More to Aquaman than a Guy in a Wet Suit

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2018)

Well, after watching some rather disappointing movies of late, this one turned out to be quite enjoyable. Okay, it is basically another superhero movie, and one based on a character that none of the main characters on The Big Bang Theory ever want to go dressed as to a fancy dress party. It sort of made me wonder whether Aquaman is one of those characters that nobody really likes all that much, so I was scratching my head as to why it turned out that they decided to do his origin story as the next in the DC Franchise.
Look, if you are expecting anything on the scale of the MCU films, then you are probably going to be a little disappointed. Like all of the other DCEU films, this is basically a standalone film in the shared universe. In fact, I've noticed that the other characters don't even seem to make an appearance, but then again that probably has something to do with them wanting to maintain the focus on Aquaman and not divert the audience's attention to some of the more popular heroes, such as Batman.
I'd probably say that this is your typical origin film, and as far as the story goes it is hardly original. The film is set about a year after the events in Justice League, and Aquaman is being approached to sort out a problem with Atlantis. The thing is that the people of Atlantis have become so annoyed with the surface people treating the ocean as if it were some huge garbage dump that they decide that they want to do something about it. Honestly, I really don't blame them, but then again we happen to be the surface people, and despite all of our crimes against nature, for some reason we always deserve a second chance.
This is where Aquaman comes in. He is to challenge the king for the throne, particularly since he is first born. The problem is that he is the illegitimate child of the queen, so technically he doesn't count. Well, because of that he decides to go on a quest for a legendary trident, that he doesn't actually believe in, but because the princess of one of the kingdoms is encouraging him to do so, namely because she doesn't want to marry the king of Atlantis, he does so anyway. So, you can probably guess what happens from there, and it does include a huge undersea battle, as well as another enemy who wants to kill Aquaman because his father died when they were attempting to capture a Russian sub.
Another thing about this film is that it is also technically a coming of age film, though of course the coming of age happens to be Aquaman, or at least Arthur Curry, becoming king of Atlantis and actually taking his birthright. However, the other thing is that it was a little odd that it came after the Justice League movie, but then again this might have had something to do with them being a little apprehensive when it comes to a character like Aquaman, who tends to be considered somewhat ineffectual. However, I certainly hope this film does dispel that rather unfair association.