DC movies have largely met with mixed feelings in recent years. Going into this I wasn’t sure what I’d get. Wonder Woman reinvigorated the brand and I think Aquaman continues that trend in solo movies. Much like Wonder Woman, Arthur Curry is from a society that doesn’t live with humans. Unlike her, he lives with his human father on the shore. We start with a bit of a background on how this character came to be.
The movie starts with Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison) finding Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) unconscious on the rocks near the lighthouse he mans. He nurses her back to health and they initially struggle to understand each other, but they learn to get along. They seem to fall in love and they have Arthur. When some others from Atlantis come to take Attila back, she realizes they’d keep pursuing them and put her family in danger. She leaves promising one day to come back. She doesn’t return, and we’re introduced to Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) who saves a submarine from pirates including Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Manta swears revenge as his father dies.
After Arthur performs a rescue we see him with his father, Mera (Amber Heard) approaches him warning Arthur he must come to try and claim the throne. He decides not to go with her but then the surface world is attacked by a giant wave that hurts Arthur’s father. It’s sent by Arthur’s half brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson). He partially agrees to Mera’s plan but doesn’t seem interested in finding the Trident of Atlan to prove he’s the true king of Atlantis. After things go wrong, Arthur and Mera begin a quest to find this powerful artifact lost to the ages. This is all the setup to what feels like a story from mythology.
The movie overall has a few story lines all centered around Arthur Curry, which often can go awry in other films. Here though it just seems to weave together a more elaborate story without getting weighed down by side plots. It’s a story about King Orm, Atlantis, Arthur, the quest for the Trident of Atlan, and Manta. This movie has solid special effects, some beautiful scenery, and overall just speaks to an epic adventure. It barely feels like a super hero movie as it’s more focused on the journey than the action. It’s just a great adventure movie that you really don’t need to know much about the character or universe to enjoy. Rated PG-13.
Ryan
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