Aquaman (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
I didn't go into 'Aquaman' (directed by horror film aficionado James Wan) expecting greatness, but I hoped for a competent DC Comics origin story a la Wonder Woman, & a playful comic book time under the sea. I had intermittent fun. But it's a mostly schlocky affair that aims for the lowest common denominator of audience member. When the film is bad, it's BAD, but when it's good ... it's good enough that you acquiesce to the overall vibe of it all.
The movie opens with a prologue about how Arthur/Aquaman's mother, Queen Atlanna of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman) & his human father, lightkeeper Tom Curry (Temeura Morrison), met, fell in love, & had their half-breed baby. When the mythical Atlantians arrive, wanting their queen to return to fulfill her obligation of an arranged marriage, she goes back with them solely to protect her husband & young son from the Atlantians' wrath. That boy grows up to be our brawny, multi-tattooed hero (Jason Momoa) with exceptional strength, lightning speed & resistance to all form of weapon. In flashbacks, we see him as a teen {a howlingly bad acting display from that actor} training with Viceroy Vulko (Willem Dafoe), who had been tasked by Atlanna – now executed after being sacrificed by her Atlantian husband to the "trench monsters" – with Arthur's safety.
Now in the present day, we learn that Arthur's evil {or is he?} half-brother, King Orm/Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson), is planning an all-out war against those who live in the world above {humans who pollute the sea. See? Is he that bad, after all?}. Orm is joined by another of the underwater rulers, King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren, busy year what with Creed II, as well). Secretly in dissent, Vulko dispatches Nereus' daughter, Princess Mera (red-wigged Amber Heard), to aid Arthur. The plan: have Arthur find the 1st King of Atlantis' sacred Trident and, with that magical pitchfork in his grasp, challenge Orm for the throne & save the world. But of course, Murphy's Law rears its head. Arthur goes on the run with Mera on a quest that takes them through the 7 underwater realms, to the Sahara Desert, & even to Sicily, Italy {ludicrous segment}, all while trying to withstand attacks from other 'villains' like the vengeful Black Manta. Mayhem ensues.
Leaving the theater, I was pretty displeased with individual aspects of this film. I'll divulge some of my notes that I took while watching it {haha}:
1) "Piss-poor dialogue" {i.e., a helmet gets busted and one character says ... "I'm gonna need a bigger helmet". In another scene, Mera turns to Aquaman and says: "You are the bridge btwn. the land & sea. I can see that now. The only question is ....... can you?" -- SERIOUSLY!). Every time someone opened their mouth to speak, I braced for my own cringe-worthy reaction. In all seriousness, a 10 yr. old could have written the dialogue.
2) "The back & forth bickering between these characters feels lame & forced".
3) "Oh, looks there's a rainbow-like gateway bridge to Atlantis, just like in Thor" {self-explanatory!}.
4) "This is some of the stupidest sh*t I've seen" {Mera needs water in the dry desert, and so, magically draws perspiration from Aquaman's forehead to kick-start a water-necessary mechanism; yes, you read that correctly}.
5) "Mera arrives in Sicily, sees happy townsfolk picking flowers & eating good food, & suddenly discovers in this moment that there's more to life then what's under the sea".
6) "Black Manta pops-up in Sicily now looking all badass ... this is all so incredibly dumb" {and don't get me started on his fate + an end credits scene}.
7) "Okay, Aquaman, you can lift a submarine, withstand any blow imaginable, & swim leagues in a few seconds ... but you fret about falling off a 30 ft. roof in Sicily and struggle to outrun villains decked-out in enormous, cumbersome war armor" {oh, how hapless you've become, Aquaman!}.
I turned off my brain & tried to enjoy this film for what it is ... a narrative & dialogue-deficient spectacle. The prologue showed promise. There's some interesting mythology wedged in the middle. And I dug the last 20 min. -- interestingly enough, Nicole Kidman was in both segments. She exhibits nice chemistry with Morrison in their back story. And she has more chemistry with Momoa in those short moments near the end than he has with Amber Heard in the whole 143 min. long movie. On his own, though he's no thespian, Momoa has that glimmer in his eye, a not-so-bright likeability, & he sure looks the part.
Otherwise, I gotta say that it was the overload of imaginative visuals that mostly swayed me from the dark side. James Wan oversaw his production design team, costumers & visual effects wizards with aplomb. I marveled at the seemingly thousands of different sea creatures. Ancient underwater statues covered in willowy sea life are juxtaposed with Atlantis' futuristic tech-heavy milieu and ... it all looks amazing. I also sat in awe of the costumes; whether they were intricate gowns worn by Kidman or Heard, or kingly garb worn by Orm, or incredibly ornate armor worn by the Atlantian military.
And the visual effects - utilized in every shot of this movie - blew me away; particularly how they made it look possible to exist underwater. There's also a jaw-dropping image late in the film when Aquaman & Mera dive off a boat & hundreds of trench monsters chase them; the wide shot of red light illuminating them as they descend deep in the dark blue ocean was simply gorgeous. Wan & his team use every color in the rainbow for their palette and, it provides a scintillating viewing experience. I was impressed aurally, as well. Balancing watery, echo-ey sound effects with dialogue & Rupert Gregson-Williams' epic music is no small feat. The visual & sonic creativity and panache on display is 2nd to none.
So yeah, if you're looking for a sub-par Raiders of the Lost Ark, Avatar, Romancing the Stone, Thor, Black Panther-like knock-off this holiday season ... 'Aquaman' fits that bill. I struggle to love action films that don't have a brain. I loathe action films with roller-coaster camera movement {where you can't see what the heck you're looking at -- multi-colored pixels everywhere} -- the frenetic underwater climax had a lot of that. And I really loathe action films with belief-defying injuries {characters take falls & punches that would wreck a Mack truck, yet they make it out okay}.
Ultimately, 'Aquaman' is not a disaster. There's fun to be had. The hyperactive nature of the movie kinda distracts from how nonsensical & unpolished the script is. Great visuals & set pieces aside, it's just frustratingly predictable how narratively slipshod most of these DC Comic films tend to be.
The movie opens with a prologue about how Arthur/Aquaman's mother, Queen Atlanna of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman) & his human father, lightkeeper Tom Curry (Temeura Morrison), met, fell in love, & had their half-breed baby. When the mythical Atlantians arrive, wanting their queen to return to fulfill her obligation of an arranged marriage, she goes back with them solely to protect her husband & young son from the Atlantians' wrath. That boy grows up to be our brawny, multi-tattooed hero (Jason Momoa) with exceptional strength, lightning speed & resistance to all form of weapon. In flashbacks, we see him as a teen {a howlingly bad acting display from that actor} training with Viceroy Vulko (Willem Dafoe), who had been tasked by Atlanna – now executed after being sacrificed by her Atlantian husband to the "trench monsters" – with Arthur's safety.
Now in the present day, we learn that Arthur's evil {or is he?} half-brother, King Orm/Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson), is planning an all-out war against those who live in the world above {humans who pollute the sea. See? Is he that bad, after all?}. Orm is joined by another of the underwater rulers, King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren, busy year what with Creed II, as well). Secretly in dissent, Vulko dispatches Nereus' daughter, Princess Mera (red-wigged Amber Heard), to aid Arthur. The plan: have Arthur find the 1st King of Atlantis' sacred Trident and, with that magical pitchfork in his grasp, challenge Orm for the throne & save the world. But of course, Murphy's Law rears its head. Arthur goes on the run with Mera on a quest that takes them through the 7 underwater realms, to the Sahara Desert, & even to Sicily, Italy {ludicrous segment}, all while trying to withstand attacks from other 'villains' like the vengeful Black Manta. Mayhem ensues.
Leaving the theater, I was pretty displeased with individual aspects of this film. I'll divulge some of my notes that I took while watching it {haha}:
1) "Piss-poor dialogue" {i.e., a helmet gets busted and one character says ... "I'm gonna need a bigger helmet". In another scene, Mera turns to Aquaman and says: "You are the bridge btwn. the land & sea. I can see that now. The only question is ....... can you?" -- SERIOUSLY!). Every time someone opened their mouth to speak, I braced for my own cringe-worthy reaction. In all seriousness, a 10 yr. old could have written the dialogue.
2) "The back & forth bickering between these characters feels lame & forced".
3) "Oh, looks there's a rainbow-like gateway bridge to Atlantis, just like in Thor" {self-explanatory!}.
4) "This is some of the stupidest sh*t I've seen" {Mera needs water in the dry desert, and so, magically draws perspiration from Aquaman's forehead to kick-start a water-necessary mechanism; yes, you read that correctly}.
5) "Mera arrives in Sicily, sees happy townsfolk picking flowers & eating good food, & suddenly discovers in this moment that there's more to life then what's under the sea".
6) "Black Manta pops-up in Sicily now looking all badass ... this is all so incredibly dumb" {and don't get me started on his fate + an end credits scene}.
7) "Okay, Aquaman, you can lift a submarine, withstand any blow imaginable, & swim leagues in a few seconds ... but you fret about falling off a 30 ft. roof in Sicily and struggle to outrun villains decked-out in enormous, cumbersome war armor" {oh, how hapless you've become, Aquaman!}.
I turned off my brain & tried to enjoy this film for what it is ... a narrative & dialogue-deficient spectacle. The prologue showed promise. There's some interesting mythology wedged in the middle. And I dug the last 20 min. -- interestingly enough, Nicole Kidman was in both segments. She exhibits nice chemistry with Morrison in their back story. And she has more chemistry with Momoa in those short moments near the end than he has with Amber Heard in the whole 143 min. long movie. On his own, though he's no thespian, Momoa has that glimmer in his eye, a not-so-bright likeability, & he sure looks the part.
Otherwise, I gotta say that it was the overload of imaginative visuals that mostly swayed me from the dark side. James Wan oversaw his production design team, costumers & visual effects wizards with aplomb. I marveled at the seemingly thousands of different sea creatures. Ancient underwater statues covered in willowy sea life are juxtaposed with Atlantis' futuristic tech-heavy milieu and ... it all looks amazing. I also sat in awe of the costumes; whether they were intricate gowns worn by Kidman or Heard, or kingly garb worn by Orm, or incredibly ornate armor worn by the Atlantian military.
And the visual effects - utilized in every shot of this movie - blew me away; particularly how they made it look possible to exist underwater. There's also a jaw-dropping image late in the film when Aquaman & Mera dive off a boat & hundreds of trench monsters chase them; the wide shot of red light illuminating them as they descend deep in the dark blue ocean was simply gorgeous. Wan & his team use every color in the rainbow for their palette and, it provides a scintillating viewing experience. I was impressed aurally, as well. Balancing watery, echo-ey sound effects with dialogue & Rupert Gregson-Williams' epic music is no small feat. The visual & sonic creativity and panache on display is 2nd to none.
So yeah, if you're looking for a sub-par Raiders of the Lost Ark, Avatar, Romancing the Stone, Thor, Black Panther-like knock-off this holiday season ... 'Aquaman' fits that bill. I struggle to love action films that don't have a brain. I loathe action films with roller-coaster camera movement {where you can't see what the heck you're looking at -- multi-colored pixels everywhere} -- the frenetic underwater climax had a lot of that. And I really loathe action films with belief-defying injuries {characters take falls & punches that would wreck a Mack truck, yet they make it out okay}.
Ultimately, 'Aquaman' is not a disaster. There's fun to be had. The hyperactive nature of the movie kinda distracts from how nonsensical & unpolished the script is. Great visuals & set pieces aside, it's just frustratingly predictable how narratively slipshod most of these DC Comic films tend to be.