How did YOU like Aquaman? Vote! (spoilers allowed)

[Lightning Rider]

Please vote and discuss.

I figured a spoiler filled thread would protect the main DCEU thread.

[DragonsChi]

I thought it was DC/WB's best movie since Dark Knight.

[Lightning Rider]

I thought it was DC/WB's best movie since Dark Knight.

Let’s try some guidelines to fuel discussion. How would you rate:

The main characters

The Villain(s)

The Storyline

The Overall Tone

The Visuals

The Action

[Thomas Crown]

I enjoyed it a lot, despite some minor quibbles. The "let's sell the soundtrack" moments and most jokes and quips made me roll my eyes. But the action sequences and visuals more than make up for that. I will give the movie a solid B+.

[Robotman]

I enjoyed it a lot, despite some minor quibbles. The "let's sell the soundtrack" moments and most jokes and quips made me roll my eyes. But the action sequences and visuals more than make up for that. I will give the movie a solid B+.

I agree. There was a lot of cringe inducing dialogue and the random pop songs were annoying but the visuals and fight scenes made it overall enjoyable. It does have a lot of problems but it’s a fun popcorn flick. So I’d give it a B rating. I was impressed that Wan showed us things we really hadn’t seen before, which is amazing considering that it feels as if we’ve seen it all in superhero movies at this point.

The main characters

They were ok. Momoa’s “Aquabro” character can get old real quick but it didn’t get in the way of the overall enjoyment. Amber Heard’s Mera had the personality of a brick and she and Jason had zero chemistry. Both were given pretty terrible dialogue and jokes that fell totally flat.

The Villain(s)

Patrick Wilson’s Oceanmaster was ok. I think he did a good job with what he was given.

Black Manta not so great. The costume looked amazing and the fight scenes were great but again Abdul-Mateen was given terrible dialogue and the character wasn’t fleshed out enough in the already jam packed movie. I’m sure he’ll be the main villain in the sequel and will be given a better chance to shine.

The Storyline

The story was ok. Like I said, too much crammed into the flick. I think they could have skipped the Sahara scene and just have them find what they needed in the Italian village. It’s a scavenger hunt movie mixed with “the man who would be king” story. It definitely dragged a bit in the middle and every character had so much exposition in order to make everything work and to tell the audience about the mythology.

The Overall Tone

It seemed like they were trying to take a page from Thor Ragnorok and it just didn’t work. I personally don’t like the overly jokey superhero movies. GotG part one was great because it felt so fresh and different. But the tough guy goof ball routine just didn’t work here. And that’s Momoa’s beard and butter.

The Visuals

The visuals are amazing! Atlantis was beautiful and Wan and co. did some fantastic work with all the undersea creatures. Though the scenes with the younger versions of Arthur’s parents were a little jarring because at times their digitally de-aged faces made it seem like you were watching an animated flick.

The Action

Action was top notch! The underwater fight scenes were very impressive. Using the limited gravity restrictions made for some great battles. And my gawd the epic battles featuring marine animals, mythology creatures, and dinosaurs! The action and visuals are the saving grace of the film.

[Thomas Crown]

I forgot to mention that the cast was another reason why "Aquaman" was so enjoyable. I mean, we're talking about a movie where even Dolph Lundgren did a good job.

[Flash Gordon]

I loved it!

The best superhero joint in a long time and such a fun cinematic experience.

[Lightning Rider]

This was my spoiler-free review:

I just got back from seeing it. I didn't expect to say this, but I thought the film was bad. Really bad. It had a decent start, but there was little time invested in making us care about the characters. As a result, the non-stop change of scenery (which included some puzzling tonal shifts) and exhausting jump from action set-piece to action set-piece with nothing to fill it but horribly cliched dialogue ended up making the experience pretty boring. And while certain shots were beautiful, I found the visuals-which were supposed to be the strongest part of the film-overwhelming and cartoonish most of the time, reminiscent of Attack of the Clones. Orm was painfully basic, Black Manta criminally marginal, Mera was often unconvincing, and Momoa did his best with poor dialogue, corny humor, and a very underdeveloped protagonist.

I expected the movie to be fun if cliched and braced myself for some of that pop humor that isn't exactly my type, but the film had so few redeeming qualities that I left sorely disappointed. I love Aquaman and instead of going deep on the character and mythos, they just took lots of bits from it and mashed it up into a numb cgi-fest.

I'll use the guidelines above to elaborate.

The main characters

I found that none of the main characters had anything particularly memorable about them. Mera is bland and her belief in Arthur is something you just have to take for granted. It's unknown why Vulko cares so much about Arthur, and their mentorship doesn't go beyond a swimming and trident lesson. Arthur's dad is barely a presence and there was more potential to be had with his tragic love story. Arthur himself was a bit inconsistent. Being able to roll the names of early Roman generals off of his tongue after focusing on his drinking and lack of eagerness to take responsibility didn't quite click.

The King of Xebel was pretty cool but we didn't get to learn much about him either. I found the young Aquaman actors to be painful.

The Villain(s)

Black Manta's introduction was my favorite part of the movie, and I liked how they kind of fused his origins and reasons for hating Aquaman. Unfortunately we never see the character do anything other than fashion his suit, fight, and then get his ass kicked. He doesn't have anyone to talk to; we have no reminiscing about his father, no talking about his life or identity, he is reduced to a plot device and easily disposed. For me it was a huge waste. And they looked like they were setting up an interesting angle where Aquaman is accused of not showing mercy, but he just has one line about it later with no engagement with Manta.

Orm was alright, but they had the material there to make a sympathetic villain and squandered it.

The Storyline

It's all over the place. I don't get the constant change of scenery and it seems like a waste of time. Nothing is really built up and the legends and obstacles are all rushed, so nothing seems like it has weight. The fight with Orm is early and Mera risking her life to intervene seems unearned. The Sahara segment does nothing except set up the weak "don't judge a place before you see it" theme, and the diologue about Arthur being the bridge between land and sea rings hollow. Why?

It also seemed like they inserted as many things as possible. I loved the mythological aspects they alluded to, the 7 Kingdoms, but Atlantis in the golden age is rushed and the moral of the parable is told, not shown. The trench likewise is just inserted randomly. It's mentioned once, then appears for a jumpscare and a cool shot of diving with the flare, then briefly mentioned again in the final battle as an asset. That crab civilization isn't seen until the last part of the movie. The monster guarding the trident isn't mentioned until she is shown and tamed minutes later. Everything is just introduced, given brief shallow existence, and resolved effortlessly.

And of course, it was disappointing that aside from the pollution revenge newsclips (which were promising), the outside world never felt the threat or consequences of Orm's actions. Giving the civilian perspective is important, it's what I liked about BvS, and we never got it.

Oh, and the kiss! Amidst a violence that has to stop immediately because of the casualties, bombs and explosions are used as romantic fireworks. What the hell.

The Overall Tone

I thought the movie was very weightless and lacked gravitas because of the weakness in the build-up of the characters or plot dilemmas. But not only that, it suffered from some truly jarring tonal changes. Pop-rap music playing when they travel to the Sahara, or was it Italy (which was another random scene change), a pop love song when walking in Rome. Excessive CGI dolphins in the fountain. Awful jokes. I mean having that creepy iteration of Murk dive into a toilet to breathe....Aquaman smelling himself...I was prepared for some corn but this was next level stupidity.

The Visuals

Certain shots were truly stunning in the film. But the things that didn't work stand out. The soldiers look like evil power rangers. Atlantis doesn't feel like a place people live, unlike Wakanda in Black Panther; we feel no connection to those floating bio-organic buildings and lumiescent rooftops. We only see the crowd during the battle cheer. What is Atlantis like? Who are the Atlanteans? How do they feel about Aquamna? Though that bit goes to story.

Overall I found the CGI completely overwhelming and an eyesore. It reminded me of Attack of the Clones or the 3rd Hobbit. Too much, not easily distinguished, and often not believable. Especially the fish kingdom. Aquaman himself looked fine, Atlas looked cool, as did Atlantis in its prime, Mera looked good, the trench monsters were perfect, and Black Manta looked good.

The Action

Mostly fine, but I was disappointed that Aquaman never did anything truly interesting with his command of the sea. He made a bunch of sharks eat their masters, but it was just inserted quickly with no real horror to it. Mera rode an orca whale, but that was it. It could have been so much more creative. A lot of it was just ships crashing and that huge monster slapping ****. That windmill move at the end with the Trident also didn't make much sense or seem to be the reason for him defeating Orm.


I've been a big supporter of the DCEU through thick and thin and this was really disappointing to me.

[The_Lurk]

Loved every minute of it and already preordered the steelbook for my DCEU collection.

[Clairaudient Freedom Soldier]

I like this Koryak-inspired version of Aquaman, Koryak rules!

[Lightning Rider]

I'm really confused. Does nobody care that the actual story and characters didn't offer much of anything? Thor 1 was tighter than this.

[Flash Gordon]

I'm really confused. Does nobody care that the actual story and characters didn't offer much of anything? Thor 1 was tighter than this.

Thought the characters were all wonderful, and while the story wasn't exactly THRONE OF ATLANTIS- it was as close as I could have hoped for. The whole thing was gorgeous, a lot like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. A visual feast.

I haven't found any of these big superhero things engaging in a really long time. This can sit with the finest.

[HereNThere]

I'm really confused. Does nobody care that the actual story and characters didn't offer much of anything? Thor 1 was tighter than this.

I do and they were the worst parts of the film, quite honestly. The movie was saved by the direction of the action and aspects of the cinematography. I'd hate to see how it would've turned out had James Wan not directed it.

[hareluyafan1]

Absolutely loved it. One of the best superhero movies I've ever seen and the only DCEU movie I actually enjoyed.

I'm really confused. Does nobody care that the actual story and characters didn't offer much of anything? Thor 1 was tighter than this.

No idea what you're talking about. The story and characters were great. I'll post a more detailed description using your guidelines later.

No offense to Thor fans but I found Thor 1 pretty dull and unengaging. Aquaman was leaps and bounds ahead of it.

[Korath]

I'm really confused. Does nobody care that the actual story and characters didn't offer much of anything? Thor 1 was tighter than this.

The first Thor movie is, depending how inebriated I am, a terrible movie or one so bad it's good. But the whole thing is all over the top in all the worst way. Thor 1 is an actual example of a movie taking itself too seriously.

Aquaman's storyline is simple, almost rpg like, but it is its strenght because it allows the movie to move forward and establish a lot of universe building.