Movie Review 6 out of 10
Family Review Strong violence for a superhero movie, scary underwater creatures and a few swear words.
I am afraid my first review for 2019 will tear the superhero community in two as I have heard people rave about Aquaman and others pan it as poorly made. Already I have been involved in an international incident where an NZ local took my comments on the film and Jason Momoa’s acting as an affront to Maori culture. For this reason, it is important that I am upfront in declaring that I am definitely a fan of Marvel movies over those produced by the DC banner but I do try to be unbiased when reviewing their movies. It is also important for me to mention that it has grossed $940 million worldwide so people obviously want to see it
Now that I have made all my apologies let me share with you my opinions on this mega-blockbuster. I am not a Game of Thrones watcher so I do not know how good an actor Jason Momoa can be but I believe he was picked for the role based on his image rather than his ability to play a character. Momoa portrayed his character as ‘one of the boys’ that is not interested in taking any responsibility for events that don’t immediately affect his world. While we find that he is mentored as a young boy/man to understand his heritage and place in the undersea world of Atlantis he has no desire to be part of it, even though he doesn’t seem to have any career or desire to achieve anything on land. In Aquaman, DC is trying to establish a knockabout character modelled on a cross between Thor’s self-assurance and Deadpool’s bad behaviour but Momoa does not have the comedic timing to land the zingers.
The movie is directed by Australian, James Wan, who is known for his horror movies Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious and recently Furious 7. Knowing his background it is understandable that the violence in the film is more intense and personal than most Marvel movies. The increased violence. along with the nasty creatures from the Trench, lead me to recommend that this movie may not be suitable for younger children. Some of the underwater scenes are reminiscent of Avatar and the movie does follow a plot that establishes Aquaman as a much stronger character than previously portrayed in DC shows. However, the story is very predictable and rolls along without feeling the need to explain how certain things happen or why. (For a list of these see Spoiler Alert below). There are two bad guys with Patrick Wilson playing Aquaman’s half-brother who believes that he is entitled to be King of Atlantis and a pirate known as Mantra that has high tech gadgets but not much else going for him. When Mantra and his crew are in action people have commented on how much it reminds them of a Power Ranger episode.
While I am not a fan of this movie or the Aquaman character it is important that if you have any curiousity at all to see it just so you can take a side as to whether you love it or could do without it.
Spoiler Alert. If you have not seen the movie do not read below as it will give away too many plot points. For those who have seen it let me share with you some key questions that I need answers to. Please comment if you have the answers.
Why is it that the world does not know who Aquaman is but the drunk bikies at his local pub recognise him? / Is Princess Mera and Ariel from The Littlest Mermaid the same person? / Is Mantra the sookiest, moody villain of all time? / How does having special powers under the sea allow you to survive jumping from a plane without a parachute? / Is it unusual that Mera spends her whole life under the sea but doesn’t seem affected by roaming around in the desert? / How did they get out of the desert and to Italy so quickly? / How does an uneducated Aquaman, who didn’t know that Pinocchio was a book, know about Roman rulers in such detail? / Why was the Pinocchio book given to Mera by the little Italian girl in English? / Should we worry about being attacked by Atlantis forces when their elite warriors couldn’t hit a woman with special lasers who was jumping over rooftops only 20 metres in front of them? and lastly, did anyone recognise that the voice of Karathen, the creature protecting the trident, was Julie Andrews (Sound of Music and Mary Poppins).
I did raise some of the questions with a friend who advised me that the answer to all these questions is ….. Because it’s a DC Movie!!!