‘Aquaman’ or — Paddling In The Shallows?

So this one’s pretty easy to sum up — ‘Aquaman’ (2018) is about a dude who lives underwater and sometimes comes onto land whilst operatic battles rage in the depths below. So basically it’s Spongebob Squarepants by way of Wagner.

But what’s also interesting, and somewhat headache inducing, about ‘Aquaman’ is the sheer weight of over compensation thrown at the viewer. Synder’s DC films were criticised for being too dark, too serious, too po-faced so ‘Aquaman’ does everything it can to dazzle, entertain, excite, thrill and whilst that means there’s always something going on or a new threat to face the main result is one of exhaustion and bafflement. I appreciated the effort the movie put in but, like being tickled for too long, sometimes I just wanted it to stop.This is more than two hours of over stimulation so whether it works or not will depend on both your stamina and ability to habituate.

It’s a stupid movie which gleefully splashes about in the shallow end of incomprehensibility and idiocy, making a complete mess and more than likely pissing in the waters as it does so as it grins and looks about for attention. This could be the reason I can’t tell you the plot because everything in this movie is ridiculous, albeit ridiculousness on a ridiculously grand scale. That violent course-correct away from Synder-land takes ‘Aquaman’ into some very bizarre and silly waters.

‘Aquaman’ isn’t great. It’s too daft, messy and, ultimately, meaningless to feel in any way concerned about. Yet, unlike a few other superhero movies, you can sense it genuinely wants you to have a good time, to be entertained. Unfortunately it tries way too hard sometimes feeling like a drunken uncle at a party still dancing at midnight whom you want to tell to sit down for a minute and take a rest before they have a heart-attack, for everybody’s sake.