Plunges In at the Shallow End!

Rating: 6/10 (2 February 2019)

Aquaman looks a million dollars without ever looking real. We can see the film has a mega-budget, but at the same time, unlike many of the Marvel Universe films, it just doesn't look real, even during the rare times in the film where the action is on land and not in the sea. You always have the very real sense that what you are watching, was primarily played out against a green screen.
The cast do their very best, whilst being saddled with some uninspiring dialogue, especially many of the Atlantean characters who just sound unintentionally (I'm sure) pompous. Jason Momoa is fine as the title character and Amber Heard is appealing as Princess Mera, his developing undersea love interest. But I would have dearly loved to have seen their characters, as well as those of Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison for instance play out a few more scenes on dry land.
The best I can say about the production is that it is imaginative and very creatively put together in a cross-generic fashion. But herein lies one of the major problems with the movie ... its weirded out storyline. Much of this so called origin tale, seems to be an excuse to create a hybrid of styles, which I personally had great difficulty in subscribing too. The whole idea of 7 civilisations living under the sea, with advanced technology and amongst mutant species of fish and the like, which land-based society has no idea about is just bizarre (to be kind).
Imagine a mix of Star Wars, with The Abyss and Clash of the Titans. Yes, Star Wars; at the bottom of the sea. If you think that'll rock your boat, you'll probably love Aquaman. Me? Much as I like a good super hero film, Aquaman just doesn't fit the bill. I'll take The Avengers before this sort of cartoonish stuff any day. The action is better choreographed, the villains more serious, the dialogue is far more consistently funny and things do seemingly appear to be occurring in the real world.