Now Showing: Aquaman
After dreadful reviews of “Suicide Squad” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” DC has turned things around, first with the release of 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” and now with “Aquaman.”
The half-human and half-Atlantean hybrid, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), formally known as Arthur Curry, is faced with either returning to the lost city of Atlantis to claim his rightful place as king, or watch his home and everything else above the ocean get destroyed.
This CGI and action packed movie had a well-written plot, based on prominent themes of family and revenge. The main characters were engaging and showed character development throughout the storyline. Aquaman’s evolution from local hero to underwater sea god offers another layer of contrast to the movie. The character of Princess Mera (Amber Heard) was also thoroughly developed, balancing being both a helpful companion and independent hero.
Another captivating, yet surprising part of “Aquaman” was the relationship between Aquaman’s parents. Their small side storyline in the movie ends with a heartful, happy ending that I didn’t expect.
It’s the plot details that made “Aquaman” a huge improvement from the past decade of DC films. Improved visuals and developed backstories of supporting characters weave perfectly together to create an intricate underwater superhero movie.
While the main storyline was engaging, there are a few discrepancies and unsatisfying aspects of the movie. It spends a large portion of time on irrelevant scenes, such as the introduction of the seven kingdoms of Atlantis, which had very little contribution to the movement of the plot and seemed to be a waste of time.
However, the biggest flaw of the movie is the introduction of a villain, Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Manteen II), formally known as David Hyde, who eventually becomes a side character after a much more powerful villain takes center stage. Black Manta is introduced within the first ten minutes of the movie and is even given a backstory, yet by the end of the movie, has no impact on the plot or main conflict and isn’t shown again until the post-credit scene.
Contrary to the past few DC superhero films, “Aquaman” offers the audience a more captivating experience by utilizing and developing a majority of the characters.
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