Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 36 nominations total
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Summary
Reviewers say 'Aquaman' is lauded for its stunning visuals, especially underwater scenes, and Jason Momoa's charismatic performance. James Wan's direction is noted for its distinctive style and dynamic action sequences. However, the film is criticized for its complex script, underdeveloped characters, and heavy reliance on CGI. Story inconsistencies and unclear motivations are also highlighted. Despite these issues, many commend its effort to refresh the DCEU and its enjoyable, albeit unoriginal, superhero narrative.
Featured reviews
Is it just me?
What's with the 10 out of 10 reviews? really?. Sure it's probably the best (or second best) DC Justice league era, but that's not difficult.
Like all the other offerings, it's overblown, wooden, one dimensional and over reliant on over the top CGI.
As a child I was always a DC fan and I want them more than anything to bring this thing together, but Marvel have certainly laid down a tough marker for how it should be and DC still haven't met that challenge.
The main thing missing from the film is charm and simplicity, sure Momoa just about saves the day and I think he can develop Aquaman into a loved character, and the film is a step in the right direction. But 10 out of 10 it most certainly isn't.
Your usual style-over-substance comic book movie
Your usual style-over-substance comic book movie. Flimsy plot, really just a vehicle to move you from one action scene to another. Formulaic and cliched: change the characters and settings and you've got pretty much the story of every comic book superhero. Good CGI, but that's a given nowadays.
The king of Atlantis
Aquaman (2018) was a fun DC adventure that DC needs, by having fun and having humor instead of staying dark and brooding for each movie. Knowing more about Arthur/Aquaman and the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, while having him rise to be the king of Atlantis with lots of character development by the end of the film.
Jason Momoa is cool and fun as Arthur/Aquaman; he was funny and cool in action scenes both underwater and on land. Once he gets the classic orange and green outfit Aquaman wore back in the day, he looks cool especially when he gets his mighty trident to be king. He seems like someone who does not know much about where he came from, but he tries to help people when he can.
Amber Heard as Mera was not bad, but Mera's red hair looked like a wig sometimes. I like her ability to morph water and use it as a weapon, it is used in fun action scenes and the effects do look cool to watch. Mera and Arthur/Aquaman work well together, and they slowly start having a relationship with each other by the end of the movie. Plus, in certain action scenes I like it when Mera and Arthur fight together when going up against Atlantean soldiers.
One of Aquaman's villains named Black Manta is in the movie, and he was cool to watch; I liked this big fight sequence between Aquaman and Black Manta, which was awesome to watch, but I wish he were used more in the movie or saved for the sequel. The actual villain is Ocean Master played by Patrick Wilson who was a good villain, wanting to rule Atlantis and saying Arthur cannot because he is half Atlantean and half human. The fight between Aquaman and Ocean Master was fun to watch in the third act climax.
The look of Atlantis was pretty, and it had a lot of convincing effects; the sea creatures like sharks or any kind of fish looked convincing, and they are all in a big war, it is very entertaining to watch even if it is dumb. The action scenes have great cinematography being quick with no cuts and zoom ins and outs, especially in a great chase scene in Italy that was incredibly fun to watch. Aquaman (2018) was a fun DC movie that I do recommend watching whenever you have the chance, because it does something different than most DC movies.
Jason Momoa is cool and fun as Arthur/Aquaman; he was funny and cool in action scenes both underwater and on land. Once he gets the classic orange and green outfit Aquaman wore back in the day, he looks cool especially when he gets his mighty trident to be king. He seems like someone who does not know much about where he came from, but he tries to help people when he can.
Amber Heard as Mera was not bad, but Mera's red hair looked like a wig sometimes. I like her ability to morph water and use it as a weapon, it is used in fun action scenes and the effects do look cool to watch. Mera and Arthur/Aquaman work well together, and they slowly start having a relationship with each other by the end of the movie. Plus, in certain action scenes I like it when Mera and Arthur fight together when going up against Atlantean soldiers.
One of Aquaman's villains named Black Manta is in the movie, and he was cool to watch; I liked this big fight sequence between Aquaman and Black Manta, which was awesome to watch, but I wish he were used more in the movie or saved for the sequel. The actual villain is Ocean Master played by Patrick Wilson who was a good villain, wanting to rule Atlantis and saying Arthur cannot because he is half Atlantean and half human. The fight between Aquaman and Ocean Master was fun to watch in the third act climax.
The look of Atlantis was pretty, and it had a lot of convincing effects; the sea creatures like sharks or any kind of fish looked convincing, and they are all in a big war, it is very entertaining to watch even if it is dumb. The action scenes have great cinematography being quick with no cuts and zoom ins and outs, especially in a great chase scene in Italy that was incredibly fun to watch. Aquaman (2018) was a fun DC movie that I do recommend watching whenever you have the chance, because it does something different than most DC movies.
Really?!
Hard to watch!! Poorly acted and charmless!!! Laughable at times and as boring as listening to a conch shell for an overly bloated 2 hours plus. This was a grind when it should have been a breeze. Not in for anymore of expensive tripe like this that keeps getting peddled like art! It's. It even decent entertainment!
The whole movie felt loud and relentless and so long
There was embarrassing writing, embarrassing acting, and listening to Amber Heard trying to deliver this terrible dialogue with zero inflection was exhausting. Why does half of the population of Atlantis sound like they're from California? The dialogue was never more than cliche with a predictable plot. The "advanced ancient civilization hidden away from the world" trope is already old. There was so much CGI that none of the action ever felt impressive or tense or real. Any time someone said "Ocean Master" with a straight face I wanted to laugh.
This would've been the perfect movie to not take itself too seriously, go for a more lighthearted and irreverent tone like Thor Ragnarok, but they just try so hard. It has none of the superhero charm that Marvel manages to carry over from the comics and thus you have one very long boring slog.
How many scenes did we need where a quiet moment was interrupted by an exploding wall that didn't hurt anybody? I counted three or four. Also, that paint-by-numbers forced romance - "Wow there was a surprise and now we're accidentally holding hands", "Wow there was an explosion or something and I grabbed you " - give me a break. And whoever put together the soundtrack for this film should be summarily executed.
This would've been the perfect movie to not take itself too seriously, go for a more lighthearted and irreverent tone like Thor Ragnarok, but they just try so hard. It has none of the superhero charm that Marvel manages to carry over from the comics and thus you have one very long boring slog.
How many scenes did we need where a quiet moment was interrupted by an exploding wall that didn't hurt anybody? I counted three or four. Also, that paint-by-numbers forced romance - "Wow there was a surprise and now we're accidentally holding hands", "Wow there was an explosion or something and I grabbed you " - give me a break. And whoever put together the soundtrack for this film should be summarily executed.
How Jason Momoa Pushed the Envelope With 'Aquaman'
How Jason Momoa Pushed the Envelope With 'Aquaman'
From the stunts to the visuals and working with Nicole Kidman, the stars of Aquaman share what they loved most about working on DC's newest superhero movie.
Soundtrack
Preview the soundtrack here and continue listening on Amazon Music.
Did you know
- TriviaJason Momoa specifically requested Temuera Morrison, one of Momoa's acting idols, for the role of Arthur's father Tom Curry.
- GoofsAquaman enters the submarine by hitting a hatch cover so hard it falls down the hole. Since the hatch is a smaller diameter than its cover, this would only be possible by deforming the metal, but both hatch & cover remain relatively undamaged.
- Quotes
Queen Atlanna: I am Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis.
Thomas Curry: I am Thomas, Keeper of Lighthouse.
- Crazy creditsSPOILER: There is a scene in the closing credits: Black Manta is rescued by Dr Stephen Shin.
- Alternate versionsThe UK theatrical version was cut to remove bloody detail to secure a 12A rating. That version was also used for the home media release.
- ConnectionsEdited into Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
- SoundtracksStingray
Written by Barry Gray
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ahab
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $160,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $335,104,314
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $67,873,522
- Dec 23, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $1,152,028,393
- Runtime
- 2h 23m(143 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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