Face-Off: Aquaman vs. Shazam!

Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Amber Heard as Mera
Patrick Wilson as Orm/Ocean Master
Nicole Kidman as Atlanna
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane/Black Manta
Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry
Willem Dafoe as Vulko
Dolph Lundgren as Nereus
Ludi Lin as Murk
with Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin
and Djimon Hounsou as Fisherman King Ricou

I can think of few directors who have covered the same expanse of success the same way James Wan has (Spielberg comes to mind, for one). Starting out with low-budget horror movies like SAW, the man has put in his time, worked his way up with impressive horror outings like THE CONJURING and INSIDIOUS, and then made a seamless leap into big-budget affair like FURIOUS 7, then getting an even bigger shot with AQUAMAN. What makes his work so impressive here is that while he has hardly had the chance to play with as many tools, he operates like a filmmaker who has been around this block dozens of times, knowing exactly how a movie with this level of absurdity and spectacle needs to be framed and presented so we get the full blast of, well, everything. In another director's hands this movie could've looked clunky, cluttered and all-around unappealing, but he delivers numerous sequences and shots that look ripped straight from a comic book splash panel, whether it's Arthur leaping on top of a submarine with the sunset in the background, or him and Mera diving beneath the surface, the Trench creatures gathering in mass on their tail in a continuous shot. So much of how he presents the world of Atlantis and the creatures and characters within are breathtaking, enough to make you ignore the faults with the script and character work. He sweeps you into this world, and during what could be basic fight scenes on land he dials up to 11 for a colorful, exhilarating whirlwind of blockbuster madness, which involves framing his actors in a way that makes them look as impressive as the rest of the incredible effects. I get the sense he approached this movie the same way Taika Waititi did THOR: RAGNAROK: This movie involves god-like beings, alien worlds, and talking creatures, so why hold back? It may not be my favorite movie of his, but here is where Wan, perhaps more than on any other project, shows his vision and ingenuity as a director, who has now proven he can tackle low-key horror just as well as bonkers action with sea-people.

Picking up right after JUSTICE LEAGUE left off, AQUAMAN centers on Arthur Curry as he begins to accept his place as both an Atlantean and a human, having to face his past and fight off his half-brother in order to save the surface world. That story from Geoff Johns, Wan and writer Will Beall is straight-forward enough and a solid intro to the character LEAGUE could not provide, but the actual script from Beall and writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick seemingly spends about 20 minutes tackling the strongest elements of the story, and the other 2 hours going through an ocean of exposition and world-building, to the point where the sheer amount of it as bold and brazen as the visual effects. The movie is filled with colorful characters, but so many of them, like Mera, Vulko, and Atlanna spend almost all of their time simply laying out the history of the world and the dangers presented by King Orm that they have no room to shine as their own characters. While Arthur is completely out of his depth, having no clue what this other homeworld of his is all about, these characters drag him from area to area only to explain to him histories and functions of whatever he's around. You know it gets bad when several minutes (and likely millions of dollars in effects shots) are spent explaining the function of the bridge into Atlantis (even the customs department!) for what reason I still don't know. So that during an action scene we know that the big canons on top are dangerous? The endless exposition aside, a lot of which is interrupted by explosions that get things going again, there's just not a lot under the surface of this movie that explores the characters as well as it does the world, which though I get is necessary for a movie like this, it can't help but rob the movie of something more engaging on a character level. The bright side? With all this out of the way, the next movie can actually get into the meat of the characters and not worry about the diplomacy of water bridges.

Bits: 

Finding Love

Atlanna Fights Back

Aquaman Comes Aboard

Orm's Council Attacked

Wave Attack

Arriving in Atlantis

Atlantis' History

Aquaman v. Water Soldiers

Octopus Drums!

Orm v. Aquaman

Chase Through Atlantis

Airplane Jump

Manta Montage!

Fisherman King

Aquaman and Mera's Day Out

Aquaman v. Manta/Mera v. Soliders

Trench

Aquaman and the Karathen

Aquaman's New Look

Underwater Battle!

Aquaman v. Orm 2

Reunited

Lines:

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

—–

Aquaman: “Permission to come aboard?”

—–

Mera: “We need water. You're the closest source.”
[uses the water on device]
Aquaman: “Show-off. I could've just peed on it.”

—–

Aquaman: “My father was a lighthouse keeper. My mother was a queen. They were never meant to meet. But their love saved the world. They made me what I am: a son of the land, a king of the seas. I am the protector of the deep. I am… Aquaman.”

—–

Cargo: “She jumped! She didn't have a parachute!”
Aquaman: “Redheads! You gotta love 'em.”

—–

Aquaman: “Call it whatever you want. I call it an ass-whuppin'.”

—–

Mera: “The plan WAS to get the Trident first, then challenge Orm for the throne!”
Aquaman: “So we did things out of order, shit happens!”

—–

Aquaman: “Well, what could be greater than a king?”
Atlanna: “A hero.”

—–

Manta: “I plunder the seas, and you're the Aquaman. We were bound to meet at some point!”
Aquaman: “Let's not make it a habit.”

—–

Mera: “You do your best thinking when you're not thinking at all.”
Aquaman: “That makes no sense.”

—–

Introduced in JUSTICE LEAGUE, audiences got to see the cool, laid back, biker dude version of Aquaman that's wildly different from the clean-cut version who suffered mockery and ridicule for decades. In a total reinvention, Momoa was the perfect man to bring the grungy, bearded, somewhat aggressive and probably smelly hero to the screen. The star seems right at home in the role, stealing the scenes with his roguish glances at the camera, his wild intensity in the action and his cool sense of humor. Even dealing with a cluttered script the character does have an arc to pinpoint, refusing to accept the mantle as king and hating the world of Atlantis after he thought they killed his mother. Where I leave the movie with a sense of wanting is that several key aspects of his development — mainly him growing to love both Mera and the world of Atlantis — feel unearned as the story drags him from set piece to set piece. He gets taken somewhere, gets explained how everything works, he reacts to the action, and then often gets told by Mera how to put feelings into context. All of the big developments don't seem hinged on his own choices and coming to terms with who he is and who he needs to become. One good scene that alleviates this is the scene between him and the Karathan, and I feel that succeeds because he's on his own, and he finally gets to speak his heart and mind. What I'm getting at is that so much of the movie has him paired up with someone and reacting to big action that it never leaves time for him to discover things on his own and make his developments seem natural to him, robbing both Momoa and the character of some chances to grow in meaningful, resounding ways. Still, Momoa is a star and when he gets to let loose he's a powerful force on screen.

Praise:

Rotten Tomatoes: 65% (75% Audience)
IMDb: 7.1
Metacritic: 55 (7.0 Audience)

Money:

$335 million domestic ($1.147 billion global)

Villains can be a tricky aspect of the superhero movie to nail. Every time you have someone like Zod, brought to life by a committed Michael Shannon, you get a Steppenwolf, brought to life by visual effects artists who clearly ran out of money. In the case of AQUAMAN, we get Orm, the slick-haired, ultra-serious King of Atlantis who wants to wage war with the surface world for polluting the ocean. Between his understandable motivations and Wilson getting to chew some scenery while wearing a very comic book-accurate costume, Orm is perhaps one of the strongest villains in the DC movie canon. He's very steadfast in this movie, which may clash with some people who may have wanted him to cut loose now and again, but that approach works here. He's a man jaded by the lingering shadow of his brother, has a plan that actually makes a bit of sense, and can be ruthless when pushed. Better yet, they didn't kill him at the end, which means for any sequel we could see him start to loosen up a bit as he grows madder and madder, meaning this could be AQUAMAN's answer to Loki going forward.

Much like the movie itself, the score from Rupert Gregson-Williams is the exact opposite of subtle, operating mostly at 11 with big booming orchestrations to emphasize the movie's abundance of, well, everything. Emotional moments are met with sweeping, romantic pieces, as are the rip-roaring action scenes and moments of inspiration and awe. The score takes advantage of a current theme in modern movie music of combining old school orchestrations with digital, synth sounds, and Gregson-Williams weaves them together to mostly epic, bombastic effect. Like MAN OF STEEL and WONDER WOMAN, the movie music does a solid job giving Aquaman his own sound, and even a distinct theme or two, like that undeniably badass guitar riff that comes with Aquaman giving a bad guy a “guess what's about to happen to you” look. Beyond that, there's a noticeable, recurring theme throughout the bigger moments where Gregson-Williams throws in a synth, wind-up cue that meshes with high points with certain tracks and moments like “Swimming Lessons” when Arthur discovers his powers as a kid, and “Suited and Booted” when he emerges in his new duds. It's a loud, energetic score, which is very appropriate for a movie that is so…much. *Side note* There's even a dope horror track for the Trench realm from James Wan mainstay, Joseph Bishara. 

Okay, this section is pretty cut and dry. Out of all the superhero films on the market, some small and some blown to wildly epic proportions, AQUAMAN manages to stand out from the pack with some gobsmacking visual effects that get to fill the screen and take on bold life thanks to Wan's vision. The entire visual effects team and the art department are absolute geniuses and made this one of the most visually arresting comic book movies of all time, from the city of Atlantis to the Trench showdown and all the way to that absurd underwater battle with sea dragons, sharks with lasers attached to their heads and f**king crab people! This movie was brought to life by a whole team of people who wanted to deliver a mind-blowing experience, and on numerous occasions, they succeeded marvelously, even if it's just a small moment like an octopus playing the drums. The action is its own beast too, Wan favoring long takes that often use a 360-degree style to let the characters move around their environment in wild ways. There's no one action scene that moves and looks like the other, and the same goes when you compare it to other movies in the genre. Okay, okay, I'll admit…those character de-aging effects aren't…great.

AQUAMAN starts out with the lovely recounting of Thomas Curry and Atlanna's romance, which led to Arthur's birth, as is expected to happen in those situations. From there on out there's not a lot of room for tenderness among the chaos, with the relationship between Mera and Aquaman feeling a little obligatory and not as earned as it should be. Then, again, at the end when Thomas and Atlanna are reunited it's undeniably sweet. As for the humor department, Momoa gets to flex a different kind of muscle and throw out some one-liners and get all quipy. He's a funny man, but so many of the other characters are far too serious to have time for joke-making. But for those who prefer the more serious DC movies, I guess this movie strikes that right balance of humor from the leading man and everyone else taking the mayhem very, very seriously.