Empty eye candy

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2019)

First things first - this movie is gorgeous. Aside from a few fleeting (and forgivable) moments, the visuals in this movie are lovely. Objects feel like they have the scale and "weight" that they should, which can be difficult to get right from a CGI perspective. I found the movie's humor hit-or-miss, but mostly enjoyable. Some lines felt forced, but Mera's first ventures onto land included numerous clever moments.
Dialogue was sadly predictable, but generally delivered well. Amber Heard's performance was at times engaging, and at times distracting. She didn't seem particularly well suited for moments of powerful monologue.
As other reviewers have noted, character development was rushed, but they certainly made an effort to add a bit of depth to at least a couple characters. I wanted to like Black Manta, but came out disappointed. Maybe they'll do something more clever with him in the future.
Numerous plot elements just sort of happened for no real reason, other than to tie up the loose end of a joke left hanging from a setup ten minutes prior (Pinocchio, for example). The "National Treasure" sequence on the quest for Atlan's trident seemed out of place within the scope of the rest of the movie.
Overall, this is a great popcorn movie. It'll end up in my collection, no doubt, but likely won't merit another viewing until its sequel is released.