Aquaman reviews praise VFX, Jason Momoa, welcome DC’s return to form: Here’s a roundup
The first reviews for Warner Bros and DC’s Aquaman are in, and critics are praising James Wan’s world-building, the VFX and Jason Momoa’s performance. Here’s a roundup.
The embargo on reviews for Aquaman has been lifted, and the DC superhero film has been received positively by critics. While the reactions are not as unanimously ecstatic as they were for Wonder Woman - the highest rated DC film - they praise James Wan’s film for being a step in the right direction for the troubled franchise. The film currently sits at a healthy 76% score on review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, based on over 60 reviews.
“Aquaman swims with its entertainingly ludicrous tide, offering up CGI superhero spectacle that delivers energetic action with an emphasis on good old-fashioned fun,” the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes read. A film of this size usually gets around 300 reviews, which leaves a lot of room for the score to fluctuate in the coming days.
“Notwithstanding the inevitable formulaic dialogue and a superabundance of boilerplate superhero action sequences, Aquaman turns out to be, almost despite itself, an engaging undersea extravaganza,” the Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan wrote.
New York Magazine’s Emily Yoshida wrote, “Aquaman’s as formulaic, excessively trashy, and mommy-obsessed as any other entry in the DCEU, but its visual imagination is genuinely exciting and transportive, and dare I say, fun.”
Meanwhile, US Weekly’s Mara Rubenstein countered, “Take away Momoa’s steady presence, and you’re looking at an overstuffed mess that provides entertainment purely in an OMG-this-is-a-disaster kind of way.”
The reviews praise Wan’s world-building, the visual effects, and Momoa’s performance, and criticise the length, the screenplay, and formulaic nature of the plot.
The reception is, however, a step up from the noxious reviews received by DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. They’re also far more positive than the middling response received by Man of Steel and Justice League. The best-reviewed DC film remains Wonder Woman, which has a 93% rating. BvS and Suicide Squad both have a 27% score, while Man of Steel and Justice League sit at 56% and 40%, respectively.
The DCEU has Shazam! to look forward to next, followed by Wonder Woman 1984 in 2020. The future of Batman and Superman movies looks doubtful, with stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill rumoured to be contemplating an exit.
