nonstop fun, and hey it's Jason Momoa, what more do you want?

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2018)

I went to see this with another lady and of course you know we would have gone to see it even if everybody said it sucked, because how could we resist Jason Momoa in a bathing suit? lol. But fortunately it totally didn't suck.
The main character:
The character Arthur Curry is basically King Arthur, but underwater. So it's got that whole "based on mythology" thing going for it, like the original Star Wars movie did.
The visuals:
The fx are great. That's fortunate because there are a ton of them. Since so much of this movie is set underwater, and both the underwater and non underwater scenes have a lot of action and fighting, this is really a big cgi fest. If you don't like looking at cgi you won't like it. But this is the new cgi, not that older stuff that will make you seasick because it flickers like older animation. This stuff is seamless, so give it a try.
The story:
There's a lot going on, but basically the two intertwined plots are about a bad guy who is against Aquaman for personal revenge, and a bad guy who is against Aquaman because Game of Thrones and sea Nazis who hate genetic impurity. Oh and a love story. Nicely handled, too. Not the one with Arthur's love interest, that's way too "defeat big bad and get the girl," I mean the one about his parents. I liked it.
The worldbuilding:
Inevitably, because this is a story about a hidden kingdom where the main character has to fight in personal combat in front of a crowd to win the throne, it will be compared to Black Panther, and it's going to fall short in the worldbuilding dept. Black Panther was a fantasy of Africa in an alternate universe in which it had never been colonized; the language, dress, customs, etc. were all based on real African cultures. Aquaman is not like that. This story borrows the popular culture myth of Atlantis, which is not a real place. (OK, I know there is probably an archeologist out there who is going to make an argument for a Greek island, but seriously, pop culture Atlantis is a fairy tale.) It can't possibly measure up, and it wasn't intended to.
Conclusion:
Plus, it has sharks. Oh yeah, and some great actors, too. And Russian language, which is always a cool plus for me. And dinosaurs, a cool plus for Betty. It's definitely not just for us ladies. There's more than sex appeal going on here. It's fun, see it.