Immensely entertaining film!

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2018)

Aquaman is the second DCU movie to hit it out of the park. Though, I concede that Wonder Woman still had the stronger story.
The whole thing looks great. The film goes full balls-to-the wall in creating the entire fictional kingdom of Atlantis and several other underwater kingdoms and locations. The whole thing has an 80's fantasy/sci-fi/adventure feel to it. A lot of work went into the details on this. The movie includes one dress and one visual sequence (you'll know it when you see it) that really catch your eye. The fight sequences, including a full-scale battle, really nail it. I also applaud the movie's effort to bring Black Manta and Ocean Master's outfits to life without majorly reworking the designs.
The script does a fair job of balancing drama and comedy. Jason Momoa remains utterly cool and charming as the lead. He and Amber Heard as Mera have good chemistry. Credit should also be given to Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master. He is a complete jerk in this, but you always understand where he is coming from and why he feels justified in what he is doing.
The movie does try to cram in a little too much. We get Aquaman's backstory, Atlantis' surprisingly in-depth backstory, all three of Aquaman's best known villains, and practically every major supporting character except Aqualad. You do tend to get thrown from one scene to the next, and I wished Mera and Aquaman had a little more time to build their relationship. Still, I do give director James Wan credit for trying to get in as much of the Aquaman mythos as possible. There is a lot of thought put into this world. The script is busy, but it isn't confusing or particularly jerky. You are given all the info. needed, and the flashbacks about Aquaman's origin are really well integrated and don't overstay their welcome.