A few months ago, some early reactions to an Aquaman test screening surfaced on social media that painted a picture of a superhero outing that was good but not great, which you could argue is still pretty damn good given the DCEU’s shaky track record. But now that a few fans have managed to watch the completed version, we have reason to believe that Arthur Curry’s first standalone flick could be getting a much warmer response from the filmgoing public than we previously thought.
First off, an anonymous user on Reddit has claimed that James Wan’s film will be the most well-received DCEU work to date, comparing it to the two funniest MCU releases of the past thirteen months, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Thor: Ragnarok.
“I cannot confirm or deny that I’ve seen this movie but if I had I would probably say that it’s certainly going to be their most well received movie yet. It’s tone closely parallels Ant-man & The Wasp and Thor: Ragnarok and this movie will be liked by the biggest audience, although it will probably suffer from some criticism that it deviates heavily from the original tone of the DCEU to more closely resemble The MCU. But again I reiterate, this would only be my opinion if I had somehow already seen the movie in an advanced screening, which I am not saying I have done.”
Meanwhile, over on Twitter, things are sounding similarly promising for the Jason Momoa-led film, with responses ranging from “Not groundbreaking, but solid,” to “a major achievement in film making and storytelling.”
https://twitter.com/carlcarlsonnnn/status/1060409565185892352
Aquaman was sooo gooood!!! 🙌🏽😬 https://t.co/kKpGCe3rjJ
— ale 【=◈︿◈=】 (@aleJOHNdra_) November 8, 2018
So… about #Aquaman. A reaction from final film:
– It's pretty good! Not groundbreaking, but solid
– Action is good, story is alright
– CGI is decent
– Score is meh
– Mera/Arthur are hit and miss
– Overall, a good film pic.twitter.com/vK678zRptE— aemon // ايمن (@AemonBarz) November 8, 2018
I can say I have seen #Aquaman I can't talk about details but I can tell you it's a major achievement in film making and storytelling it's a display that Walter hamada is doing a great job it's evidence that James should direct more DC movies
— Mick minas your host with the most (@MOVIESTVMAD) November 8, 2018
Though DCEU movies have usually performed well enough commercially, the underwhelming box office returns of Justice League arguably signaled a turning of the tide, suggesting that big name actors and big name characters may no longer be enough to keep this franchise afloat. With that in mind, this early response bodes pretty well for Wan’s flick, which was previously reported to be tracking for a somewhat ‘meh’ opening by superhero standards, but now looks like it could generate positive enough word of mouth to draw in some respectable crowds.
With Momoa recently mentioning that he’s already pitched ideas for a follow-up, it seems like both he and Wan are keen to keep this series going, and from the sound of things, there are already a good few viewers who wouldn’t mind a sequel themselves. The real test comes, however, when Aquaman hits theaters on December 21st.
