Aquaman Review
By Tristan Timpone
Aquaman is as visually pleasing and action packed as the trailers make it out to be, but the film ultimately seems directionless in this wide sea of superhero films. Aquaman is the 6th film in the Dc Cinematic universe, which started with 2013’s Man of Steel. While the DC Cinematic Universe has remained popular with fans, it has stumbled financially and critically. Man of Steel was cited by many to be overly depressing and dark for a Superman movie. These criticisms followed with the release of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which bombed financially and received poor reviews, with many criticizing its poor script, incoherent story, and lack of any relatable characters. However, many were hopeful in the direction with the Cinematic Universe, due to strong brand recognition and an interesting world design. Yet, this hope slowly faded as Suicide Squad was released to theaters in August of 2016. Suicide Squad shared many of the same problems that plagued Batman V. Superman, with poor story choices and disgusting cinematography. The film also had a rushed post production, with editing being run by a trailer house. This, in turn, made the film sloppy and hard to watch for many. Surprisingly, though Suicide Squad was a poor and unfinished mess, the movie out performed Batman V. Superman and Man of Steel in the box office, making it the studio’s most financially successful film. A year after the financial success of Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman was released, with a positive critical and financial response. Wonder Woman’s success was mostly due to DC’s trust in Patty Jenkins. This trust led to Jenkins making a tight and focused production. This director focused attitude bled over to the production of Aquaman, with James Wan given large amounts of freedom directing and writing the film. Did the film succeed like Wonder Woman or was it a total failure like Batman V. Superman?
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The film stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry, the son of a Atlanta, queen of Atlantis. Arthur Curry is given the ability to breathe underwater and to telepathically communicate to fish. He mostly uses these powers to take down pirates and fight sea creatures. However, when Arthur’s brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), invades the surface through a large flood, Arthur is thrusted on a journey with Orm’s fiance, Mera (Amber Heard), to find a magical trident that would unite the seven kingdoms against his mischievous brother. The film is not a mess, but is very messy, with scenes not connecting well together as a whole. Most scenes in the movies are either high speed action or a weighty melodramatic conversation. This makes the film bland and very boring in some spots. If there was more variety in scenarios of the scenes, the film would have benefited and could have been one of the best comic book films. Furthermore, the over reliance on special effects was noticeable, with most scenes looking bloated and unfinished in spots. The plot doesn't make a lot of sense, which could be forgivable if there were good characters, but there aren’t. The character of Aquaman feels formulated and predictable, with his character being too much like Thor from the Marvel films. Others characters such as Vulco and Black Manta feel like pointless and do not service the plot. Mera, however, was a stand-out from the cast of characters, with a interesting performance and strong performance from Amber Heard. Ultimately, Aquaman is a disappointment and could have been a very impressive film, but due to the poor script and incoherent plot, it stumbles.