Aquaman

Aquaman finds himself caught between a surface world that ravages the sea and the underwater Atlanteans who are ready to revolt.

Aquaman is the latest of a long line of superhero films that have been released this year, but this time, it's a different type of superhero - Aquaman! It was a real break to see a superhero from another universe though and the DC universe definitely offers us some surprises and excellent viewing in this film. I was also luckily enough to watch the film on the 12/12, the day it was released in the UK so I managed to get in there first to give you a quick review, don't say I never do anything for you guys!! ;) The main question though, is that is Aquaman a film worth watching? Here are my thoughts.

Right from the very beginning of the film, it created an intense and exciting character perception of the main character in the film - Arthur / Aquaman. I really liked how we were introduced to all of the characters in a really mysterious and strange way, and I think that this was perfect to mystify the Atlantan people as portraying them as strange and different to us because it really began off the film in a great way and created a theme that lasted throughout the whole film. Especially Aquaman though, seeing his Mother leaving him at a young age and seeing him getting teased as a child was difficult to watch but it was important in defining his character, and this was done exceptionally well which gave us a really personal perspectve of him throughout the film. I was also very impressed at how the theme of oceans and water was perceived throughout the film from the very start too, from seeing characters swimming miles under water, to the vast cities and lights underwater, it was really a great sight to experience and the visuals in this film were amazing, many of the scenes in this film just required you to relax and just take in the vast numbers of lights, sceneries, characters and emotions to really enjoy the film. It also really helped that many of these underwater shots were slightly shaky and from behind the characters, as it really allowed us as an audience to feel involved with the characters and what they were doing in the film. The film was full of these, exciting and unpredictable battle scenes underwater which provided for an exciting viewing and just really helped to add something new to this film which I liked. These scenes were made great by the awesome array of actors within the film though, not only were the characters engaging, funny and interesting but they were also realistic, and seeing how their relationships changed and developed throughout the film was really exciting and satisfying to see as well as it helped make the film much more engaging for us. But the actors behind these characters were equally as good, they provided a really entertaining performance which was really interesting and exciting to see, not only this though but we were taken on an adventure throughout this film and the actors were key as to providing us with entertainment and curiosity throughout the trip!

This film was much more than 2 hours of excitement though, it provided us with a variety of different emotions along the way, which was great because it ensured that the film wasn't just action and fighting but there was emotion which gave the characters purpose, for example Arthur nearly dying, seeing his Mother and leaving his Father behind, these were key emotional scenes but there were plenty more which were really effective too, the best part in relation to this though was the ratio of emotions in this film, there wasn't too much action, or too much sadness but it was timed just right and that made it a real experience to watch. Linking onto this, many films usually tell a story of events and maybe mention the cause which can be confusing, however in this film it really got us involved and got us on side of Aquaman from finding out why there was an argument and disagreement between characters and getting us directly involved to take sides. Not only did this help us to understand the underlying theme of the film but it also gave us more context too so it was clearly understandable which I liked. The film also essentially allowed us to explore the plot too, by giving us information about what the characters were doing, the film stalled a little to allow us to work out the next move and then it happened, giving us a sense of joy and achievement! I was also really impressed with how the scenery, Atlantis was perceived, we were given an awesome introduction and description of Atlantis as a place and the customs of the people living there which was awesome and well done. This linked well to the plot of the film too, it was really well laid out and allowed us to get involved by guessing and knowing the characters personally which just helped to make the film really engaging and exciting, seeing switches from above to underwater to see the differences in what characters we follow were doing there which kept us up to date.

To finish off the story, and add a bit of excitement from elsewhere there were side stories in the film. These side stories added a lot to the film, from finding the kings trident to finding his Mother, they were really important quests that helped to keep us interested and engaged with the film which was great. It was effective and helped to liven up the story, another way in which this was done was through flashbacks. These flashbacks helped to remind us of who Arthur was as a child and how much he had developed not only as a character but as a person which was great to see, and then flashing forward to the middle of an underwater war with creatures flying and battling everywhere, that was what this film was about. Creating scenes like that which left us in awe, definitely my favourite parts of the film!

No film is perfect though, and similarly to the structures of the god's in the film, there were many cracks and issues in this film too. One of the biggest flaws was the lack of introduction and context behind Arthur's brother, his enemy, all we knew was that they were brothers but there wasn't much context given as to why they were enemies, only because of their mother. The film was also a little bit messy too, there were quite a lot of scenes that made me slightly confused as to their relevance and importance within the plot of the film, for example towards the end there were many scenes that just didn't feel necessary and actually made the film a little more confusing. The combination of jumping and lack of context definitely didn't help to keep it tidy and concise.

There were also some scenes that made us forget for a while what the film was actually focused on, some scenes in this film felt more like something from an Indiana Jones movie rather than Aquaman, and these were fun but it distracted from the films plot a little bit. There were also some issues with the realism of the film too, I understand that obviously superhero films aren't based on the truth but seeing Arthur and Mera jumping from a plane in the middle of the Sahara desert, surviving and somehow managing to find their way out without dying? Just some scenes felt a little too cheesy and this film had a few of them which definitely had an effect on the overall feeling of the film.

Overall, I would give this film an 8.5. I thought that the visuals in this film were outstanding, they were amazing and the battles underwater were just great to see! This film was full of great scenes though, as well as a great set of characters, a great and interesting story and a great way of directly getting us involved within the film's plot too. There were a few issues along the way though, relating to presentation and some issues relating to whether some scenes were necessary but overall, I would definitely recommend this film to anyone! Regardless of whether you enjoy superhero films or not, this is definitely one film you will want to make sure you see!

Thanks for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review! :)

Have an awesome day!!