An improvement for DC. It is still a garish, ugly mess.

Rating: 4/10 (4 June 2019)

My biggest problem with the film is the overall design is, to be blunt, a psychedelic blur with no proper sense of scope. Each section of the film has its own fundamentally incompatible aesthetic. On their own each of the Kingdoms can be quite beautiful but there was no thought of how they fit together. More problematic, the various sections are all, by narrative, descended from a single source but don't actually look they do. (I just don't see the connection between say the Fishmen and the Kingdom of the Brine). This gives the film a very episodic feel and the tone never quite settles into a coherent film. The film is very ugly as a result.
It doesn't help that the storyline is overly complicated. A bit like Black Panther the film is rooted in Hamlet and when it sticks to its royal drama structure it is compelling. Yet the film feels the need to inject the MacGruffin questline and an (rushed) origin story for Manta to pad its run time. The characters are too often going from point A to point B with no time to breath. I still am not sure what the extent of Aquaman's, and others', abilities are. No one seemed to suffer from any flaws. The story is a jumble of ideas. And when such concepts as "ocean master!" is part of the story it becomes laughable quite quickly.
Unlike most DC films this one doesn't suffer from the brooding, humorless tone. Aquaman, the character, is at least engaging and charming. He isn't saddled with just tragic backstory to be oh so dark. Now the film is still quite bad but at least DC seems to be aware of the problems. Hopefully they will one day make a good film.
But we are still waiting that day.