Aquaman

If anyone could have imagined that some of the better DC movies in the last few years would go to characters like Wonder Woman and Aquaman instead of Batman and Superman, nobody would have believed it until proven otherwise now. Since DC is such a mess in terms of delivering on quality material, its honestly a complete guess as to what project will be successful and which one won’t be, and Aquaman was not one that people expected to be anything outstanding. The trailers looked serviceable enough and coming off the audience and critic-pleasing 2017 Wonder Woman film, would’ve put people in a better mindset next to other DC films, but it’s hard to imagine anything great coming out of a character than never did well in the comic space. Thankfully it proves everybody wrong. Arthur Curry, who is also dubbed as the meta-human, Aquaman (played by Jason Momoa) tries to avoid getting caught in the conflict between the surface world and the world of Atlantis, with which he shares blood with both. The current ruler of Atlantis, his half-brother, Orm (played by Patrick Wilson) wants to overtake the surface world in revenge for the sea being polluted for so many years, but Aquaman still wants to stay out of it because Atlantis executed his mother, the Queen of Atlantis, Atlanna (played be Nicole Kidman) for marrying a human, his father, Tom Curry (played by Temuera Morrison) and giving birth to a half-breed son. After eventually being convinced after his father’s life was put at risk, Aquaman along with the help of a banished princess named Mera (played by Amber Heard) and his old mentor Vulko (played by Willem Dafoe), he must accept his destiny and become the true king of Atlantis, facing off against his brother and a pirate out for blood and revenge, who adopts the name, Black Manta (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Though a lesser-known DC hero, Aquaman captures an epic scope to a somewhat simple story and underwhelming script, resulting in a pretty cool superhero flick. It is a great fun comic book movie with likeable actors, decent characters, beautiful imagery, fast-paced action, and shots worthy of any Lord of the Rings movies.

The story for this is film is rather standard and, on the surface, looks like a pretty mediocre adventure for something that could be more than just a war made up of different worlds struggling over domination, a main character torn between two worlds, etc. It isn’t necessarily that these components are done badly per say and while it does nix some cliches that are annoying, it doesn’t feel like the script is allowing for a lot of variety. The writers for this film are David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, who barely have any credits to their names and some of those credits aren’t things to be proud of (Johnson-McGoldrick worked on films like Red Riding Hood and Wrath of the Titans), and since the film itself isn’t based on a particular Aquaman comic book, it doesn’t stretch itself too far in regards to what it puts in the film. It could’ve used a rewrite in some places in order for things to flow better from a story and character perspective, as certain elements, even if they are established in the film, aren’t made to feel entirely relevant with where the story is going. The film does suffer from being overly long and drawn out, but with every new plot point they add, it results in something very entertaining. That feels like what honestly saves a good chunk of this film, the light-hearted adventurous spirit that comes through in James Wan’s directing. In an era where DC is overly moody and completely devoid of personality and fun, seeing a film not take itself too seriously and present a straightforward adventure flick with a little bit of goofy flair is appreciated and welcomed. Even though he’s known for working in the horror space and working on franchises like Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, his job directing Furious 7 (which many consider to be one the best in the Fast and the Furious franchise) would’ve helped him established a sense of action as an over-the-top vibe that can be felt in this film. Even with that said, it also feels like a decently grand movie in certain parts. Even if it doesn’t really work from the story and some of the writing choices, the characters and environments make the film feel giant and important. From the way the shots are composed, the action scenes, and the music, it gives the film such a wide scale and feels bigger than it appears to be.

All the characters are very enjoyable to watch. It’s hard to say whether or not this is an authentic delivery of the Aquaman universe, but while it may be different, it has done a decent job of creating its own bubble away from the other DC characters and with how they’ve been established, it’d be cool to see another story involving them. The writing for them isn’t fantastic and you can predict where a lot of their arcs are going to go, but they work within the story, and they still make up for it by having fun actors bounce of each other. Some things could have been better handled like the romance between Aquaman and Mera could’ve been handled better as the two don’t have great chemistry and react off of each other like a typical adventure film of the 90s, but that isn’t involved too much in the story so it’s mostly okay. Aquaman is very likeable and has his own unique feel to him compared to the other rendition of the character, and given the kind of actor Jason Momoa is, you can feel his energy exuding into the role rather than it being a script choice as Aquaman is known to be a more grounded and serious figure. With that said, in a world full of bleak sourpusses, it is nice to see someone have a little fun in this world and Momoa is very charismatic in the part, bouncing the humor and the emotional moments very well. Mera is kind of a standard character who isn’t used to the fullest and isn’t especially interesting, but she works fine enough and Amber Heard is passable as the character. Willem Dafoe plays a good mentor figure although he doesn’t stand out much against others in the genre and he doesn’t play a huge role in the film. Even Nicole Kidman and even a surprise Julie Andrews cameo help bring a sense of dignity and grace into the film through their role.  The villains are handled fairly well although they also have some problems. Patrick Wilson as Orm is pretty good through his acting and reasoning being strong enough to help him stand out, and while the connection between him and Aquaman is there, it could’ve been much stronger which would’ve made the ending better. Black Manta might be a big character in the Aquaman space, but he feels like he doesn’t belong in this movie. He’s established fine and his suit does look pretty cool in his one fight scene, but his scenes are quite short and aren’t given time sink in, his entire purpose feels more like a set-up for a sequel, and despite Yahya Abdul-Mateen II proving to be a decent actor in other places, his performance is weirdly stilted and awkward here.

The effects in this film, though not very realistic looking, are stunningly beautiful to look at. The film has such amazing colors, never getting too boring to look at and each new area they go to has a distinct air to it and never feels like the same location. Atlantis looks unbelievable with the alien-like colors, structures and environments handled by production designer Bill Brzeski, the creative armor made by costume designer Kym Barrett, and various different creatures and while the real-life aquatic animals don’t look very convincing, the made-up creations not only look impressive, but they have such a bizarre extra-terrestrial look to them, it takes a further step than just more aggressive sea animals. The action is very fun, and it can range from regular fist to fist to aquatic battles, so the spectacle is always changing, even though the camera does get a bit distracted in parts. Every action scene uses a wide-angle lensed one shot that circles around overhead while the action plays out. Sometimes this can be cool like in the large fight in Italy where it’s more reserved and keeps reasonably still throughout, but it does get tiring after a while. What’s really surprising is how they shot the action scenes underwater as they are actually quite fun and engaging, which is a surprise considering how hard it is to make underwater motion look entertaining, and they do pull it off. The cinematography by Don Burgess really does a good job establishing the environments. The up-close personal shots feel very authentic, but the wider shots once again capture the majestic weight of the film in the way its composed. The humor, though not great writing wise, mainly comes from the likability and charm that bounces off the characters, so it doesn’t distract or ruin anything that they’re telling.

Despite the DCEU’s past in films, Aquaman showed that it could stay in the good pile. Much like Wonder Woman, this film has all the fun and likability of a Marvel film, but also has the hard truths and messed up moments that keep it a DC film. The characters and actors are insanely entertaining, the film looks amazing without needing to be realistic looking, the action though composed weirdly is still very cool and fun to watch, and it feels massive even though the story doesn’t seem especially big. The script could have used some rewrites, it could have been shortened slightly, and some of the characters could have been made a bit more interesting, but what was given was still a pretty good superhero movie. Definitely a step in the right direction for DC to leave quite a splash.