Ridiculous but surprisingly enjoyable.

Rating: 5/10 (1 February 2019)

I've watched this movie twice now. After watching it the first time, I found it hard to escape the realisation of how ridiculous the whole thing is. That being said, I also found it entertaining. That was the first time though. The second time I watched it was about a month later. Viewing movies twice is often a valuable experience. Quite often you spot little things you missed the first time around, but which add to the appreciation of the film. Sadly, with Aquaman, what I spotted was the movies flaws: how really banal the dialogue is, how bad the acting is and how preposterous the plot is. I missed those 'nuances' the first time as I was bombarded by the spectacle of it all. On second viewing, even that spectacle seemed cartoonish and obviously CGI-heavy. The writer(s) hardly miss a superhero movie cliche in this story. The movie tries to take a tongue-in-cheek approach at times, but the humour is quite lame. Much of what is enjoyable about this movie can be attributed to the charisma of Jason Mamoa who plays Arthur Curry/Aquaman - the first Polynesian superhero. His Aquaman scarcely resembles the character found on television and in comic books and is, in some respects, almost an anti-hero. He's not Deadpool, but he's going in that direction. Jason Mamoa isn't a great actor. I'm not even sure he's a good actor, but he's certainly charismatic and, I guess, that's what matters most in this type of film. It also helps that this movie doesn't spend the first hour or so explaining the origins of the main character, before he is seen on the screen. Instead, his story is told in flashback form throughout the movie. Maybe that's because his back story isn't really that interesting and can be dealt with quickly, but anyway... The cast surrounding Mamoa is pretty dull and includes all the perfunctory nods to being racially inclusive. It also includes the obligatory 'big stars' playing mentoring roles to the main protagonist although Willem Dafoe's cheesy character will make you laugh or maybe grimace (though not intentionally) and Nicole Kidman will make you yawn (as usual). Julie Andrews even turns up, or at least her voice does, playing what must be one of the more unusual characters of her career.
Aquaman's closing credits make it obvious that this movie is set up for a sequel and IMDB reports that one is scheduled for 2022. I look forward to seeing that. It will have to be better than this
My conclusion? Turn your brain off, don't expect too much, and you will probably enjoy this movie - the first time. Just don't rush to watch it again.