Aquaman (2018)- An enjoyable superhero experience
Aquaman starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman and Willem Dafoe in addition to another actor whose presence shocked me, is the sixth movie of the DCEU.
The movie which “introduces” us to the character Aquaman and his origins, commences with mesmerising quotes about the sea, that shot from the trailer of the lighthouse in the crystal ball (that’s all I saw of the trailer, before I would shut my eyes and put in my earphones for 5 minutes so as to not have a single bit of the movie spoilt for me. You can’t blame me after Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice) and then follows the journey of Aurthur Curry, a half-born Atlantean human who reluctantly journeys to find the Trident and challenge his half brother to become the ruler of Atlantis and unite the two worlds.
I am unsure whether I got the order correctly… But that’s about it. No, I’m not talking about the plot of multiple Hindi movies or Harry Potter or Thor. This is Aquaman.
The character of Aquaman is shown on screen in a manner that may sway the hard-core comic fans’ attitudes to the character.
He was seen as the brawny guy with dashes of humor in his previous 2 outings in this character. This film sees him display normal human emotions which convinces audiences about his half-human side and what makes him different from his half brother Orm(Patrick Wilson).
A positive for the Aquaman movie is that it has short and crisp fight scenes unlike Superman vs Zod in Man of Steel where the city of Metropolis is completely annihilated and Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman vs Doomsday in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice which sees large scale destruction.
The short and crisp fight scenes work as the underwater battle scenes leave the audiences attempting to mostly unsuccessfully figure out who is who.
A sincere thanks to the DCEU for refraining from completely decimating the coastal village of Sicily in their only above land fight.
The film has an abundance of fabulous visuals in scenes both above and below the ocean, which will stay with you for long after you have exited the cinema hall.
Atlantis is introduced to viewers with a sudden blast of neon colors reminiscent of the Tree of Souls from Avatar’s Pandora, or more closer to real life, Singapore’s magnificent Gardens by the Bay. The brilliant blue and the purple throw light into the ocean around it which made me absolutely love the scenes.
The neon hydro cannons and water pulse blasts illuminate the darkness of the depths of the ocean to paint a wonderful picture of the kiss scene on the screen. The film is filled with visually stunning moments in abundance both above and below the sea.
The ocean does seem a tad too dark to view the characters in and sows a seed in the minds of the audience that this is something to tweet about against the DCEU. Mercifully, that seed of an idea for criticism is answered in the movie itself by Willem Dafoe’s Vulko which assists the viewer in comprehending the reason and accepting why the amount of light used is perfect.
The magnificence of the costumes is lowered by the dark watery background. When they can be seen clearly is when the action in the film occurs above sea level and those are the times one can appreciate the magnificence and properly fitting costumes. An argument provided here is that James wan should have added more color to the costumes. The criticisms then would’ve been that the Atlanteans and inhabitants of the Seven seas were a bunch of sparkling individuals prancing around against a dark aqua background.
The usage of common childhood riddles in the movie as the creation of underwater transport for beings that can propel themselves through water at super speeds is very amusing.
The traditionally dark DC comics universe has been forced to take a page out of Marvel’s book and engage in unnecessary humor in this film. There is humor in this film but don’t fret, it’s much better than Ezra Miller’s “Bat Cave” and “Dostoyevsky” from Justice League. But still humour in a superhero film is something that is just out of place for me.
Based on Aquaman’s physique and how such characters are portrayed in cinema moviegoers flock cinema halls expecting an abundance of action sequences.
These action scenes in this film draw inspiration or if not they prompt movie buffs to recall similar scenes witnessed in other movies. I recognized scenes such as the Leap of faith from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and battle scenes from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy that have been recreated or been used as inspiration. Game of Thrones’ sept of baelor is something else I was reminded of from one fight scene. Of course, we do get that kiss scene (thank you Central Board of Film Certification for cleaning the film without cutting that scene) during a fight where the action is slowed down and all missiles seem to miss the protagonists. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2?
The film ‘Aquaman’ connects with contemporary issues and gives audiences a couple of timely environmental messages.
Inclusivity and acceptance of others as they are, are big words being thrown around this film industry and Aquaman represents how two different worlds can be one or live together.
The character ‘Aquaman’ was introduced a few movies back and now we get a movie about the origin. The other way round would have been much better. Perhaps with a post-credits scene having Batman approach Aquaman with a proposition? Too much of a Marvel Copy? Well, the post-credits scene is a thing now. But, it’s good to see DC base it on characters solely from this film rather than rush to connect it to other events and other members of the Justice League. An enjoyable movie for film buffs and due to DC refraining from connecting this film to events of other characters in its shared universe a casual movie watcher can enter the cinema and watch it without feeling lost.
We have Julie Andrews in the film. Did you know that you didn’t read the cast prior to entering the cinema? I didn’t.
Having watched this film in India it is obvious that the Central Board of Film Certification will order censor cuts. The censor work was shoddy and quite amusing.
Based on the subtitling the word “Buster” was muted out and the lip movement seemed to indicate that the antagonist was uttering the word “Bastard”. Buster is Bastard, eh. Slow clap. Illegitimate son sees the word illegitimate muted out, but they leave it on the screen in the subtitles (which are of course enhanced by the 3D) Ah yes. Reading the word won’t have as much effect in horrifying the audiences as much as it would’ve had it been uttered. “Son of a gun” muted out once more? But we read this as well. I counted seven instances where the words are muted. Maybe the people who order outings should go out and observe the ones for whom the censor the films. Y’all aren’t protecting them from anything.
Originally published at http://theperspectivesofanintrovert.blogspot.com.
