Audiences everywhere are living in a golden age for
superhero and comic book entertainment, largely due to two companies. However,
while one company has seemingly taken over the world by turning their less
popular characters into billion dollar franchises, the other struggles to
successfully translate their icons into entertaining films. And even though
Marvel continues to succeed time in and time out, Aquaman feels as
though DC may have finally turned the corner.
Once home to the most advanced civilization on Earth, the
city of Atlantis is now an underwater kingdom ruled by the power-hungry King
Orm (Patrick Wilson). With a vast army at his disposal, Orm plans to conquer
the remaining oceanic people -- and then the surface world. Standing in his way
is Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Orm’s half-human, half-Atlantean brother and true
heir to the throne. With help from royal counselor Vulko (Willem Dafoe),
Aquaman must retrieve the legendary Trident of Atlan and embrace his destiny as
protector of the deep.
The story for Aquaman does the character absolutely
no favors in the reputation department. Bloated and nonsensical at times, the
plot for the film aims for an epic liken to some of the other big comic book
films of the past ten years, but ultimately falls short of its larger
aspirations. Fortunately, the overtly and deliberately cheesy tone marks it as
a film that knows exactly what it is at its core, even if that’s a fairly
unoriginal effort, at least where the script is concerned.
Where Aquaman is salvaged, and even excellent in
moments, is within the more technical elements. The filmmakers visual
imagination has clearly run wild in building the world of Atlantis and its
various kingdoms from the ground up. Yet it doesn’t end there, as the third act
finale features some of the strangest visuals seen on the silver screen in a
while.
Where else can you go to see Atlanteans riding sharks with
lasers attached to their (freaking) heads? Or Patrick Wilson storming into
battle on the back of a large prehistoric sea creature? It’s completely insane,
and does nothing but benefit the pure fun that can be had with the film.
Without a cast as good as this, none of the technical
elements would even be a factor to the films quality. An argument could be made
that Momoa’s charisma and inherent look of heroism and strength draws the
audience in, and though his performance is good, the supporting pieces are far
more vital to selling the film.
For one, Patrick Wilson as Orm is fascinating. His desire
for power and blood is nothing new for a comic book villain, but Wilson is
given so much dialogue to chew on, with some lines cornier than others, and he
is clearly enjoying every moment of it. Amber Heard as Mera and Willem Dafoe as
Vulko both give fairly good performances and both play their part in shaping
the hero’s journey, even if they aren’t given too much outside of pushing
Arthur Curry in the right direction.
Aquaman is not without issues, most of which can be
traced to the lackluster script, but the sum of its parts results in a win for
Warner Brothers and DC overall. Aquaman functions as a solid
foundation for a franchise with endless potential, much in the same way
that Thor did back in 2011 for rival company Marvel, with
plenty of mythology to explore and fun characters to revisit. If this was the
introduction of Aquaman and his world to the general audience, there is no
guessing how truly wild and weird the filmmakers can go from here.
No comments :
Post a Comment