Spoiler Alert: Throne of Atlantis, Part Four · 1:08am Jul 7th, 2015
: Pinkie, breathe.
: Heh-huh, heh-huh, heh-huh. Sorry; action scenes get me excited. So the Atlanteans attack Metropolis, but the Justice League show up and start kicking flank. And...we get a brief cameo from Steel's secret identity, John Henry Irons?
: ...huh. That we did. Didn't see that coming. Meanwhile, Arthur's fighting Black Manta, and apparently Manta was planning on backstabbing Orm. I don't really care, though, because he gets interrupted by a shark.
: Unfortunately, to make up for that entertaining moment, apparently the rest of the League have to act like idiots. Because none of them learned their lesson about teamwork in the last film, they each try to take on Ocean Master mano-a-mano. And fail one by one. Until Batman, after doing nothing constructive for the vast majority of the movie, shows up, saves Cyborg's life, and instantly figures out that Cyborg could use his 24-hour surveillance equipment to show the Atlantean army a video of Orm confessing to killing the Queen. Even though Cyborg, as a reasonably intelligent being, clearly could have thought of this himself. Because, you know, Batman is god.
: Anyway, e'en though that moment's kinda stupid, Arthur manages ta take the initiative, punchin' Ocean Master out, claimin' the crown, an' makin' out wit' Mera. Gotta give the kid credit fer makin' the most outta things.
: Oh, and Cyborg asks Sarah out on a date. I might care if they'd had more than two minutes of screen time throughout this entire movie.
Regardless, the film ends with the League attending Arthur's coronation ceremony, deciding they need to dedicate more time to keeping the team functional, inviting Arthur to join, and officially dubbing him Aquaman. Apparently because Green Lantern and Shazam enjoy how the name annoys him. Then, hearing of invaders on Atlantis' borders, Arthur gets one last cinematic moment to finish things off.
: There's also an end-credits scene where Lex Luthor visits Ocean Master in prison and says he has an offer for him. I'm sure we'll get another movie about the Legion of Doom before long.
So, how was Throne of Atlantis? Well, quite frankly, it was a disappointment, especially given DC's stellar history with animated movies. It certainly wasn't incompetent or horrifying, but it wasn't particularly attention-grabbing either. The characters were either flat, unintelligent, or unlikable, the action, though passable, was rarely noticeably creative or awe-inspiring, and the plot was fairly cookie-cutter.
However, it still serves a purpose. First off, I'm truly glad that Aquaman finally got a film, even if it's an animated one he had to share with the Justice League. And having read the comic that was based off of, I can say that I certainly enjoyed the movie more. In the comic, Ocean Master was a confusing character, because he was clearly supposed to be the villain, but the dangers in the comic book were largely caused by others. So while all the characters described him as a total monster, the reader might be left thinking he was just very confused or almost victimized. Here, Ocean Master works far better as a true villain, not because while he's not entirely unsympathetic, he is clearly responsible for all of his evil choices. So for that reason alone, I'd say this film is a far better origin for Aquaman's greatest villain. So while I wouldn't recommend this to any casual viewer, for someone who's already an Aquaman fan, it was certainly worth watching at least once.
Anyway, we'll see all of you later; we have to start searching the Omniverse for our copy of the Desolation of Smaug! Come on, everypony!: Yeah, yeah, just let me set up the ending video! Gotta say, though, this one's a bit weird.
No, don't worry, I didn't actually lose my copy of the Desolation of Smaug. I just couldn't get that review done, so I'm putting it on the back burner for just this moment. Don't worry, it will be completed and posted here eventually. I'd also like to apologize for going so long between reviews; school, work, and other projects have made it a bumpy road, but I'm still in the game. Thanks for reading, and God bless!
Batman is the New Jesus and you had better accept that
3214320 only in the hands of a poor writer
3214320 3215302 Yeah, exactly. Which is why I still argue against it. Writers like Matt Wagner and, admittedly, Yale Stewart, Mark Waid, and Darwyn Cooke, give me hope that this trope can begin to disappear.
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Saying "Outrageous!" was the best part of the movie.
Clearly they have been taking lessons from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Personally, I preferred the comic, because it had more room to expound on characters and events and stuff. This was still alright.
3243557 I was quite pleased to hear that reference.
Not to mention the Teen Titans. Really, the whole "Let's go one-on-one" trope is overused among comic books and superheroes in general. It's a pretty immature mindset that I grew tired of years ago. What I wouldn't give for superheroes who fought smart.
Yeah, I was just really looking forward to the comic giving me an actually good explanation of the relationship between Arthur and Orm, and was really disappointed. While the comic might have been more competent in general, the movie accomplished a more solid rendition of what I thought was actually important to the storyline. Plus, at least this didn't turn Vulko evil.
3243782
In fairness, a 'many-against-one' fight is very hard to do correctly.
3248704 True. There are similar problems with team vs. team fights in a lot of cartoons and comics.