Film Review: ‘Aquaman’ is a Watery Sleep with the Fishes

Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 20, 2018 - 8:50am

CHICAGO – The dripping sound of water you will hear this upcoming weekend will be the tears of DC Comics fans, as they cry from frustration over the latest cinema hit job on one of the Super-Friends. The tepid and overlong “Aquaman” is another hero movie that tries to combine origin story and “first case” adventure, and fails at both.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Making the so-called “King of the Oceans” a more aquatic looking man beast – Jason Momoa fulfills the role succinctly – is fine (Aquaman looks like a blonde frat boy in the early comics), but the formula of these overblown DC Comic films… origin story, first adventure and sprinkle in some celebrity supporting roles… are like a satire now. If this film were done with bad special effects of the 1950s, instead of the beautifully visual undersea atmosphere rendering of now, it would qualify for riffing on Mystery Science 3000. Yeah, it’s that overblown and weird.

Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is a half breed. His mother is a Queen (Nicole Kidman) is from the undersea world of Atlantis, and his father (Temuera Morrison) is a human lighthouse keeper who found the Queen washed ashore, and took her in. They raise the boy to a certain point, but eventually the Queen has to return from her exile, prodded by enemy forces that want her dead.

Arthur grows up, and eventually finds he has aquatic powers, including underwater breathing, communication, super-speed swimming, über strength and fish telepathy. Eventually he must go to Atlantis, under the prodding of Princess Mera (Amber Heard) and mentor Vulko (Willem Dafoe). There is an underwater war a-brewing, and it could affect Arthur’s adopted surface world.

“Aquaman” opens everywhere on December 21st in 3D, IMAX and regular screenings. See local listings for 3D/IMAX theaters and show times. Featuring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison and Dolph Lundgren. Screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall. Directed by James Wan. Rated “R”