Enough time has passed. The dust has settled. We can call it. Justice League was an embarrassment, plain and simple. It’s not without some enjoyable moments but it only managed to pull $229-million at the domestic box office, $93 of which came on the opening weekend, and 65% of its lifetime gross came from foreign markets. Now, nearly a quarter billion dollars domestically is still a great deal of money but let’s put things in perspective. Suicide Squad (universally panned by critics and fans alike) pulled in $325-million in the US box office with a $133-million opening weekend and made it to almost $750-million worldwide. By their own measure, Warner Bros’ and the DC Extended Universe’s answer to the Avengers was a massive flop. In order to capitalize on what remained of the momentum generated by Wonder Woman, they were in desperate need of a hit. Aquaman is not a great film, it’s not even a good film on numerous occasions, but it certainly is a lot of fun and that sure goes a long way.
Let’s start with this: Jason Momoa is a good Aquaman. Making sure the reigns to Arthur Curry made it into the right hands was of the utmost importance and at least that got done. Casting Gal Gadot ensured that the character of Wonder Woman took precedent and she was able to carry her movie, even with an exceedingly weak ending. The script for the King of Atlantis isn’t particularly strong but some moments play well. Director James Wan and Producer Geoff Johns wrote the story with Will Beall who also penned the screenplay with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick…that’s a mouthful. The character writing struggled mainly because they felt the need to include a lot of one-liners and punch lines into the dialogue. Mamoa has a natural charisma and sense of humor that work well with the character without any need for dumb quips like “Permission to come aboard?” when he boards a submarine early in the film. This isn’t a Schwarzenegger movie from the 80s and that shouldn’t be what DC is going for here. Having humor is fine and some of it works, but zingers and punchlines aren’t the way to go. Let the situational humor do the work and give the reigns to the star of the film.
The biggest weakness for this movie wasn’t one that I anticipated but it’s a big one. Fans of the comics and the associated characters are probably happy to see Black Manta play a large role, considering he is Aquaman’s archenemy. We get to see his origin story but, unfortunately, his character introduction and development are woefully inadequate (without knowing the comic well enough, this isn’t a comparison…it’s merely an observation). We first meet Manta when he’s just a deep sea pirate, murdering sailors in cold blood, hijacking a military submarine for no apparent reason (although that gets resolved later). He then has a heart-to-heart with his dad (also a pirate) and gets his grandpa’s (maybe a pirate) knife and earns his nickname…there’s a complete tonal mismatch. It’s difficult to tell what the audience is supposed to be feeling but sympathy shouldn’t be on the radar.
Anyway, ***SPOILER ALERT*** Aquaman shows up to save the day and whips his ass, leaving Manta and his father to escape the flooding submarine on their own power. Needless to say, that doesn’t work out well for Manta’s dad and thus Black Manta is set on a path to avenge his father’s death. First off, he’s a damn pirate… the danger is inherent in the job. Secondly, we just watched him impale a guy for no real reason and he’s pissed that Aquaman didn’t rescue his dad? Seriously? As a result, Manta isn’t a character to cheer for or against…he’s just kind of there. Furthermore, later in the film, we see him get his hands on Atlantean tech and battle armor which he proceeds to disassemble and repurpose for his own designs. To the best of my understanding, Manta is a skilled mechanical engineer but that is never established in the movie prior to that moment. The first time Manta engineers anything is when he takes apart some incredibly complex, essentially alien, technology and reengineers it to suit his aesthetic…which is also pointless. The Atlantean gear worked just fine the way it was, there was no need to change it aside from creating his signature look. This was an obvious case of the writers knowing the final character they wanted and trying to work their way back rather than building Manta from the ground up with the person, David Hyde, as the foundation. Ultimately, I felt bad for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II because he so clearly cares about the legacy and responsibility to both the character and the fans but the writers gave him nothing to work with besides a petulant attitude and some badass plasma beams.
With Wan directing, it’s no surprise that Patrick Wilson wasn’t far behind. Honestly, based on the trailers, I feared he was going to stink it up but he was actually one of the better parts of the film. His King Orm was just right. He isn’t too over-the-top or too subdued. It’s a well-balanced performance that helped this story quite a bit. As the King of Atlantis, Orm is tired of living in hiding and sick of the surface world treating the Oceans like a garbage heap. He wants his people to defend themselves and to take back their place in the world. Unfortunately, his methods require a great deal of death and that doesn’t sit too well with Aquaman or a handful of Atlanteans who want to avoid war. Wilson did a really nice job and I hope to see more of Orm down the line. If not, Wilson is sure to be found in the upcoming installments in the Conjure-Verse.
Overall the cast was pretty exceptional, even if the performances weren’t. Amber Heard was pretty solid as Mera, the love interest of Arthur and daughter of one of the Atlantean Kings. Nicole Kidman was good in a limited capacity as Atlanna, the aptly named former Queen of Atlantis. Willem Dafoe lent his unique stylings to the role of Vulko, one of the Queen’s advisors who secretly trains Arthur is her absence. It was nice to see Dolph Lundgren do something without Sylvester Stallone attached and he was a good fit as King Nereus, Mera’s father. It would be nice to see him take on an expanded role in the future. While she doesn’t appear in the new Mary Poppins Returns, Julie Andrews does make a strange cameo voicing a mythical sea creature. You certainly can’t fault Anne McCarthy and Kellie Roy for putting together a stellar group of A-listers.
As visually stunning as Atlantis and the entire underwater world are, the surface world looks incredibly phony because it was mostly shot on a soundstage. The lighting is completely blown out and looks fake. Combine that with the obvious digital un-aging done to the face of Kidman and Temuera Morrison, who plays Arthur’s father, and you have an unsettling “real-world” experience…especially in 3D. Atlantis looked far more real and believable by comparison, which stripped the baseline foundation for Arthur’s human story. Ultimately, he is Aquaman so most of his adventures will take place in the ocean and that looked pretty damn good.
So it appears, DC may finally be on the right track at a time where they’ve apparently lost their Batman (and maybe even their Superman). It’s a good start for the rebuilding of the DCEU but there was no mention of the Justice League itself or any of its members, barely even a mention of the events that transpired during that movie. With the end of the world possibly about to happen, you’d think Aquaman might enlist the help of at least one of his very powerful new friends. This movie needed to stand on its own and it did that fine but for a franchise trying to build continuity within its own universe, this was a missed opportunity. While this was a major win for Warner Bros, Aquaman wasn’t the best superhero movie of the Holiday season.
Recommendation: Obviously, diehard DC and Aquaman fans have to see this and, for what it’s worth, they shouldn’t be overly disappointed. It’s fun and family-friendly enough to justify the experience. 3D might be the way to go, but watch out for those digitally manipulated faces.