Great Entry in DCEU but Too Long & Too Convoluted

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2019)

Through DCEU's Aquaman, I discovered that there is, in fact, such a thing as "too much" when it comes to movies. Aquaman is nearly two and a half hours in length. Even though it is shorter than the ridiculous 3hr+ run time of Batman vs Superman, it still feels like too much. Normally, I wouldn't complain. I'm an avid movie-goer and would generally enjoy watching a lengthy story, but the 2.5hr length of this film made me groan and wonder when it will be over. Had it been a better film that kept me on the edge of my seat in excitement, I wouldn't even have noticed but this felt like all the epic grandeur of a Star Wars adventure minus the thrills and excitement, and that risks the onset of boredom. The story itself is needlessly complex and burdened by the weight of too many secondary sub-plots. We get it. Aquaman is discovering his destiny. He's on a mission to reclaim his rightful place as heir to the throne of Atlantis. That's a pretty straight forward story. Go with that. Why they had to introduce all these extra elements and side missions is beyond me.
It genuinely seemed like the producers wanted to incorporate as much of the comic book mythos as possible in the span of one film. It felt like they went out of their way to get all the locations, all the characters and species of creatures and mortals alike, in the comic books and highlight them in the film. It's almost as if they anticipated the criticisms of comic book and superhero purists who would challenge them on their choices and sought to go out of their way to ensure that those groups would catered to, and as a result, it felt forced. For instance, not only did you have Aquaman's plot to reclaim Atlantis, but you also have wars between several different races of underwater people resulting from the politics of this imaginary place we're only briefly aware of, as well as a sub-plot focused on the revenge of a black-ops mercenary turned laser-faced super villain named Black Manta (who just felt tacked on and unnecessary btw). The film also features gladiatorial combat involving sea creatures (which post-Thor Ragnarok felt like a rip-off). Heck it even had a giant Octopus playing tribal war drums. I'm not joking. The story was silly. Basically, Aquaman must reclaim his rightful place as the heir to the throne of Atlantis but in order to do that he has to go to a particular place to find a thing, so that he could take the thing to the other place to do the other thing. All the while fighting Atlanteans, and humans, and super-villains, and naval sub-marines, and simultaneously remembering all of the super-secret training he received from Willem Dafoe, to become an Atlantean Warrior, which we are slow-drip fed via flashbacks throughout the film. Oh and he falls in love. Of course.
Frankly, I would have preferred if they had split it into 2 films or condensed it by cutting out a lot of the extra stuff that did not move the film forward at all. Aquaman can talk to animals, he can ride waves, he can summon sharks and whales, and control the element of water and do cool stuff with it but none of these special powers are ever used when the need arises. If he can summon a school of killer sharks to do his bidding, then why doesn't he just summon them to eat his enemies and be done with it?
As far as acting, Jason Mamoa, just doesn't have any skills. He's good at flexing his muscles and looking intimidating, which, I guess, is good enough for a superhero film. His best asset is his looks. It's when he has to deliver lines that he looks awkward and out of his element (no pun intended). His portrayal of Aquaman is a very sharp contrast to the traditional look of character. One wonders where the line is drawn on the look of a superhero. For instance, Batman looks like Batman. He has a cowl and pointy ears and Superman has a red cape and blue tights, much like how Superman is traditionally supposed to look. So then why did DC/Warner opt to portray Aquaman as a tattooed biker that probably smells like fish instead of dressing him in green and orange tights with fish scales on them?