Lucky you! Two reviews in as many days! Honestly, I went and saw both Mary Poppins Returns and Aquaman on Tuesday, and if I don’t write the review immediately, I won’t get to it at all (because I am a terrible slacker), so you all get a double header this week.
I am not entirely sure how to begin talking about Aquaman, so I’m going to start with the thoughts of friends and family who saw it first. One friend said, “Aquaman was like having melted Skittles poured in your eyes, in a good way… the most faithful representation of comics I have seen in a movie, with all the good and bad that implies.” My sister summed up the film as, “Maui from Moana and the Little Mermaid go on an Indiana Jones adventure.” Each of these summaries hits the good and bad of the film. Aquaman was a fun superhero romp that had some really nice visuals, some fun characters, was surprisingly faithful to the comics, and didn’t really do anything too original.
Since the inception of the D.C. cinematic universe, the films have struggled with tone, script, and story. Films like Batman v. Superman, Justice League, and Suicide Squad, all struggled with a basic understanding of the characters they portrayed, and while Wonder Woman was very well done, in my opinion it still did not ascend to the heights that Marvel has shown superhero films can reach. Aquaman is a good step forward for the D.C. universe, as the film demonstrates a solid understanding of the characters and comics it is based on, and does not take itself too seriously. This shift in tone makes the film feel a lot more Marvel-esque than previous D.C. properties, and certainly does not deliberately alienate fans of the character and comics. It is very much a “back to the basics” superhero flick; a film that tells a basic superhero origin story with interesting visuals and (for the most part) engaging characters. While it does not rise to the level of Wonder Woman, it is a solid film that is a step forward from the other D.C. properties and that can solidly compete with the low/mid-level Marvel properties (it’s no Avengers, but could definitely compete with something like Ant Man and is better than, say, Thor: the Dark World or Avengers Age of Ultron).
The story follows Arthur Curry (Aquaman) as he tries to stop a way between the underwater kingdom of Atlantis and the “surface world.” In the process he teams up with Mera, an Atlantean princess, and totally badass water-bending sorceress to recover king Atlan’s trident, a mythical weapon that will allow him to become ruler of the oceans. What follows is a slapdash mix of Indiana Jones treasure hunting, and space-opera style sub-marine battles that take great advantage of the three dimensional movement allowed by underwater fighting. As origin stories go there is nothing original here, although not necessarily in the way one might initially think. The fantasy “lost heir” trope is very strong in this film, as Arthur struggles with his feelings of inadequacy and abandonment, gets his butt thoroughly kicked in multiple fight sequences, only to rise above and try to claim his kingdom. If you know the trope, there are absolutely no surprises in this film, however, it still plays out in an enjoyable and engaging manner. At no point did I feel like the film was moving too slow; the pacing was very good, intermixing action, slow romantic moments, flashbacks, and character development in a surprisingly balanced manner. The film certainly did not feel long; I was surprised to realize it was close to 2 1/2 hours. Occasionally the story did feel a little convoluted (there was a lot of ground covered, and as I mentioned before, the story stays pretty faithful to the comics) as we were introduced to a large number of supplementary characters including two of Aquaman’s greatest villains, with both of their backstories. Overall, however, it was pretty easy to keep track of who was doing what, where, and why.
While the acting performances in this film were not really anything special, all the characters were engaging and interesting enough to move forward. Jason Momoa is a great fit for Aquaman, somehow managing to balance an “everyman” or even a total “bro” vibe while also embodying the physique of a demi-god (with the occasional regality to back it up). His performance is charming and heartfelt if not subtle, and a very interesting supporting brings the diverse and quirky Atlantean population to life.
Visually, again, the film doesn’t really do anything new, but it does not disappoint either. The underwater battles in particular are fun to watch; very reminiscent of of the three dimensional movement one sees in space battles or dogfights, while also making good use of things like current and radical temperature change that are unique to the ocean. Where the film occasionally struggles with the action is in the one on one fights between Arthur and his half brother Orm; while there are well constructed and engaging it does sometimes feel like the characters are more engaged in a “pose-off” than in an actual life and death fight. But this criticism is negligible, and honestly, who doesn’t want to see Jason Momoa in as many poses as possible (or maybe that’s just me).
If I had to sum up Aquaman in a sentence, I’d say it is “the lovechild of a stereotypical superhero movie and a fantasy lost heir bildungsroman, with all the faults, foibles, and epic bad-assery that implies.” Aquaman does nothing new, but it executes the old tropes well and with a burning enthusiasm that was not present in many of the prior D.C. projects. It doesn’t try to be dark and gritty, it doesn’t try to be something new, it simply enjoys being a comic book movie, which frankly, is a step forward for D.C.
Well, back to reality!
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