As a comic book fan my entire life, I have really struggled with the way Warner Brothers and DC are handling their impressive line up of characters.  For a movie studio that actually owns 100% of their characters, they are way behind the times and you can see that in how fast they are pushing the stories.

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I actually liked Man of Steel, was it my favorite superhero movie, by no means! But, for a different, darker take on the Superman Mythos, it was a good take. 

 

Batman v Superman, different story.  I have a lot of issues with that movie. 

 

Wonder Woman - I thought was an amazing movie and still, I have some serious issues with that movie as a whole.  

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Suicide Squad - a decent try, but again, issues.

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Then we get into Justice League!!! Let's just say that I have serious issues with this movie and I am currently writing up a breakdown on how I would have made this universe so much better.

 

But, this isn't about that...This is about the man that we were introduced to in Batman v Superman and one of the best parts of Justice League - Aquaman!

 

Let me first start off by saying, I like the character of Aquaman when he is given edge, and depth.  Look at the amazing run that Peter David did with the character.  Or look what Bruce Timm and his crew did with him on the Justice League Cartoon.  Or even more recently what Geoff Johns and Jim Lee did with him in their run of Justice League on the New 52.  

 

He is an interesting character and at the same time he can be a very tortured, anti-hero of a character.  What Jason Moma brings to the character is passion, you can see how much fun he has playing this character and that is something that the DCEU has been missing.  However, what that also means is that the writers once again don't know what they want to do with the character.  Do they want him to be a drunk, surfer?  Or do they want him to be a complete dumb-ass?  Or even yet, do they want him to be a warrior who does a Haka before a fight?  The character that they were trying to bring to life kept changing.  They didn't let Moma really find his legs (pun intented) to stand on and give the character the heart that he has to really make this the best DC Movie in years.

 

A lot of people have thought that this was going to be an origin movie for the character and in some regards it is, but the writers wrote this movie with the idea that the viewers know a lot about this character, and some of the supporting characters that surround him.  Mera, Vulko, Atlanna, Tom Curry, and even Atlan.  All of these characters are just given lines, and a little bit of back story.  But, you never really feel for them.

 

Honestly this movie is more of a origin story for Aquaman's 2 greatest foes - Black Manta and Ocean Master.  And to be honest - Patrick Wilson (Ocean Master) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Black Manta) steal the movie!  They are amazing.  The way Patrick Wilson portrays a younger brother who feels betrayed by his mother and angry as his half-brother, its almost shakespearean in his delievery.  And Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is AMAZING!!! If there is a sequel I want it to just be Black Manta vs Aquaman.  He is great and the best villian to date for DC.  His hatred for Aquaman and why he does what he does is pitch perfect and on point.

 

What Aquaman lacks in story, it makes up with James Wan's incredible directing, amazing special effects as the incredible magic that they do to make it look like they are talking underwater.  I read this interview where Wan talked about how they flipped the script - dry is underwater and wet is on land.  And for this movie and for the ability for them to talk underwater instead of a stupid air bubble - PERFECT!!!!

 

With awesome fight scenes.  Incredible CGI and special effects.  Aquaman is a fun movie - but is it the best Superhero movie - NO.  Is it a good DCEU Superhero Movie - YES!!