Aquaman Review

 

        Growing up, anytime I would see Aquaman on either Justice League or Superman: The Animated Series on Cartoon Network, I feel that there was an attempt to make him cool. It all stemmed from the classic show Super Friends, its animation made the hero more of a joke due in part of the tame sea animals he would command. Like summoning a giant sea turtle or the goofy looking seahorse he would ride with his partner Aqualad. Or just that, as a punchline in fandom he was useless in a land fight. It became apparent that now he would finally get his proper debut, instead of playing second fiddle with other heroes. SPOILERS will appear in the review. 

1. A Bloated Story

        After the events of Justice League, we follow Arthur Curry played by Jason Mamoa, living in Maine with his father played by Tameura Morrison. He narrates in the beginning that his mother had escaped from a marriage and his father rescued her. They got busy and years later, Atlantean guards arrive to bring her back to Atlantis. She promises to his Dad that she’ll return. We sporadically get moments when Arthur was young such as when he figures out he can control the sea animals. 

        With that, he saves a hijacked Russian submarine that is being boarded by pirates lead by David Kane, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Arthur boards and stops the pirates, before killing Kane’s Dad, prompting him to have vengeance on Aquaman. After that, Mera played by Amber Heard tells Arthur that he needs to go back to Atlantis to take the throne. I was confused as to why she changed her accent from a faux-British to an American one. Anyways, she suspects that his brother Orm played by Patrick Wilson, wants to unite the other kingdoms to invade the surface. 

        One would think it would be just that, taking the throne from a family member, but no there’s more. Mera takes Arthur to meet the kingdom vizier Vulko played by Willem Dafoe, he tells them about a special trident Arthur needs to rule the kingdom. We then transition to how Atlantis got sunk. I find it hilarious that Arthur tells him that he knows the story, and Vulko just tells it regardless. 

        Eventually, Orm finds his brother and Arthur wants to fight to get the throne. It goes predictably south and Arthur and Mera escape. So that’s three things going on: Pirate wanting revenge, getting the throne, and obtaining the trident. Oh, but I forgot another thing, Orm wants to usurp power from the other kingdoms to invade the surface world. When you have four different things going on, it’s kinda hard to care since you’re transitioning from one place to another. You actually forget that the pirate is still there. 

2. Arthur Curry

        I was iffy on Mamoa being the title hero. When Zack Snyder uploaded the first picture of what he’ll look like, he reminded me of Rob Zombie the musician. With the dirty hair with blonde tips with armor that doesn’t at all look busy. With a trident instead of the usual three fork one. Not that I had doubts about him as an actor, since I didn’t get to see him in Game of Thrones, but he’s usually in action films. 

        He’s okay with what the script gives him. I feel that he’s a conflicted person by being hesitant on returning to Atlantis. Although, the thing that doesn’t do it for me is just his overall morale as a person. In the beginning, he beats the pirate and kills his dad, as he rescues the Russian sailors, he lets the pirate and his father drown. I feel as though there isn’t enough depth to him other than him being jaded by being a half Atlantean and half Human. 

        The moment of levity too is mostly just crude jokes and situational moments where he reacts to how things are in Atlantis. For instance, he jokes about how everyone gets in and why there’s a bridge. Which makes sense, why in an underwater realm does there need to be a bridge? There’s never a moment where he has moments of regret or he’s just nervous, only scenes where he uses his machismo to make himself confident. 

3. James Wan

        This was an interesting hire, James Wan is influential in horror for directing the first Saw film and establishing a franchise with The Conjuring. His horror background isn’t anything new in comic book films. Sam Raimi is famous for his Evil Dead Trilogy which proved to be enough for him to start the Spider-Man Trilogy in the early 2000s.

        He adds his own flare and technique into this film and it definitely shows. There are moments where the camera pulls back to make the characters small and the location grand. It tends to get annoying when an action scene starts and the camera revolves in a 360-degree motion, at least have a chance to spice it up. He does, one thing that I think is something different is when the guards are chasing Mera in Sicily. Parts of it is done in one take, meaning the camera is still rolling unless another angle is shown. 

        I think the one thing where he doesn’t shine is just the story. The blame is mostly on the writers given that the films that Wan made a name for himself just told a concise story with little overlap of what’s going on. Another thing, that isn’t much of a detriment but just a missed opportunity is the little time we get to spend time in Atlantis. 

4. Under the Sea, briefly

        Back in 2018, Aquaman and Black Panther debuted new worlds that have been isolated from regular contact. Now I can talk about just how Wakanda was used better but Atlantis’ world is interesting due in part that it’s based on mythology. I wished that most of the movie took more time to establish how the dwellers live in the city. Vulko talks about the technology that was established before the city sunk.

        It was odd just how the civilians evolved to crab people, fish people, and the Trench. A swarm of angler looking Lovecraftian fish atrocities that have a hive mind. They really just breeze through how the civilians transformed or deformed into various aquatic creatures. The hilarious moment is when Arthur and Orm are about to fight. Above them a screen is shown displaying their stats. What redeems it is an octopus playing the bongos.

5. Big Dumb, You Know Where I’m Going with This

        A recurring thing that I keep noticing is the big battles that always happen with these DC films. Wonder Woman had a chance, but it derailed a great movie to a good movie. Same with this one. Orm declares war against the crab people with help from the Atlanteans and fish people. My God talk about busy with the crab people charging towards the soldiers, with an even bigger crab. 

        With the overlapping storylines and this happening, I could care less with what’s going on. Arthur arrives with the new trident and suit and commands the sea creatures to attack Orm’s forces. I think the reason why it doesn’t work in terms of being invested is just that it’s another take over the world plot. Arthur talks to Mera on why the humans aren’t worth saving, since he defends them by saying some are good. I think it would work by saying someone has to tell them to stop polluting but not with force. Even before that, when Orm created a tsunami, Arthur couldn’t care less. 

6. Overall

        After the Justice League debacle, this is an okay movie. I guess because the bar was literally on the ground, a lot of people enjoyed it. Just the second DC movie to gross a billion dollars in the box office, something that a team up film with Batman and Superman couldn’t muster more. Part of it why it just didn’t relate to me is just the tone being all over the place and really not caring about the overlapping story. Jason Mamoa should continue to be the hero, potentially give him more than just being a rugged hero. 

        Aquaman gets a three out of five.