Aquaman

An unexpected surprise before the end of the year and James Wan confirmed that he can make anything. Aquaman, according to the trailers, looked like a marine digital mess, but in the end I got a visual orgy and I'm not afraid to say it’s Avatar underwater. Jason Momoa may not be a good actor, but he's good to watch and in fact I can't imagine anyone else in the role, Amber Heard's as his red wet colleague with her alluring cleavage will give many a man an erection in the cinema and I definitely have to praise the supporting cast of familiar faces featuring Nicole Kidman, the bad guy Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren. The film is incredible from start to finish, the action is loaded, spectacular, there are even contact fights, and the finale is so monstrous that it puts Godzilla and Pacific Rim to shame. In one scene, Wan even serves up a dense horror atmosphere with sea creatures reminiscent of Alien, and it really tugs at the heartstrings. The only thing that didn't work too well for me was the humour, but that can be forgiven. A visually impressive underwater adventure that hasn't been seen before and needs to be seen in the cinema! 90% (2018-12-23)

I am incompatible with the new DC films; in fact, I am specifically allergic to their tone. Momoa is a nice guy, but as soon as Wan steps on the pedal and the camera pulls him in to the sound of guitars, I lose the last bit of interest in the character. And I have even less interest in the modest underwater people. This universe is not for me. (2019-05-05)

Roughly as OK as Wonder Woman. Aquaman benefits mainly from the innovative world that mixes together Star Wars and Avatar, with a pinch of Sahara desert sand and a dash of Sicily. Wan keeps the overwhelming story (according to the garrulous Geoff Johns) on a tight leash with great ideas and the movie's unbelievably sophisticated visual aspect. Momoa is all right (I can imagine even an R-rated version where he rips off people’s heads); his concept of the hero is attractive enough that he's able to carry this fantasy on his shoulders. Redhead Amber Heard is again a pleasure to watch. The biggest drawback of the film is probably the unintentionally funny Black Mamba, whose aquarium will probably bother Curry next time as well. (2018-12-20)

An overwrought digital coloring book, and I almost want to write "literally" coloring book – looking at the CGI smoothed out faces almost made me throw up. This just shows the hypocrisy of some film critics who accused The Hobbit of CGI overkill (and ignored the fact that in many cases it was also handmade sets), and with Aquaman, which in terms of digital mess is two or three levels above, they are quiet in this respect. I didn’t feel it was alive, not even once. Not even a comic book feel, because even the worst DC comics have more life and multi-dimensional characters than Wan's boring one-dimensional archetypes. Boring, sterile like Znojmo’s pickles. (2019-04-12)

A dull coloring book from DC that more than anything resembles the sterile world of Marvel with a host of good-hearted heroes and bad guys who oddly enough want to destroy or dominate the world. Plus points for the fact that this time it takes place underwater, thumbs up for the sound engineers and effects guys, who really went all out on the underwater cities, and Jason Momoa is cool and knows how to rock, something we've known for a while now. The story, though, it’s about nothing. (2019-03-19)