Aquaman

Last night I got to see a Thursday preview of Aquaman, the latest installment in the DCEU.  I have really been looking forward to this movie for the simple reason that it stars Jason Momoa and two and half hours of looking at Jason Momoa on a big screen is pretty much awesome!  The movie begins with the backstory of how Arthur Curry's father Tom (Temuera Morrison), a lighthouse keeper, finds Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), a queen from the lost civilization of Atlantis, washed up on shore.  They fall in love and have a son named Arthur who grows up to become the anti-hero (Momoa) that we met in The Justice League.  Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Atlantis, Arthur's half-brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson) is trying to unite the seven underwater kingdoms, either by an alliance or by force if necessary, to become Ocean Master so that he can wage war on land to punish humanity for polluting and militarizing the ocean.  King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren) has formed an alliance with Orm but his daughter Mera (Amber Heard) wants to avoid war.  She asks Arthur to take his rightful position as king by challenging Orm but he is ultimately unsuccessful.  Mera believes the only way Arthur can defeat Orm is by finding a lost trident wielded by an ancient king of Atlantis which will give him control of the sea.  They go on a quest to find it but Arthur must also contend with a pirate, known as Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who has been given Atlantean technology and blames Arthur for his father's death.  The movie concludes with an epic confrontation between Arthur and Orm for control of the ocean.  This movie has some flaws but it is quite the spectacle and I really enjoyed it (Did I mention that it stars Jason Momoa?).  It sometimes feels overlong and repetitive and there is some truly cringe-worthy dialogue but the world-building and visuals are amazing.  The underwater battles are incredibly dynamic with 360-degree camera work, fast-paced action sequences, psychedelic colors, and fantastical creatures (my favorites are the armored seahorses).  Arthur has a nice character arc as a reluctant hero who learns what it means to be a king and Momoa imbues him with a wisecracking charisma that is a lot of fun.  Again, there are flaws but I think this movie is awesome (Did I mention that it stars Jason Momoa?)