Duwop
Sometimes being the hero means saving the villain.
The saving Grace was that the movie was good.Marvel does try to give its fans what they want. That's true, so if you call that pandering, then fine, almost every movie they make is pandering to someone. But that's a silly standard for pandering. The point is they are making comic book movies and they are trying to appeal to as large an audience as they can. Does that mean they will make movies that they hope will appeal to a variety of demographics? Of course. You call that pandering. I call it smart business. The point is they put the same effort in care in all these movies. They aren't pulling what Tyler Perry does and just putting out bullshit because he knows his fans will eat it up.
However that cgi fight in the vibranium mines was horse shit...
Another aspect aquaman excelled in.
Atlantis looked better than Wakanda, and the cgi fights were much better