I was looking forward to seeing Aquaman when I first heard it was announced. Mainly because I had already seen Aquaman in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (albeit in a small cameo) as well as Justice League. While the Justice League movie left a lot to be desired for me, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman was one of the few bright spots of that troubled production. His easy going ‘surfer dude’ take on Aquaman was a nice change of pace from the dark and brooding superheroes we’ve been getting up to that point from the DC comics movies (and even a few of the Marvel superhero films, too).
The overly grim take on the DC superhero films (which also included Suicide Squad) were a wrong turn courtesy of the Warner Brothers studio executives, who mistook the popularity of the Christopher Nolan Batman films to be that the audience preferred dreary superhero movies--when in fact the Nolan Batman films (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises) were so popular because they were just very well made movies, period. Wonder Woman was a fantastic film because its director, Patty Jenkins (like Nolan with Batman), knew and understood her subject matter and so went on to make a great movie.
Thankfully Aquaman also had a director who understood the material and how best to present it. When James Wan first took on the job of directing Aquaman, he said he wanted to make Star Wars underwater. Well, he did that, and more. Aquaman, with its underwater universe that spans several different submerged kingdoms, certainly has the epic, mythic feel of a Star Wars film--complete with a quest--but there are also elements of Indiana Jones and even Lara Croft within the narrative. This underwater world is richly created using superb use of CGI that doesn’t feel overdone.
Wan, who had strong female characters in his previous films--such as the first two Conjuring films, as well as his first two Insidious movies--also beefs up the role of Mera, well-played by Amber Heard. Mera isn’t just a sidekick to Aquaman here, she’s his equal partner in crime who slowly comes to think of him as being more than just a friend over the course of the film. There’s an endearing scene, my favorite in the film, where she and Aquaman are in a Sicilian market, and Mera, who mistakenly thinks roses are edible, starts eating them. When she offers some to Aquaman, he just casually digs in, because, you know…when in Rome, dude.
And yet despite the lighthearted silliness in the film (there’s even an octopus playing the drums, fer crissakes!), Wan still knows when to pull back on the goofiness, treating the plot, and its villains, seriously. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is very formidable and impressive, both in and out of the crimson-eyed armored suit. And Patrick Wilson is equally threatening as King Orm, who sees Aquaman, his half-brother, as a threat. Wan even manages some deep dives into the Aquaman comics’ mythology by having Orm become Ocean Master, even having him eventually clad in a suit that’s similar to the one worn by the villain in the comics.
Overall, Aquaman is a fun, extremely well-done popcorn movie, complete with the requisite pop ballad that’s chirped by Skyler Grey that rolls over the end credits, and a mid-credit scene that promises some more aquatic mayhem down the line. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this big, gaudy flick. James Wan has more than delivered on his promise on making an underwater Star Wars movie; with Aquaman, he created another enjoyable cinematic universe that moviegoers can dive into for years to come. --SF
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