Aquaman is an action-packed movie with a very original plot (compared to other movies, although it’s obviously based on the much older DC comics).
It’s quite consistently entertaining, for well over two hours. A slight downside is the ignorant pride-driven war mentality pushed at times in this movie, but to its credit, it offers somewhat of a counter approach in the way Aquaman shows mercy and aims for peace from time to time (just a shame he still gets stuck into the ignorant warrior approach sometimes).
The sound effects, visual special effects, camerawork and general cinematography is of a fine standard, making for some epic scenes including several that are quite emotionally powerful and get the adrenaline buzzing. In these ways, I rate this movie similar to Thor as well as Black Adam, which are on a similar level with their own pros and cons that balance them out about equal to this one in the end.
Cast members
Jason Mamoa does a good job as Arthur aka Aquaman – the lead man, main hero and namesake of this movie.
Amber Heard does a fair job as Princess Mera – the lead female – the princess who rescues Aquaman from a premature duel that was likely to kill him.
Willem Defoe does a decent job as Vulko, the wise old visier who trained Aquaman when he was young, as a promise to his mother, in the hope Aquaman would become king one day.
Patrick Wilson does a fair job as King Orm – one of the two key antagonists, and the guy he fights in a big scene towards the end of the movie. Wilson sometimes seems a bit nerdy for such a vicious warrior role, but his outfit disguises it well, and he acts quite well, plus there is some truth to him being a close likeness to the kind of people who have stole their positions of nobility in the real world, so it’s a credible casting in a way.
Nicole Kidman (in her early 50s) plays Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis, and the mother of Aquaman. She does does a fair job in this role and is involved in the odd strong action scene although she doesn’t get much screen time.
Dolph Lundgren (around 60) plays King Nereus very convincingly – his demeanour is ideal for this role. He’s the father of Princess Mera, and the king of one of the seven kingdoms – the first and main one that King Orm joins forces with. He doesn’t get loads of screentime either but he makes short appearances quite frequently and does very well in this role.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II does a good job in playing Black Manta – the other key nemesis of Aquaman, who battles him near the start of the movie as a regular pirate with strong human attributes, then battles him again half way through the movie but this time with the help of Atlantean technology, and then he reappears yet again at the very end in a scene semi-hidden between closing credits.
That’s all the significant characters in this movie. Aside from them, we also get a few short appearances of Aquaman’s human dad, Tom Curry, played quite fittingly by Temuera Morrison. And Michael Beach puts in a strong but brief performance as the Manta’s father, left to die after fighting Aquaman near the start of the movie. Randall Park also puts in a quirky but strong performance as Dr Steven Shin, the TV show commentator on Aquaman and the Atlanteans. Dr Shin eventually rescues the injured Manta and joins forces with him at the end of the movie.
Honourable mentions go to the six boys who each did their bit in playing a younger version of Arthur (Aquaman) – they include Tainui Kirkwood, Tamor Kirkwood and Denzel Quirke who all play a 3 year old version of him; plus Kaan Guldur (9 year old version), Otis Dhanji (13 year old version), and most especially Kekoa Kekumano who plays the 16 year old version of Aquaman, having a slightly similar but quite different facial appearance that’s no less quirky-yet-striking than Jason Mamoa himself, at least when give the strange coloured eyes and probably some more CGI-based alterations.
The sequel
If you enjoyed this movie, be sure to check out its sequel, also starring Jason Mamoa. It’s called Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) and is a fair enough sequel although it doesn’t have quite the same level of plot originality, nor action finesse, as the original – sequels rarely do. And it pushes the climate and disease narratives hard – I guess they built the brand with the first movie and are selling out in the sequel. They went hard with a demonic theme in this one too, not dissimilar to Thor 3 (Ragnarok). Still, to its credit, the demonic twist is an interesting new plot concept for the Aquaman sequel, and the general action is of a fair quality.