from me.
Arthur proves he's not totally ruthless in a funny moment where you think the typical barroom brawl is going to break out, but instead it's just fans seeking a selfie. Flashbacks to kid Arthur show that he learned to communicate with marine life at an early age (and show those who made jokes about him 'talking to fishes'), then later ones feature his mentor/trainer, Vulko (Willem Dafoe), teaching him how to use his gifts both underwater and on land.
Things REALLY kick up a notch once Princess Mera (Amber Heard, complete with long flowing bright red hair, impressive butt-kicking skills and cleavage to match) enters the picture. Their history/previous encounter in Justice League feels a bit vague, but they get to know each other and Arthur soon learns her skills are equal to his (but with extra neat water-controlling abilities). They snark/bicker, save each other, and naturally this eventually leads to underwater snogging.
Heard impresses as Mera, showing her character to be brave, intelligent, funny (her snarkiness towards Arthur is fun, but her expressions she makes at him are even better. Then there's the flower-eating...) and worthy of becoming a Queen...but, of course, this is Arthur's story, so everything's about characters wanting HIM to become King (even though he doesn't want to)...or in the case of his half-brother, King Orm (Patrick Wilson), trying to PREVENT that from happening. Meanwhile, they've got perfectly good King material in Mera!
Momoa grunts and groans his way through the movie, getting tossed around countless times and seemingly 'severely injured' a bunch...only for him to basically shrug it all off. Once you realise any injuries he sustains will barely slow him down, any sense of 'danger' fades away. Really, that goes for basically ALL the characters (except cannon fodder, of course). It gets a bit ridiculous how often characters *should* be dead, but seem fine. It kind of kills any 'weight' the fights might have.
Some are pretty neat to watch, though, like Mera's Italy rooftop chase (though apparently they still haven't learned from the 'destruction porn' of MoS, as there's SO MUCH property damage here), but others are less so, such as the CGI-heavy underwater battle at the end that just winds up losing all meaning after a while. That's not to say that the visuals aren't impressive. The creatures on display are quite a wonder to behold (Julie Andrews voicing a an enormous sea beast is probably something nobody realised they needed/wanted, but *will* after they see it). It's just that the battle blurs together/goes on too long.
Much better are 'smaller' fight scenes, like the aforementioned Atlanna fight and Italy fight, then there's a wee bit of 'horror' during the trench scene, which is welcome. Too bad things got overblown at the end. Still, it's no wonder this movie has taken so long to be made, considering the fact that technology/effects have probably taken this long to reach a point where these underwater scenes can be brought to life as believably as they are. They might not entirely convince, but there are certain moments where you forget this is an effects-heavy world and just lose yourself in the majesty of the underwater kingdom.
There's no really 'memorable' theme here (unlike Wonder Woman's, which remains the best/most memorable theme from ALL of these DCEU films), but there's some decent music sprinkled through the movie, both in the score and the choice of songs used (Roy Orbison's 'She's A Mystery To Me' makes an unexpected, yet very welcome/fitting, appearance. The end credits song isn't as 'rock 'n' roll' as you might expect from Aquadude, but also manages to fit well, given that it's his parents' love story which bookends the film).
Momoa mightn't be the best actor out there, but he gets by a lot on his charm/likeability and is ably supported by Heard, who ensures Mera isn't just a 'love interest'. She too is a hero, and like Wonder Woman's Steve Trevor, doesn't 'steal' the spotlight from the 'title' character, but rather 'shares' it with him. Speaking of Wonder Woman, that film's still easily the best one of the DCEU by a country mile, but this movie isn't bad either. It's certainly more fun than MoS or BvS. Give Batfleck and Neck-snapper a break for a while, DC. Wonder Gal and Aquadude can take it from here.