Aquaman (2018)

I am one of those weirdos that always kind of liked Aquaman.  Probably it was because Batman and Superman were the obvious go-to heroes from the Justice League and I have always liked going for the odd man out.  I haven't really watched any of the cartoons or read the comics since I was a kid so pretty much anything other than Aquaman talking to fish I had forgotten.  I pretty much even forgot he was supposed to have a secret identity, at least in the comics.  All I pretty much knew was that he came from Atlantis.  Since Atlantis and ancient aliens and such were all the rage at the time it gave Aquaman a few extra cool points. 

I am not surprised that it took a long time for the character to get a movie.  For what it's worth, it took almost the same time for the entire Justice League to get their own film despite Superman and Batman both having successful franchises before petering out with worse and worse movies.  Although the theatrical version of Justice League wasn't too well received, Wonder Woman did well and Aquaman came out at a time when there was still hope of saving the floundering DC Cinematic Universe.  Granted, it also did well, although I would be hard pressed to say why.

In 1985 Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), the Queen of Atlantis, is rescued by a lighthouse keeper named Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison) when she washes up to shore.  The two ultimately begin a romance that results in the birth of Arthur (Jason Momoa).  However, Atlanna is forced to return to Atlantis leaving Arthur to be raised by his father.  Meanwhile Arthur is secretly taught the ways of Atlantis by Vulko (Willem Dafoe), the vizier to King Orm (Patrick Wilson), Arthur's full-blooded Atlantean half-brother.  Arthur begins making a name for himself a hero protecting people from the dangers of the sea, leading him to cross paths with a pirate named Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). 

King Orm, tired of humans dumping all their trash into the ocean, forms an alliance with King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren) to wage war on the surface dwellers.  Nereus's daughter Mera (Amber Heard), who is pledged to Orm, contacts Arthur and enlists him to help find the trident of the legendary King Atlan (Graham McTavish).  In order to stop them Orm provides Manta with Atlantean technology, while Arthur ponders whether he is worthy of the destiny that has been thrust upon him. 

A major problem with Aquaman is one that it did not anticipate, however she does nothing to make the movie any better.  There is little to no chemistry between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard and, though she dropped the English accent between filming Zack Snyder's Justice League and this, her acting is still stiff throughout.  Add to that the messy trial that ensued when she falsely accused Johnny Depp of the abuse she herself was guilty of and, for most fans, that would take away any value in rewatching Aquaman.

What takes it away for me is that, unlike many who thought this was one of the stronger entries in the DCCU, I found it a bloated, shallow misfire.  James Wan is out of his depth directing something with this high of a budget, having spent most of his career with low to mid-budget horror films.  The CGI has to be some of the worst I have seen in any film, with the effort to make characters look like they are underwater laughable including instances where the bodies sometimes don't seem to match up with the heads.  The "speech bubble" idea from Zach Snyder's Justice League was much better and more believable. 

Patrick Wilson is also lost as the main bad guy, not portraying the arrogance nor a sense of menace.  To make things worse there are extra bad guys in King Nereus and Manta, the latter whom it seems was there to set up a sequel rather than to have any real consequence other than to destroy some landmarks in Sicily.  That said, it seems that the bad guys only have one move, which is make an entrance like the Kool-Aid Man by blowing out a wall and entering right after a bunch of expository dialog. 

I think the reason most audiences were kind to this at the time was because Jason Momoa comes across as a likeable dufus, much like his portrayal of Arthur.  It's closer to the character he played in Stargate: Atlantis, although most fans probably knew him from Game of Thrones at this point, since pretty much no one saw the remake of Conan the Barbarian.  Still, as much as I like Aquaman, I find that the character is more interesting in the supporting role he always had.  The plot boils down to some of the same old beats from other fantasy and superhero films and is just as predictable. 

By the time the DCCU got back around to another Aquaman film Heard was pretty much persona non grata, forcing the character of Mera to be all but written out of the sequel, and it was clear that the entire franchise has fumbled beyond saving.  As it is everything in this movie is what one would expect from the DC films, right down to the horrible color saturation and sense that it is all spectacle with no real heart and, by this time, no ongoing story behind it. 

Aquaman (2018)

Time: 143 minutes

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Director: James Wan