AQUAMAN, in the minds of some, may have been DC's biggest challenge. Following up from a film where the studio execs (I'm thinking) exercised too much control, forced certain changes, and drastically altered the direction/trajectory of the DCEU narrative, I can only assume, isn't an easy task. Then there's DC's ongoing struggle to reinvent Aquaman and distance themselves from his pervading reputation as the butt of every super hero joke imaginable. Oh yeah, and there's the tiny task of reinvigorating the DCEU and rebuilding the public's faith and good will.
No pressure, right? I'm sure at times James Wan felt like the pressure of the entire ocean was pressing down upon him.
Finally Aquaman is here! The sixth chapter in the DCEU has arrived and with it all the special effects extravaganza and mythos of a LORD OF THE RINGS style epic.
THE PLOT
After saving the entire world from Steppenwolf and a legion of parademons, Arthur Curry a.k.a. the Aquaman has taken to policing the oceans in between happy hour at the bar. Suddenly a red-headed woman from the ocean floor arrives foretelling doom and asking for Arthur's help. Aquaman tells her to shove off. When a tidal wave wipes out his home town, and similar incidents begin happening across the globe, Arthur finds he has no choice but to return to Atlantis and save the world once again.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
This is a whole lot of movie. I mean, a HUGE amount of movie. Aquaman clocks in at nearly 2 and a half hours, which is fine as there's a lot of story it tells... a lot. The film keeps a brisk pace to keep up with the loads of story being thrown our way, so there's rarely a dull moment. To me there was so much story and narrative being told that the movie possesses the same plotting and density of storytelling as the last few DCEU films, specifically Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. It feels like they burned through enough material for a whole trilogy in one movie. We're given the origin story tropes, then the less impressive sequel, and finally the epic "Return of the King" sized trilogy finale. It's like the filmmakers thought they'd never be able to make another Aquaman movie again so they did EVERYTHING!
Tonally this is a grab bag or genres. There's a globe trotting Indiana Jones vibe, an "Opposites Attract" RomCom complete with covers of Toto and other pop music, an Avatar-scale science fiction epic with an anti-pollution message, a kaiju emerges at one point lending to a Pacific Rim feeling towards the end (or Smaug from the Hobbit if you prefer Tolkien, but the end credits of Aquaman are nearly identical to Pacific Rim), all wrapped around a classic Disney Princess destiny story (in this case it's a prince) or more accurately the Sword in the Stone (he is King Arthur after all). There's even a bit of horror when our heroes journey to the Trench. It feels a little like all three Lord of the Rings films in one (you've got the trekking across the world bit a la Fellowship, the warring countries a la Two Towers, and the epic War of the ocean and the return of the one true king a la Return of the King).
Then there's the copious amounts of CGI special effects. I'd be interested in seeing what the budget was for this movie because it looks as if Warner Bros. spared no expense on this gala event. If there's anything you come out of this movie ruminating on, it's the sheer amount of CGI special effects on display. And they look good! Since 2009 I've been imagining either an Aquaman or Sub-Mariner film looking like Avatar underwater and this movie delivered just that. And speaking of the vast amount of imagery, the Annabelle doll from James Wan's Conjuring films made an appearance too!
Going off of the overall appearance of the film, this movie and the filmmakers really made a strong effort to accurately represent the imagery from the comics. Ocean Master looks spot on and so too does Black Manta. The fealty to the comic book designs is admirable and very gratifying for us comic fans. And seeing the classic (or close to classic) Aquaman costume emerge at the end was a sheer delight.
I enjoyed the performances from all the actors as well though I felt no single actor stood out from the rest, save for perhaps Dolph Lundgren who did some of the best acting he's ever done here.
Overall, I came out of the film overwhelmed and not knowing how to feel about it. I don't think it's bad by any means. It's just so much to process. This film feels structured similarly to BVSDOJ and Justice League where it's trying to do WAY too much in a limited amount of time. Aquaman does it better than the aforementioned other films but fails to meet the strong narrative presentation of Wonder Woman. Again, as with BVSDOJ and JS, it feels as if DC is trying to rush things. They're still trying to do what Marvel has done in three or five films, except trying to do it all in one film.
In a world where Netflix bloats their narratives to fill all that extra space (and I complain about it), Aquaman feels the opposite in that there's too much story and not enough time to properly devote to all of it (and I complain about it, ha!). I guess there's just no pleasing some people 😈 But in all seriousness I feel it is one of the stronger films in the DCEU, not as good as the top films of DCEU but better than the bottom films. The middle of the pack if you like. And that's fine. It is perhaps the top in terms of how good the film looks though.
There's been a lot of super hero movies this year, some better than others. Of the super hero movies I've liked versus the ones I disliked, Aquaman falls into the former. But seriously DC, SLOW DOWN. It's not a race (or rather, the race is already over). Now it's a matter of getting your feet under you. Take a page from Wonder Woman and pace yourself. We'll all be there for the trilogies, you don't have to do all three films in one. Take the time to properly establish your characters and universe.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
but still processing... SO MUCH MOVIE!
For more of my thoughts on all things super hero/comic book based cinema, check out these other posts below
THE DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE (DCEU)
THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE (MCU)
Fox-Marvel, Sony-Marvel, and other stuff too!
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