Aquaman Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

3. It's Embarrassingly Corny At Times

Aquaman is without question the corniest blockbuster of 2018 and, honestly, probably the most cringe-worthy $200 million movie released in recent memory.

Though James Wan and co. are smart to veer away from the "grimdark" tone of earlier DCEU offerings, the film too often overdoes the goofiness and becomes genuinely quite embarrassing to watch.

A baffling, inane sequence in Sicily sees Mera eat some red roses believing them to be food - this is supposed to be cute and endearing, but it's just too silly.

That's to say nothing of the intensely forced romance between herself and Arthur, the shamelessly hokey dialogue, and the abundance of cheesy slow-motion zooms during numerous dramatic scenes.

It all adds up a feeling that this isn't so much a throwback to classic adventure B-movies as it is genuinely lame at times.

Viewer mileage will likely vary considerably here, but even if you've built up a solid cringe tolerance, Aquaman's going to give it a pretty strenuous workout.