Aquaman (Movie Review)

 ***This review will contain spoilers***

Summary:

Once home to the most advanced civilization of Earth, the city of Atlantis is now an underwater Kingdom ruled by the power hungry King Orm. With a vast army at his disposal, Orm plans to conquer the remaining Oceanic people and then the surface world. Standing in his way is Aquaman, Orm's half-human half-Atlantean brother and true heir to the throne. With help from royal counselor Vulko, Aquaman must retrieve the legendary Trident of Atlan and embrace his destiny as protector of the deep. 

Opening scene:

Now that is how you make a killer opening scene! We're given just enough backstory on Arthur and his parents without feeling exhausted going through 20+ minutes opener exploring who and what he is. 

I'm very impressed with the visuals and CGI of the movie. It's so beautiful and captivating. For Atlantis being adapted to the big screen (not animated) it certainly does it justice. Jason Momoa is not my first or even hundredth choice for Aquaman but I do love how they wrote his character to match his aesthetic. He's rough, up in your face and unapologetically himself which is a refreshing take on the Superhero genre. The script writers wrote this character out well without trying to imitate the many superhero movies we've seen before. 

I was in agreeance with King Orm up until he manipulated the situation in staging a fake attack from the humans. Definitely, not down with the manipulation and scheming, however, his reasoning isn't entirely flawed. Humans have done such a terrible job of taking care of the Earth and Oceans that Atlanteans rising up to fight back doesn't even make me angry. For centuries, we've pumped so much toxins and sewage into the water that it guarantees repercussions and consequences. 

I do have to point out that the movie Aquaman is leaps and bounds better than any of the previous DCEU movies that have been released. It makes sense this movie grossed over a billion dollars world wide. Unsurprisingly, the director and one of the writers is James Wan who is one of my favourite directors/writers. He's made so many of my favourite movies over the years that I'm not surprised he can also kill it in the superhero genre.  It's a phenomenally made movie that it's tragic how Man of Steel, Batman V Superman and even Wonder Woman don't even come close in comparison. Wonder Woman did have great visual scenery, especially, how Themyscira was presented but all those movies sucked. They didn't have the same impact as Aquaman. And that statement alone should be reason enough for DC to focus and branch out on other characters. Luckily, James Gunn seems to be moving in that direction (THANK GOD).

One thing that I truly appreciated was Arthur's perseverance in doing the right thing even if he didn't want to. He was willing to put himself and his life on the line all to save his world. I had chills when Arthur claimed the Trident and we had an epic battle between the different Oceanic factions. This movie was jammed pack full of amazing actors and they really did a phenomenal job of bringing all their characters to life. I loved how many different 'Kingdoms' we were introduced to throughout the movie while also learning about their demises. 

Now I know not many people are a fan of Amber Heard one thing they can't take away from her is her performance as Mera. She did a really great job in portraying her and I hope with the new DC universe being made we can deep dive into the world of Atlantis and be introduced to some more fantastic characters. 

Rating:

I'm giving this movie 5 stars on 5! I never thought I would give any movie from the DCEU a perfect rating but Aquaman nailed it! I have no issues with this movie whatsoever. It was interesting leaving the end credit scene about Manta Ray which clearly indicates he'll be back for the sequel.