Jason Momoa (Aquaman) and his younger brother Patrick Wilson (Orm) goes through a war to become the King of the underwater world named Atlantis. Who wins the battle and sits on the throne forms the crux of the story of Aquaman.
Director James Wan has attempted to deliver a commercial superhero flick, but the serving does not excite much. This origin movie consists of a regular script that is very familiar and predictable as well. In fact, the detailing is also not fulfilling as there are some unanswered queries left over without a proper justification. The premise looks interesting with a neat back and forth narrative pattern in the beginning, but as the movie progresses, we get to realize there’s nothing much happening.
The ‘Ring Of Fire’ scene was packaged well and it had a realistic touch. It felt like the screenplay had a lot of confusions at the writing level itself as random elements were thrown at us continuously, especially in the final hour. The presentation is good without much to complain and a couple of twists in the storyline at the end were effective. The ‘Black Manta’ character was absolutely needless to the script, and he literally made zero changes to the flow. Also, the reason for the presence of the ‘Black Manta’ is outdated.
The dialogues are flat and do not pack enough punch to become worthy. The ‘Sahara Desert’ portion could have been cut-shortened and the romance took place between the lead pair over there was too silly. Sequences at Italy are artificial just to tick the comedy box, the long-drawn-out action scene was tiresome to watch and appeared as a huge speed breaker. The old-school factor of the public giving out a shocking reaction to the damages caused are monotonous.
Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry/ Aquaman) is the pillar of strength for the movie. His muscular physique and solid screen presence are appealing. Amber Heard (Mera) is beautiful and she exists with a purpose, but her role could have been handled in a better way towards the end. Patrick Wilson (Orm/ Ocean Master), the antagonist gets just weak characterization and there’s no force in his villain role. Willem Dafoe appears in a meaty role and he has played it nicely too. Hero’s parents were amazing and the mother played an impressive crucial role.
Music is convincing but it could have been even more attractive, at least for the vital places. The visual experience was completely exhilarating, the underwater stuff was amusing. Given this much scope to score, the utilization was not done properly by the filmmaker. The cameraman has managed to pull off some mass angles to enrich heroism. Cuts are decent but the overall duration could have been scissored to provide more engagement value. Set work and species shown through VFX deserve a big thumbs-up. The 3D effect is pretty good, mainly in the IMAX format.
Watch our video review of Aquaman on 'Galatta Tamil' YouTube channel here.
Verdict: Just a passable underwater ride that offers only a little amount of surprises.
