Cheesy, obvious, stupid, fun

Rating: 5/10 (21 January 2019)

Here's the short version: If I were still a 14 year old boy I would think this was great, but I'm not, so I don't. But it was still fun in a B-movie kind of way.

Bad points:
1) It telegraphs every plot point, the love interest is obvious, the mother returning is obvious, the victory is obvious. There are no plot surprises in this movie, unless you have never seen a movie before.
2) The plot holes are gaping wide. The Sahara desert sequence is a prime example: two primarily underwater creatures strand themselves in the middle of the world's biggest desert with no water, and no transport.. and then instantly appear in Sicily with no explanation.
Yes, it's really that bad.
3) The dialogue is awful.
4) It suffers from too many villains. The Black Manta would have better saved for a sequel, he is just an annoying distraction here.
5) It relies a bit too heavily on CGI, which just emphasises the 'teen boy fantasy' vibe (although I suppose that's fair if it's the target audience.)

Good points:
1) It's fun as a popcorn movie.
2) Jason Momoa is fun as Aquaman, in the few moments he's allowed to have any character development he really shines.
3) The final battle is unexpectedly great.

It's a harmless way to kill a couple of hours, but I suspect it's best watched at home where you can laugh at the bad script with your friends, talk about the crazy plot holes (do Atlatean women always have a change of clothes with them at all times?), and fast-forward the Sahara bit. Not really worth paying to see at the cinema, aside from the end battle.