(Almost) saved by the individual

Rating: 6/10 (5 April 2019)

Great: Visuals (costumes, set pieces, and sfx primarily)
Good: Momoa & the final act
Average: Ocean Master & Black Manta, Sound editing, and Kidman
Bad: Patrick Wilson
Awful: Plot (convoluted and illogical), Almost all Dialogue (simple, stereotypical, and contrived)
I personally have not seen a film with such a massive gap in quality between the visuals and writing. Easily the worst dialogue of 2018 but also a contender for best artistic vision. Worth watching but only barely.

Visually excellent, Wan's direction clearly focuses on Momoa outshining the other characters, which he certaintly does, and individual artists being given liberty to amaze the audience with stunning details. With set pieces spanning multiple genres and a rather broad scope on Atlantean culture, DC almost makes this film above average but fails in almost every other category aside from these few specific areas.
Part of what makes DC comics and animated features so great is their willingness to not oversimplify complex themes. Ocean Master is a phenomenal and complex character but the writers in this film made him a one-dimensional stereotype. This pattern is repeated across nearly every character as each speaks exactly what is expected and nothing more. Momoa is the slight exception to this as he brings humanity (lol pun) to the derivative atlantean dialogue. This decision was clearly taken out of fear that creating multiple complex, logical characters would overcomplicate the plot and ruin the experience for the lowest common denominator. Whether or not this is a positive is up for debate but with such depth in source material, I personally believe we should hold DC films to higher standards.
Is it awful? No, but it does have very poor execution in a few areas which are highlighted by excellence in other areas. It is my sincere hope that future DCEU releases focus on character depth primarily and visual artistry secondarily. Without a change soon, the opportunity to rival marvel may be gone and the complex characters we love will be confined to the small screen permanently.