Aquaman (2018)

Aquaman is not background viewing. Every scene requires you. Put your phone down. James Wan is doing too much to be half-watched. Give it the attention it deserves.

The music in Aquaman is so deeply married to the images that you almost can't separate them. It stays in your head days later and when you hear it again the emotions return immediately.

I usually avoid this kind of film but gave Aquaman a chance after constant recommendations. Completely converted. James Wan transcends genre entirely. It works as pure human drama first.

We watched Aquaman together and spent an hour talking about legacy and birthright afterward. That kind of conversation doesn't happen often. The film gives you something real to think about together.

Aquaman is technically accomplished and I understand its place in film history. But it left me cold. The protecting the ocean element felt mechanical and I never connected emotionally. Maybe I'll try again.

Some elements of Aquaman show their age, but the core of it — protecting the ocean, the rom-com tone that works — hasn't diminished at all. Films this good age better than almost anything else.

Aquaman deals with protecting the ocean in a way that's genuinely uncomfortable at times. But that discomfort is the point. James Wan never lets you look away, and the film is better for it.

I went into Aquaman knowing nothing — no trailer, no plot summary. I strongly recommend that approach. The legacy and birthright hits much harder when you haven't been primed for it. Go in cold.

Aquaman has been praised so heavily that no film could live up completely. It's an excellent film — Jason Momoa's charisma is genuinely remarkable — but it's not the untouchable masterpiece some claim.

I didn't expect Aquaman to affect me so deeply. The way James Wan handles legacy and birthright is unlike anything I'd seen before. I came out of it looking at the world differently.