Movie Review: Aquaman

Home? Calling? Why yes let's crank up Moana's theme song. 

Campy & Escapist Aquaman is Big-Screen Fun

What do you get when you add a lighthouse keeper and a runaway Atlantean Queen? A half-human, half-Atlantean named Arthur Curry, aka fishboy Aquaman and the star of James Wan’s… Aquaman!!! After a sweet, if not waterlogged, meet-cute between lighthouse keeper Tom (Temuera Morrison, Moana) and sparkly suit wearing Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) love strikes.
 T and A dive deeply into the waters of a forbidden romance that ends with them getting hitched and having a cherubic, curly-haired baby named Arthur. Arthur is just three-years-old when King Orvax, the fiance Atlanna fled in the movie's opening scene, finds her. Orvax sends forces to hulk-smash the dickens out of the lighthouse and drag Atlanna back to Atlantis. 

Not one to go belly up, she strikes back in one of the best fight scenes in the movie. Wielding her humongous quindent the blond bombshell battles a small horde of Orvax’s Daft Punkish robo-aquatic soldiers in stylishly choreographed and thrilling sequence that sets the tone for all of the action sequences to come in Aquaman. In a heartstring-pulling farewell, Atlanna returns to Atlantis at the very same place she and Tom first met. It's the only way to keep her boys safe, even though it leaves Tom heartbroken and fulfills Arthur's missing/dead parent quota on his “what makes a superhero” application.  

Thirty years later Arthur (Jason Momoa), now a Herculean tattooed hero whose muscles have muscles is doing his Aquaman thaang. With quite the rep for his heroic aquatic feats he's once again, Saving. The. World. 🙌  Bursting into a Russian nuclear submarine that’s been hijacked by pirates, Aquaman gleefully throws down like he’s on Super Smash Bros, dishing out KO’s left and right, more than living up to his human, medieval namesake (King Arthur of Camelot). 

 These entertaining, testosterone-fueled fight scenes end with Aquaman unhesitatingly leaving behind Jesse (Michael Beach, S.W.A.T.) the pirate’s leader who’s on the verge of death. Jesse’s hot-headed son sees it all and is (surprise surprise) enRAEGed by Aquaman. In classic DCEU fashion, it’s the start of a paint-by-numbers villain origin story. Dead parent, check. Cocky superhero to hate, check. A CAPS LOCK DECLARATION SWEARING REVENGE, check. Ding ding ding, we have a villain (later known as) Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, The Get Down). 

Aquaman’s plot is easy enough to follow. Bookended by the sweet and fluffy love story between Tom and Atlanna, Aquaman is a beat by beat hero's journey. One where an mermaid Atlantean with fire engine red hair named Ariel Mera (Amber Heard, Justice League) insists Arthur come to Atlantis to save the entire kingdom from his war-mongering half-brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson, The Conjuring)... who happens to be the king of Atlantis and on his way to becoming the all-powerful Ocean Master (aka ruler of the 7 seas with domination over land-dwellers, yadda yadda). 

Pick one: Arthur's beachy waves & ombre or Mera's Twizzler wig? 

The Little Mermaid Mera is convinced that with the right weapon, a mythical trident that belonged to Atlantis’s very first ruler, King Atlan, Arthur can stop Orm and bring peace to the undersea empire. Nevermind that Arthur’s (1) never been to Atlantis and (2) never met Orm and (3) has never dueled underwater before, Mera knows Arthur is the hero they all need. #nopressure  

Arthur and Mera’s madcap globetrotting adventure takes them to the deepest depths of the sea and the farthest reaches of the land all in glossy, sleek,  high-def with CGI harmoniously blended in. When the duo is not adventuring Aquaman is peppered with flashbacks that show Arthur at different ages as he’s trained by his Atlantean mentor, Vulko (Willem Dafoe) and grows into his powers. Also, in real time we watch Orm enact his wicked plan to take down all of the other cities and species of ocean people’s to make Atlantis the mightiest nation, stomp out any dissenters and to secure his reign as Ocean Master. The taking over the world schtick and ruthless determination is a bit canned evil villain material but Patrick Wilson’s cunning and egoistical performance keep the character interesting enough. Especially when he shares the screen with confident and devilishly cocky Arthur.

The CGI de-aging effects are a bit....extra? Just like Orm! 

But Aquaman’s greatest strength comes from Aquaman/Arthur himself. The immaculately cast Jason Momoa makes the movie. His performance is everything. Keeping the movie afloat when the ridiculousness sky-rockets, Momoa doesn’t so much breathe life into Arthur Curry as he does gleefully possess him. Euphorically charging across the screen beating down baddies with his trident and brazen attitude like a 1980's animated hero of the likes of He-Man or Dragonball Z, Momoa’s commitment to the character and his enthusiasm is cheer-worthy. Momoa is having the time of his life and we're right there with him!   Some of his fight sequences, epic but also gimmicky hyper-masculine hot messes are saved by  Arthur/Aquaman's charisma, one-liners, and swagger.

Arthur's partner, the humorless and bland Mera we can do without.  The aristocratic Atlantean is a dry, cardboardy take on The Girl and has zero chemistry with Arthur. With a predictable, mass-produced backstory Mera is DC's latest a half-hearted attempt at making another empowered female character who can hold her own in a superhero movie. The reality? Her entire character hinges on tropes and lazy, generic storytelling. Oh and her lackluster personality!? It's not helped by her Twizzler red dye job. 

Yup. Manta DIY'd his helmet. Pinterest has everything.

The side villain, Manta, with his quest for revenge is equally tropey and disposable. Orm was villain enough to be Aquaman’s only opponent. We didn’t need the secondary storyline with Manta’s garden variety villain who we know won’t win against Aquaman. Who we know won’t win, period. It reeks of a “setting up for a sequel” decision-- where the filmmakers are losing sight of this movie by planning out its successor. 

That said, visually Aquaman is stunning. The undersea metropolis Atlantis is electrified by a high voltage pallet of vivid colors. Radiating with more neon lights than the sunset strip in Vegas, Atlantis’s aesthetic is a luminous world that’s somewhere between Tron and Avatar.  Flashy? Yes. Headache inducing? Double yes. Ultimately an impressive display of a deftly CGI crafted world? YES YES YES. 

What may be most questionable to some of Aquaman’s audience is the movie’s quirkiness. Bubbling with soapy dialogue and trite sayings like “the land and sea are one” Aquaman is two and a half hours of campy comedy, eye-catching visuals and a dash of Shakespearean drama. 

Proudly embracing and celebrating its own absurdity, Aquaman is the first Thor movie of the DC universe. It is so over the top and in your face that at moments it feels like a parody of superhero films. 

Offering zero apologies, and ambitiously just going for it with this wild, screwball, swashbuckling superhero flick James Wan breathes new life and fun into the often dingy, dull and disappointing DCEU. Teeming with epic fight sequences, spectacle (a drum pounding Octopus!) and heart, Aquaman is big screen worthy rollicking fun.  

Recommended. 

So, friends, what did you think about Aquaman?! Drop a comment below or tweet me on twitter @thebadgerbabe_ Let’s talk movies and Momoa!  

Photos from IMDB

Gifs from GIPHY