There are spoilers ahead for this movie!
As excited as I was for "Aquaman" to hit the big screen, there were doubts in the back of my mind that it would be hyped up way too much and just be disappointing in the end.
This is most likely because DC's most recent film before this one was "Justice League," a movie I was very excited about but didn't actually enjoy all that much. Therefore, I knew not to get my hopes up too much for this film.
However, I really enjoyed Jason Momoa's character in this movie. I really liked him in "Justice League," but considering the fast pace of that movie, there wasn't a lot of time to really understand Aquaman as a hero and a character.
This film helped shape his character in a way that, in my opinion, should have been done before "Justice League" even came out.
As someone who never knew much about Aquaman, this movie really helped me learn his backstory and love his sassy comebacks and his aspect of being a hero and a king without really seeking to be one in the first place.
I also really liked the character of Black Manta, and even though I kind of wanted to know more about him and his pirating lifestyle, I hope the bulk of Black Manta as a villain develops more in the next Aquaman film if there is one.
Despite me loving Aquaman as a character, I had some issues with this film.
For example, at the end, when Aquaman had his brother King Orm beat at the end, their mother just swooped in and told them not to fight anymore, and then it seemed everything between the brothers was resolved.
I'm not a huge fan of the "deus ex machina," basically a character who unexpectedly swoops in at the end and seems to solve all the issues, so I wasn't big about this ending to the huge battle in Atlantis.
I think we could have easily gone without her showing up to form some sort of peace between Arthur and Orm.
Another thing that bugged me was also the fact that they just casually threw in some dinosaurs in the Hidden Sea where Arthur's mom, Atlanta, appeared again, and we were just supposed to accept it.
Nobody questioned it. Even though it was Earth's core, and we know from previous films that strange stuff happens at the center of the Earth, it was something that threw me off.
Also, the sea creatures that some of the soldiers were riding in the battles were also prehistoric looking. I wasn't sure how we were supposed to understand or believe that dinosaurs just exist somewhere in a modern period and be okay with it.
Regardless of those small things, this movie did restore my hope in the DC movie universe. Here's to hoping that Shazam and Wonder Woman 1984 is just as good, if not even better!