Aquaman (2018)

Directed by: James Wan | 144 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Ludi Lin, Michael Beach, Randall Park, Graham McTavish, Leigh Whannell

After his appearance in ‘Justice League’ it was time to give Aquaman his own movie. Director James Wan dives with the viewer into a new underwater world, to the mythical Atlantis. He does this in a quite original way, in which Wan’s background in horror films (‘The Nun’ (2018) and the ‘Saw’ franchise) is easily recognisable. The result is, at first sight, a relatively original superhero film. Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t hold up enough to make this original attempt a success.

As mentioned, Wan has created a new world for this film. The underwater world is stunning, showing a rich history that the design team has clearly spent a lot of time on. The history of Atlantis can be seen in the surroundings of the city, which makes the world come alive. Lead actor Jason Momoa also deserves a lot of praise for the interpretation of his role. Admittedly, it’s easy to see someone with his appearance as a demigod, but he manages to hold his own in this role with flair and a healthy dose of humor.

Unfortunately, these are only bright spots in an otherwise fairly flat film. The least acceptable aspect of ‘Aquaman’ is the fact that the filmmakers rarely take the viewers seriously. For example, the basis of the plot in one of the first dialogues is fully displayed by a character. The result is that the viewer is offered the rest of the film completely pre-chewed. Not exactly positive for the experience. Information is also generously sprinkled, which in the end is so excessive that it becomes unnatural. It makes sense at times that a character explanation comes when it comes into a new situation, which another character is already familiar with. For example, there are fun interactions between Arthur (Jason Momoa) and Mera (Amber Heard), as the two characters get to know each other’s worlds. However, at times when both characters are familiar with background information, it is completely unnatural if this information is explained in detail. The number of times that such scenes came by, in which the info is only intended for the public and has no function for the characters, is far too high.

In addition, there is so much happening in this film that it might have been better to divide ‘Aquaman’. At its most stripped-down, the plot is as follows: The heroes must find an item that can help them find another item that can save the world from an all-destroying war. First of all, the two different quests already have a repetitive nature, which would make this plot feel long-winded even in its most condensed version. Then there is such a great hope side plots and back story added that the viewer is overloaded with information. This makes the whole cluttered and therefore disappointing.

James Wan has made a valiant attempt at making an original film with ‘Aquaman’, which he has done very well visually. However, the story is so messy and lavish that it is not convincing at all. Hopefully the DCEU (the movie universe that includes movies like ‘Aquaman’, ‘Batman v. Superman’ and ‘Wonder Woman’) improves film quality soon, because audiences won’t forgive the same mistakes much more often.