Testvisningar av nya Aquman har varit positiva hittills och tidiga intryck har ökat hypen för DC-hjälten, men nu har det äntligen trillat in en rad recensioner av superhjältefilmen för att se hur väl Aquman flyter hos de de amerikanska kritikerna. Sean O'Connell från Cinemablend diggade exempelvis James Wans regi:
"Hiring James Wan is the key to Aquaman's success. The Conjuring director fearlessly embraces everything that comes with the hero, figuring out how to effectively stage underwater action, and choreographing impressively fluid fight sequences both on the land and in the sea. Water is integral to Aquaman's story, and I'm certain there came a point when Wan got sick of everything having to be so wet on this set. But this movie plunges us into Aquaman's realm, and it's supremely effective."
IGN-kritikern Jim Vejvoda såg filmen som en underhållande popcornrulle och gillade i synnerhet världsbyggandet i filmen - något han gärna hade sett mer av:
"There's so much cool world-building in Aquaman, with Atlantis and its many regions receiving distinctive treatments. While we do get to see some Atlanteans who aren't royals or guards, it would be nice to see Atlantean civilization and its citizens explored even further in future films, much as the Thor films gradually opened up Asgard by the end of that trilogy."
Även William Bibbiani från The Wrap anser att Aquaman är ett sevärt superhjälteäventyr:
"It's a weird and wonderful superhero adventure that strives — and almost succeeds — to be the most epic superhero movie ever made."
Alla kritiker var dock inte helt förtjusta i Aquamans solofilm, där exempelvis Todd McCarthy från The Hollywood Reporter inte föll helt pladask för filmvärlden:
"If you want a real movie with real characters using something beyond a third-grade vocabulary and doing things other than getting preposterously physical in, on or near water, Aquaman will be a very trying two and a half hours"
Manuset var enligt Indiewire-kritikern Eric Kohn också rörigt och saknar fantasi, trots Wans stora CGI-spektakel:
"Hobbled by a messy screenplay, paper-thin characters, and a hodgepodge of unimaginative showdowns stretched across bloated running time, Aquaman is the latest example of a franchise that keeps chasing its competitor's tail."
Michael Phillips borta hos Chicago Tribune totalsågar filmen:
"Watching this movie is like spending two hours and 27 minutes staring at a gigantic aquarium full of digital sea creatures and actors on wires, pretending to swim.
Blandade reaktioner, med andra ord. Filmen får svensk premiär den 14 december. Är du sugen på att se Aquaman?
"...och här ska vi lägga till gigantiska CGI-fiskar medan ni pratar..."