Movie Breakdown: Aquaman
Pre-Screening Stance:
Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman was one of the more enjoyable elements of the largely-flawed Justice League, so I’m certainly interested in the character’s standalone entry. Also helping the film’s case is that James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) is a good director.
Post-Screening Ramble:
Aquaman is A LOT of movie. Some of it works pretty well. Jason Mamoa is a charming, commanding presence on the screen, and the film itself is an overall vibrant, creative effort. However, once your eyes adjust and you’re able to see through all of the shininess, what you find is a pretty messy affair, with the film’s plethora of plots being the main issue. This isn’t just Arthur/Aquaman’s story, it’s also his mother’s, his father’s, his brother’s, Princess Mera’s, the Atlantean’s, Black Mantis’ and more. Director James Wan could have cut plenty of these storylines and still had a hefty film, but instead he lets them haphazardly float around and it occasionally makes for a tedious experience. If this approach sounds familiar, it’s because the reality is that Aquaman is essentially like pretty much every other DC Extended Universe entry – it features a little bit of everything, in an almost misguided fan-service sort of way, and because of this it just ultimately misses the mark. Someone really needs to figure out a way to streamline these films.
Despite its issues, I do actually think Aquaman is worth catching at the theater. It’s a generally fun movie that’s a visual spectacle, and it should be seen on the big screen. Just know that if you want to get up a few times to go to the bathroom or just walk around in the lobby, you probably won’t miss anything important in this bloated movie.
One Last Thought:
I found it weird that Atlantis is not only populated by sea creatures that do tasks for the Atlanteans, but also ships that are shaped like said sea creatures. So for every tortoise that’s pulling some cargo around, there’s a tortoise-shaped vessel that’s doing the same thing. Why not just have machines do all the work? Also, the Atlanteans ride into battle on the sea creatures instead of exclusively using the sea creature-shaped machines. Why do they put their sea buddies in harm’s way? Also, as my fiance noted, why are all the ships in Atlantis shaped like sea creatures anyways? It’s not like land-dwellers roll around in cars shaped like horses.
One More Last Thought:
I’ve never seen a movie cycle through location titles like Aquaman. There are so many that occasionally it feels like there’s a new one before the other has even faded from the screen.
