Aquaman (2018)
There's a version of Aquaman that could have been genuinely great. Think about it: an underwater kingdom, bioluminescent cities, armies riding seahorses into battle, a king who talks to fish. Lean into that absurdity with real commitment and you might have something genuinely special on your hands. James Wan's 2018 blockbuster gets close enough to that version to tease you, and then promptly squanders the opportunity in favour of ticking every predictable superhero box in the most perfunctory way possible.
I'll give credit where it's due: the film looks stunning. Wan clearly has an eye for spectacle, and the underwater sequences are genuinely striking. The neon-drenched, bioluminescent world beneath the surface is visually inventive in a way that the plot absolutely is not. It's the kind of film where you can stare at the screen and appreciate the sheer scale of what's been constructed, even as your brain is quietly switching off because the story has given it nothing to chew on. Pretty colours, though. Really pretty colours.
But pretty colours only carry you so far when everything else is this hollow. The plot moves through its beats with the mechanical reliability of a factory conveyor belt: origin reluctantly accepted, quest undertaken, villain confronted, big CGI punch-up, credits. There are zero surprises along the way, and the dialogue is so relentlessly hammy that it tips into unintentional comedy on more than one occasion. I lost count of how many times I thought: did anyone actually read this back before they filmed it?
What genuinely frustrates me is the waste of a remarkable supporting cast. Willem Dafoe, Djimon Hounsou, Temuera Morrison: these are actors who bring genuine weight and presence to whatever they're in, and here they're working their socks off trying to inject some dramatic gravity into a film that keeps pulling the rug out from under them. They deserve better material. The tragedy is that their efforts only serve to highlight how much the film's centre is letting the whole thing down.
And that brings me to Jason Momoa. I'm going to be straight with you: I just don't get him here. There's a brooding, muscle-bound schtick going on that might work in a different context, but it never gels with the colourful, fantastical world Wan has built around him. He feels like he wandered in from a different, grittier film, and the disconnect is constant and distracting. A superhero film lives or dies on whether you buy into its lead, and for me, he never quite sells it. Compare that to something like Spider-Man, where the central performance gives you an emotional anchor that makes all the spectacle actually mean something. That's exactly what's missing here.
There's a particular brand of blockbuster that's essentially critic-proof because it was never trying to be anything more than a loud, flashy, two-hour distraction. Aquaman fits comfortably into that category. If you switch your brain off entirely, find a big screen and a comfortable seat, and ask nothing of it, you'll probably have a decent enough time. Wan knows how to stage a set piece, and the film moves at a pace that doesn't allow much room for boredom, even as it's failing to engage you on any deeper level. It's the cinematic equivalent of a bag of crisps: enjoyable enough in the moment, and completely gone from memory the second it's finished.
For anyone craving a bit of genuine substance with their spectacle, though, it's a letdown. Beneath the dazzling surface, there's a shiny, hollow shell of a film doing the bare minimum to justify its existence. A mess beneath the surface, really, and not the fun kind of mess either.
Two and a half stars.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2018 | Watched: 2026-07-16
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · Sky Go · Now TV Cinema · HBO Max
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · YouTube TV · HBO Max
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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