Aquaman is the DCEU's (DC Expanded Universe) latest film branching directly out of the disappointing "Justice League" live action movie.
For those who aren't familiar; back in 2013 DC decided it wanted to follow the footsteps of Marvel and create a cinematic universe. Instead of taking it slow and branching into a well thought out plan, they instead dove headfirst and delivered several highly anticipated comic movies starting with Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and finally Justice League.
Wonder Woman was the only objectively good movie out of the bunch and was essentially considered a fluke in the DCEU franchise that was filled with highly anticipated, yet critically panned films. Since Justice League there have been murmurs of the DCEU being completely reset. Some even claimed it should be cancelled, and all agree that Marvel had the lock on the ever growing Comic Book movie genre. The fact that Aquaman wasn't just outright cancelled after the Justice League was an interesting move for DC. Was it because they were too stubborn to know their universe was failing? Was it because too much money had been spent on the production of the movie and the studio couldn't stop the moving train? Or could it be, that they were confident they had something that would appeal to movie goers?
It turns out, it may have been the latter.
Breakdown:
Visual - 10/10
Aquaman is absolutely Gorgeous. From Special effects to scene transitions, James Wan unique style wins the day.
Audio - 9/10
An energetic Score and Soundtrack coupled with some great special effects really help the film tell it's story and drive the viewers emotions.
Acting - 8/10
Momoa is super charismatic and steals every scene he's in (and spoiler alert - he's in a lot of scenes). The rest of the cast brings their A games as well. William Dafoe was the only one who came off as "Bad" to me, but by his standards.
Plot - 7.5/10
There isnt anything new here and there is a lot of elements taken from other franchises who simply did it better. But the main characters are well developed and the world building done with Atlantis is very refreshing making the viewer invested in the end result of the story.
Overall Score 8/10
Full Review
Aquaman delivers a fun light hearted adventure that is filled with stunning visuals and a ton of charisma from it's lead. It re-ignites the hope for the DCEU by giving us the best film from Warner Bros since the Dark Knight Trilogy.
Aquaman is a visually stunning story about Aquaman/Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) on his (reluctant) quest to claim his birthright. The movie takes place immediately after the story from Justice League and introduces the mystifying world of Atlantis.
The plot of the movie isn't anything we haven't seen before. It follows (and borrows) beats from other movies including Black Panther, Tron, and (interestingly enough) National Treasure. Despite the cookie cutter plot (and at times dialogue) though the movie brings enough energy and charisma in conjunction with some of the best cinematography ever seen in a comic book movie to piece together a fun adventure that pretty much everyone can enjoy.
The best parts of the movie happen under water for sure. There is an interesting Atlantian political spectrum that fuels much of the plot that is similar to that of Black Panther, however without the heavy handed social commentary. The first part of the movie introduces a lot right off the bat filling the viewer in with much needed exposition before we finally see Atlantis. The exposition though is provided though gorgeous flashbacks that are delivered in a seamless and unique manner.
The second act of the movie, which entails much of the "adventure" portion of the movie is where things start getting a bit sloppy. Dialogue and plot points become very cookie cutter and at times cliched, and there are some very on the nose type scenes that are as brute as Momoa's portaly of Aqua-bro. However, the movie rarely lets you live in those awkward moments for too long before throwing in some great action scenes coupled with some very well timed jokes.
James Wan, the director of Aquaman comes from a horror movie background, and his experience there certainly shows within Aquaman. Horror movies have the tendency to entice emotional responses from the movie-goer (usually in the form of fear) and Aquaman certainly delivers here. Whether it be the affect of an abrupt action scene you didn't see coming, or a joke that properly livens themood, or even the rising of the musical score to give grace to the cliched heroic scenes - Wan masterfully controls the audiences feelings and gets them to buy into some otherwise far fetched plots.
Ultimately, Aquaman delivers on a promise that the DCEU CAN create good films and that Wonder Woman wasn't a fluke...probably. If you're looking for a fun light hearted comic book movie that's enjoyable for all demographics and knocks you out of your Christmas socks as far as visual experiences go - look no further than Aquaman.
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