A couple of weeks ago I attempted to get into the theaters and see the film Aquaman and… no dice. It was that packed.
What a difference a couple of more weeks make!
No, I didn’t go to an empty theater -there were still many people there- but it took almost a full month since the film’s formal release before I was able to get to it.
And it was a fun ride.
Mind you, the film is very much a “Marvel” type superhero movie, full of spectacle and likeable characters who let out funny quips here and there even as the plot of the film isn’t necessarily something incredibly original or outrageously well thought out.
In many ways, ironically enough, the film reminded me of the 2011 Ryan Reynolds/Blake Lively starring Green Lantern, which I don’t need to remind you many feel was a bust.
Why are the two films similar?
Because they both feature information dumps regarding the titular characters, their origin, all the people around them, along with their first “big” mission. Where Green Lantern failed was that the information dump was handled badly, starting and stopping and sometimes focusing too hard on irrelevant material. I still recall getting to the middle or so of that film and suddenly being presented with the origin of Doctor Waller (her character would re-appear in Suicide Squad). I found myself wondering what would possess the filmmakers to stop everything else that was going on to then waste precious screen time on something that, in the end, was irrelevant to the movie in full.
Aquaman, on the other hand, manages the information dump well. In the opening act, we’re quickly introduced to Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman, quite good) and Lighthouse Keeper Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison) who meet one stormy night and quickly fall in love before Atlanna is pregnant and then delivers Arthur Curry (eventually, Aquaman, as played by Jason Momoa).
The movie wisely keeps things moving from there, not lingering on any one point and giving us, by the film’s end, a full accounting of Arthur Curry’s upbringing and the fact that he’s noble yet an outsider to both the land dwellers and the people of Atlantis.
Meanwhile, in Atlantis, Arthur’s half-brother King Orm (Patrick Wilson, quite good as the movie’s main villain) is in talks with King Nereus (Dolph Lundgren… what a delightful bit of casting!), father of Princess Mera (Amber Heard, also quite good as the very independent minded princess who will eventually bring Aquaman to his home) to bring together the underwater kingdoms and initiate a war against the surface dwellers.
King Orm, again to the movie’s credit, makes a point. The surface dwellers are polluting the oceans and his gripes against them are well founded, though his actions prove him to be a little too eager for bloodshed.
Of course, the two will eventually be on a collision course for the throne of Atlantis.
When Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came out, there were many who bemoaned the film’s too dark tone. Aquaman goes the other way, providing a very bright palette even if, IMHO, the plot is far more familiar than that of BvS.
I’ve defended BvS many (perhaps too many) times before and I’ll do so again: As time passes since its release, it occurs to me that by the time that film was released people were expecting -if not outright hoping- that that film would be a “Marvel-style” superhero movie. It is my feeling (no more than a hunch) that the negative reaction was in part due to the fact that BvS was very much not a Marvel type of movie. Now, it seems that film is experiencing a bit of a re-evaluation, which I suspected might happen, and in time I can’t help but wonder if people begin to understand what director Zack Snyder was doing and realize the film is far better than they originally felt it was.
But that’s an argument for another day.
Warners/DC clearly felt the sting of those early negative reactions and both Wonder Woman and Aquaman strive to create a bright, beautiful world within which our heroes inhabit.
Aquaman may not be among the very best superhero films ever made (for me, the top three superhero films ever made remain, in order, the original Christopher Reeve Superman, Captain America Winter Soldier, and -yes- Batman v Superman), but it is a fresh, enjoyable popcorn film that knows what it is and delivers the thrills and laughs without taxing audiences too much.
Recommended.