Cinda Cheney

My kids and I really wanted to see Aquaman because of our love for Jason Mamoa -- we became big fans of his work on Stargate Atlantis and have eagerly followed the growth of his career since then. I just wish this movie could have been a better showcase for his talent, as it was in major need of editing and higher-quality script writing. Way too much screen time was spent on various kinds of battle sequences (though my son pointed out that the hand-to-hand combat scenes were exceptionally well done), and not enough time devoted to a reasonable amount of exposition and character development. For example, even though Arthur (Aquaman) was half-Atlantean/half-human, he seemed to have all the same capabilities as full-blooded Atlanteans - which makes no sense, as there should have been some kind of actual limitation or "Achilles' heel" for the "half-breed" protagonist to overcome as part of the hero's journey. James Wan may have been a good choice to direct the film, but a director's work is only as effective as her/his relationship with their film editing team. Aquaman had great potential, and in the hands of Marvel Studios, it would have come much closer to realizing that potential. The only DC film that has been able to match the stellar quality of Marvel movies thus far is Wonder Woman (thank you, Patti Jenkins!).