Movie Review: Aquaman · 11:12pm Jan 22nd, 2019
Ah, the irony of it all.
The DC superhero who's typically seen as a lame joke by the majority of modern culture (thanks a lot, Super Friends - and thanks a lot too, Big Bang Theory 
) actually has the damn best movie of any DC hero in a long, long time.
Directed by James Wan of Insidious and The Conjuring fame, which definitely seems like an odd choice for director of a superhero movie, I was initially dubious of the idea of Aquaman proving itself a worthy film (especially after the earlier fuckups of the DCEU), and yet Mr. Wan proves himself to be more than up to the task of creating a fun and rollicking superhero adventure story.
Opening in flashback, we are introduced to Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison), a lighthouse keeper who ends up rescuing the runaway Atlantean princess Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) during a storm. The two of them eventually fall in love and have a son named Arthur. But unfortunately, Atlanna has to abandon her new family when pursuers from Atlantis come after her; the young Arthur grows up without a mother, and soon is displaying some powerful abilities, chiefly the ability to communicate with and control marine life.
Going into the present, we then see the adult Arthur (played by Jason Momoa) in action, stopping a band of pirates led by Jesse and David Kane (Michael Beach and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, respectively) from hijacking a Russian Naval sub. This sequence is chock-full of stunning action, as the super-strong Arthur brawls his way through the pirates' ranks in an inventive, fun and at-points intense sequence. I was having a ball the entire way through it.
However, despite his rescue of the sub, all is not well in the world. For while Arthur may have rejected the world of Atlantis, it is most certainly not done with the surface yet. The current ruler of the main Atlantean kingdom, the second son of Atlanna, and thus Arthur's half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson) is planning to wage war on the human world above in revenge for mankind's crimes against the seven seas. His cause is supported by King Nereus (Dolph Lungdren) of Xebel, but he needs the support of the other kingdoms to fully carry out his plans. Orm's advisor Vulko (Willem Defoe) and Nereus' daughter Mera (Amber Heard) have no wish to see this war happen, and go to seek Arthur's help, with the aim of having him challenge Orm for the throne and become king of Atlantis.
Arthur has no wish to become king of the land that took his mother, but after realizing the scope of Orm's danger to the world, he reluctantly agrees, and soon is off on a quest to retrieve the legendary Trident of Atlan, the trident wielded by Atlantis' original founder and first king. It's a quest that takes them around the world, from Atlantis itself to the Sahara Desert (!) to the deepest depths of the ocean.
To go into detail would spoil so much of the fun of this movie, but trust me, it's well-worth watching. Aquaman is an absolute visual spectacle on so many levels: the underwater world of Atlantis is absolutely breathtaking, a visual feast of bright colors and delightful imagery. You have kingdoms of merpeople, of giant crab-people, of normal-looking human Atlanteans riding giant sharks and mosasaurs into battle. (You even have Dolph Lungdren riding a giant goddamned seahorse and it is awesome! )
The movie's underwater world is almost otherworldly in scope and scale, and so vividly realized and unique that I'd almost compare it to the wonderful space opera of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy movies. I know that some people have accused this film of ripping off Thor or Black Panther, but honestly I'd compare it (favorably!) to GOTG, because Aquaman is a film that is able to be hilarious, awesome, and also have a nice emotional core to it. Yeah, it may not be as deep as some of the issues from Guardians or Guardians 2, but there's a nice emotional undercurrent (hehe) to the movie.
In particular, one thing that really sticks with you is the movie's notion of family. Almost all the major characters have some deep familial attachment in the movie. Arthur has his father, and we see how much father and son love each other, and how close and happy their relationship with Atlanna was too. Orm himself has love for his mother as a major grace of his - even though he detests Arthur for being half-human, he expresses the sincere offer to him at one point, to just leave and not stand in his way, because he does not want to kill his brother if it can be avoided.
Another fun thing about this movie is how it occasionally plays with the expected tropes of superhero fiction. One of the absolute best gags in the movie comes when Arthur and his father go to the bar to have some drinks, and they're abruptly approached by some bikers. No spoilers, but trust me, I was in stitches when the punchline comes up
All in all, Aquaman is a superbly made film with gorgeous effects and lots of fun sequences. Many of the actors play their roles with good charisma and distinction: Jason Momoa in particular is superb as the title character, playing Arthur/Aquaman with a fun mix of bravado and genuine humanity, creating a hero who clearly has fun with fighting while also having a lot of deeper feelings to him, especially in regard to his heritage and his issues about the idea of possibly becoming a king. Orm and David Kane/Black Manta also shine with their performances as well, being able to portray a nice mix of ferocity and humanity - these are two men who are doing awful things and yet you can understand what drives them.
The other performances in this movie are also strong as well. In particular I enjoyed Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, she was able to portray a wonderful mix of humor (in her initial interactions with Tom on land XD) as well as carrying out a lot of badassery in her action scenes. Willem Defoe as Vulko is also a nice treat, in particular during flashbacks where he acts as a mentor and uncle figure to a young Arthur, helping him to understand and control his powers. And of course, Amber Heard is a treat as Mera, portraying a strong and badass female heroine with a nice mix of exasperation with Arthur as well as hope for a better world.
So to conclude, I strongly recommend Aquaman. It's the best DC movie in YEARS, perhaps even decades. 
I still need to go see this. I've only heard good things about it.
5001080
It is definitely well worth watching.
Though it is embarrassing that DC/Warner Bros. took this long to get it right. They must be kicking themselves so hard that they ever hired Zack Snyder or tried to go dark and edgy with their initial superhero movie universe...
5001081
True. If I heard right, they got James Gunn to work on the script for the next Suicide Squad movie so that one might actually be well done. Maybe DC films might start getting good. I always felt that the problem of DC was their pacing. The Batman v Superman and Justice League movies came out too fast without really establishing the cast fully. It seemed like putting out Avengers and then doing First Avenger, Iron Man, etc.
5001094
Maybe. I'm thinking that the DCEU would benefit the most on just quietly sweeping the previous movies like Man of Steel, BvS and Suicide Squad under the rug, since those films suffered the most from their "set up everything"/"edgy!" business strategy.
I have a lot of problems with Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman. They just made all manner of stupid decisions, from Pa Kent getting himself killed pointlessly to Superman snapping Zod's neck and feeling guilty about it for all of ten seconds screentime. And the less said about their Lex Luthor the better.
5001098
Oh yeah "Lex Luthor". Of all the actors to get. Why, just why?
5001102
Now admittedly, if Eisenberg had done something kind of like his Mark Zuckerberg performance in The Social Network, he'd have made a pretty good Luthor. In some ways, if it had been done intelligently, having Lex Luthor be the socially-savvy new-age son of the old-school Luthor Sr. who'd built LexCorp could have been a nice and interesting twist on a classic villain and offer a nice spin on the Superman/Lex rivalry...
But instead we basically get... whatever the hell that performance was. Something like a bad Riddler impression on crack, I suppose.
A lot of people mock Aquaman, but think, this guy can talk to beings significantly larger and stronger than anything on the surface, he can effortlessly survive in the depths of the ocean, can bend and break steel with ease, and is actually royalty. Is mocking this guy REALLY that wise? That aside, I'm going to try and see Aquaman at some point this weekend.
5001184
Yeah. Unfortunately, for whatever reason people (either in the DC Universe itself or in real life) seem to only know about the Super Friends incarnation.
Being able to "talk to fish" is pretty damn scary when you realize just all the things that live in the water.
That aside, I do hope you enjoy Aquaman. I had an absolute blast with it.
5001362
Indeed, let us hope that this is the beginning of a new age for DC / Warner Bros.
5001336
Plus there's the fact that powers completely aside, Aquaman is a BIG guy. Even if he had normal human level strength and durability, one solid punch from him would rattle the brains of most people. And whoever was dumb enough to get into a fight with the big guy to begin with. That muscle mass isn't showy bodybuilder mass, that's corded, lean muscle. The kind of muscle you develop from swimming and regular excercise. If he lands a solid punch on you, unless you're on a whole other level, have some form of invulnerability or regeneration, you're gonna be feeling it in the morning,
5052100
Ohhh, yeah. I wouldn't mess with him. XD
5052103
The Death Battle with him in it shows exactly WHY people who come to blows with the King of Atlantis usually have to resort to trickery or outwitting him. Because in terms of brute force? Yeah, outmuscling Aquaman's not an easy feat to accomplish. Plus there's the fact that he's smart enough to not LET you try and outmuscle him. Give him an opening, and he's not dumb enough to turn it down. He is one of the founding members of the Justice League for a reason.
5052108
Amen to that. As he said in Justice League Unlimited: "King of the seas, remember?"
5052113
I rest my case.