So Aquaman, the movie, exists in the DC cinematic universe along with Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, Justice League, and Wonder Women. The question is, on what side of these quality polar opposites does it land? It’s hard to guess based on this property being Aquaman… a character so mocked he became the biggest grossing movie of all time as a joke in the tv show Entourage.

Well, I’m not going to try to sell the movie to non-believers since it’s a thoroughly Aqua-man-ass Aquaman movie. If you can buy into that, it’s pretty darn good flick. It goes hard on its pulp entertainment and offers no apologies for being a movie about a man who can breath underwater, communicates with fish, and is the king of the literal empire of Atlantis. There are, in fact, seven different undersea nations that the surface world isn’t aware of and they have all their own politics, their own rules of ascension, they ride sea horses, sharks, and otherwise extinct marine dinosaurs into battle. Kings and Queens and princesses and angry Atlanteans shaking their tridents at the surface world for all the pollution and submarines.

In other words, this film doesn’t care if you think its silly. It commits hard to its mythos and doesn’t offer any apologies for it. The only thing that feels like a concession to “cool” standards is Jason Momoa as Aquaman… a hard-drinking, tattooed, black-haired version of the otherwise goody-goody blonde-haired character from the comics and old cartoons. But this movie didn’t pick its Aquaman; he was handed to them from other film makers who also made a dark and gritty Superman fight a dark and gritty Batman.
So sure, the movie takes itself seriously but not in a hard, edgy kind of way. There’s plenty of humor as well which doesn’t always work but isn’t at the expense of the Aquaman character or story. Unlike, say, the recent Lone Ranger movie, this film isn’t embarrassed by itself. Maybe it should, though. I enjoyed the movie and respected its go-for-broke bravura but others might find it hokey and prefer a more tongue-in-cheek attitude. To them, I’ll point out there’s a giant octopus playing the drums. But that’s taken seriously too. Jeepers.

What I admire about the movie beyond its commitment is that it has a very solid script and attention to detail. Unlike a lot of big budget flicks, I never had a “Wait a minute” moment over decisions made, plot elements, editing, or particularly cringy dialog (not counting the missed jokes). I haven’t seen too many movies on this scale, at this budget, that hasn’t been on shakey grounds because of plot holes, mismatched FX, etc. I’m not saying this makes the movie great, but it does make it feel cohesive. As if there were adults working at the top of their game to make a movie about underwater superheroes.

So, yeah, this is a pretty good film if you can buy into the premise of not just the underwater superhero but all the hubub about Atlantis and the various undersea nations. If all the ridiculous stuff taken seriously doesn’t immediately turn you off and you can enjoy a lot of good bubbly pulp fiction, you’ll probably enjoy this film. On its terms, it’s a remarkably well made film that I didn’t leave me thinking the editor, the script writer, the directors, and the FX guys just weren’t talking to each other. It’s solid. It’s good.

Score: 84