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AQUAMAN (2018) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

aQUAMAN (2018) movie

Genre | Science Fiction

Classification | M

Running time | 143 minutes

Released | 26 December 2018

cast

Jason Momoa ... Arthur Curry
Amber Heard ... Mera
Nicole Kidman ... Queen Atlanna
Willem Dafoe ... Nuidis Vulko
Dolph Lundgren ... King Nereus
Patrick Wilson ... Orm

director

James Wan

writer

Will Beall ... (screenplay)
Geoff Johns ... (story)
Paul Norris ... (character)
James Wan ... (story)
Mort Weisinger ... (character)

cinematographer

Don Burgess

music

Rupert Gregson-Williams

film editor

Kirk M. Morri

box office result

Worldwide $? million

Australia $? million

North America $? million

the best dialogue

Arthur Curry: My father was a lighthouse keeper. My mother was a queen. But life has a way of bringing people together. They made me what I am.

Arthur Curry: I'm no leader. I came because I have no choice. I came to save my home, and the people that I love.

Arthur Curry: You know, there was a time when I wanted to meet my brother, talk with him, support him. If only you hadn't turned out to be a dick.
Orm: Because of you, our mother was executed. And I hate you for that. But I do not want to kill you. I'm going to give you one chance. Go home, Arthur. Do not ever come back here. You are not going to win this. A war is coming to the surface, and I am bringing the wrath of the Seven Seas with me.
Arthur Curry: You know I can't let that happen.
Orm: I know.

AQUAMAN (2018) MOVIE IMAGES

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AQUAMAN (2018) STORY SYNOPSIS

Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and to be a hero to the world.

AQUAMAN (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 24 December 2018

Pop Movee Rating

What an overblown mess of a movie...

While not quite in the same realm as JUSTICE LEAGUE, James Wan’s AQUAMAN reinforces just about everything that is wrong with Warner Bros approach to making movies out of their DC comic book properties.

The biggest problem with AQUAMAN is that it takes itself far too seriously.

Not even the naturally-playful charisma of star Jason Momoa can save the film.

If Zack Snyder had been directing AQUAMAN, there may have been some tolerance toward a more serious approach to the subject matter. Snyder is a visualist who uses stunning images to create dramatic tension. Once upon a time, back when he was directing SAW movies, Wan too relied upon that technique, but this is no longer the case. The visceral component of his technique has been locked in the bottom draw and the key has been tossed away.

With his 2015 FURIOUS 7 entry into major league franchise movie making, and now AQUAMAN, James Wan appears to be a Director-For-Hire. The intimacy and intensity of his earlier work, along with his CONJURING universe movies, have taken a back seat in favour of gigantic set pieces, loads of visual effects and fast cutting that leaves barely enough of the image on the screen for the eye to register what’s been seen.

Perhaps, that’s not the case at all…

Maybe Wan is following the John Huston philosophy; make one for “them” (Hollywood studios) and make one for yourself.

If that’s the case, then AQUAMAN is well and truly for “them”.

AQUAMAN is eerily reminiscent of a couple of Sony’s SPIDER-MAN movies; SPIDER-MAN 3 and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2: RISE OF ELECTRO. Those two SPIDER-MAN movies had way too much happening and ended up being more about an attempt to build out the franchise rather than coherent, entertaining movies in their own right.

AQUAMAN feels the same, but it shouldn’t.

By virtue of BATMAN V SUPERMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE, all the groundwork for AQUAMAN had been done. The audience know who he is and what he does.

It seems indulgent to spend time on an extended pre-opening title sequence that serves no purpose other than to introduce Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, the title character’s mother; confirming what had already been well and truly established...

Yep, everyone knows that Arthur Curry/Aquaman isn’t that thrilled about his deep sea ancestors. Sure, he prefers to hang out on land as much as he does in the water. OK, he’s half-human, half not human… All of these were known knowns before the lights dim and AQUAMAN starts to unspool. Yet, Wan feels the need to spend the first ten minutes of his movie trawling over waters that have already been fished to within an millilitre of their storytelling potential.

The film tries to get back on track by getting Momoa’s AQUAMAN into action early on, but even this turns out to be a storytelling misstep.

Instead of using the post-opening title sequence as a means to get to the action in present day Atlantis, the film then drifts off into a subplot that introduces Black Manta (Yayha Abdul-Mateen II) in an all-too-obvious plot contrivance that smells as bad as a bag of rotting fish heads!

Like the aforementioned SPIDER-MAN movies, the introduction of Black Manta feels just like the introduction of Topher Grace’s Venom or Dane DeHaan’s Green Goblin. Those two villains are among SPIDER-MAN’s deadliest foes, yet, somehow, they are treated by those respective films as sub-plots, unworthy of their own movie in which they face off against Spidey. The introduction of Black Manta in AQUAMAN feels the same. Black Manta is AQUAMAN’s arch-nemesis, but here he’s used as a plot point to force the story into several set pieces that serve only to allow visual effects artists to demonstrate their talent!

When the action does shift to underwater settings, the film does improve, but only slightly.

With the exception of Momoa, everyone else seems to think they’re in some kind of offbeat Shakespearean production, where over-annunciation of dialogue is a prerequisite, delivering gravitas where none is required and - generally - making the whole thing a hell of a lot more downbeat than what it really needed to be…

Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren… James Wan has directed all of them in such a way that their performances lack energy and, in no way, exhibit any sense of fun or absurdity at the venture in which they find themselves.

Special mention goes to Patrick Wilson as King Orm, Arthur’s half-brother who plans to bring war to the land dwellers above. Wilson is an actor of limited range but, in the right role, he fits in just fine. He’s worked with Wan for a number of years on the CONJURING movies and has prior experience (with Zack Snyder) in a feature film adaptation of comic book material with THE WATCHMEN. In spite of this, Wilson is awful. He tries to go BIG in every scene, but he’s simply no match for Momoa, whose sheer physical presence makes him the centre of attention of every scene he’s in. Not that Momoa’s any great acting talent, but poor old Patrick Wilson just seems limp by comparison. Even when Orm is beating Arthur in a hand-to-hand combat sequence, Wilson is so unconvincing that his victory seems like yet another contrivance; a plot point lifted straight from the “Writer’s Guide to Generic Hollywood Comic Book Adaptations”...

To compound the problem of individual performances, Jason Momoa and Amber Heard have zero chemistry on screen…

Is Amber Heard the most boring actress on the planet?

If her scenes with Momoa are anything to go by, the answer is a resounding yes.

The only actor in the film who seems to understand what he’s doing is Momoa himself. Perhaps the two supporting turns as Arthur Curry/Aquaman helped him to hone the character’s persona. While he’s not quite up there with Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, Momoa knows how to wink at the audience without quite going through the fourth wall. In spite of his entertaining leading turn, the mismatch between Momoa and his co-stars only serves to exacerbate the film’s tonal problem.

Like most of the recent DC comic book adaptations, performance is not the only problem.

Visual effects overload is the order of the day for AQUAMAN.

Not only does the film feature a vast array of destruction effects, everything that happens underwater requires an accompanying water shimmer effect. It’s an unavoidable consequence of setting most of the film underwater and, let’s face it, the movie is called AQUAMAN, so it’s not unexpected, but it’s another distraction that detracts from the already waterlogged simulation on display from the supporting ensemble.

The only thing that will save AQUAMAN is Santa Claus…

Yes, AQUAMAN is fortunate that, with the exception of the far superior BUMBLEBEE, it will not be battling it out against over the December/January Holiday period against a Disney feature from either the Marvel or Lucasfilm stable. Fox have nothing on offer and most of of the other releases from distributors are either Awards season bait or genuine kids movies.

If the only thing on the menu is a greasy cheeseburger, then a greasy cheeseburger it is.

Unfortunately, if the greasy cheeseburger is popular (because it’s the only thing on offer), then, chances are, next time around, it’ll be greasy cheeseburgers again…

Warner Bros need to have a good long hard think about what a follow-up AQUAMAN movie looks like...

For starters, make it about half-an-hour shorter. At 143 minutes, AQUAMAN is way too long.

If James Wan returns to direct, Warner Bros management need to tell him to lighten the tone. The memo should say something like;

“Dear James,
AQUAMAN lives underwater. He wears orange and green spandex. He swims around with a Trident. He can communicate with every creature in the ocean. Try and have some fun with this...”

Have one villain.

Make the movie as a stand-alone story; thereby avoiding franchise building for the sake of franchise building.

Make sure the rest of the cast follow Momoa’s lead.

With any luck, Phil Lord and Chris Miller might be interested in writing the next one...