Seasick
Since one can hear the denizens of underwater kingdoms in Aquaman quite clearly, as if they're actors speaking in a recording studio, I felt a step removed from the elemental medium they're supposed to inhabit. I wanted an audio effect on their voices, not some glug-glug sound, but a squelching effect, perhaps, something that would squeeze their tonalities at least a bit, making them sound strange, like one would expect Atlanteans, giant crab men, mermen, to sound like.
On the visual side, this film, based on the DC Comics character, is like an acid trip for the eyes. The underwater scenes teem with activity, life, huge cities, fantastic vehicles, aquamen riding sharks, killer whales, riding in vehicles shaped like sea creatures. I got the impression that even barnacles in this world have their own servants.
The physically fit Jason Momoa, who once played Conan of Cimmeria, reprises his role first seen in Justice League, in which he shared screen time with Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. Covered in Polynesian-type tattoos, Arthur--Aquaman--is, like Dwayne Johnson, a monster of a man who looks, even in real life, like he could pick up a Dodge Ram and throw it a hundred yards. He's a so-so actor, limited, but that probably has to do with his physique and the roles he's garnered from it. Another past bodybuilder-type actor, Dolph Lundgren, plays a supporting role as an underwater King and father of the red-haired Mera, played by the stunning and spunky Amber Heard, who offered a lot of fun for me in terms of eye candy. Mera also gives the story some needed lightness at times. When she's like a fish out of water, moving through the world of land-people, she has no idea about cultural concepts. A flower seller in Sicily gives her some roses, because, I guess, she's so fucking beautiful, and then she eats one.
I didn't like the film's tendency to mirror other comic book-based movies. In this, it offered familiar tropes, like the lost mother/wife as in Ant Man and the Wasp, reviewed earlier in this blog. There's the super-battle climactic scene trope, as in every comic book-based movie of the last two decades. Aquaman's chief underwater adversary, the Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson), is also his half-brother, like with Thor and Loki in the Thor and Avengers films. The duel in a massive arena between Aquaman and his brother reminded me of a duel in the third Thor film between the Hulk and Thor. Swarms of menacing sea creatures chasing Aquaman and Mera reminded me of shots in The Matrix Revolutions.
Like Momoa's chest, so much in Aquaman is on a massive level. So much presence of Atlantean and other intelligent life under the ocean's surface is going on, it's hard to accept that humanity hasn't figured out they have wet civilized neighbors, or that satellites haven't spotted Atlantis glowing brightly. The ocean world depicted doesn't bear close analysis.
The enormity of computer generated movement at times overwhelmed my eyes. Some shots were difficult to look at. I never felt queasy, but I imagined some viewers hypersensitive to motion might find parts of the film unnerving. When the film would take a few minutes for a short scene with two characters talking I felt relieved, as if a rock in the sea had appeared for me to sit on and recover my breathing, until I'd get crushed again by the next wave of CGI.
For all these aesthetic concerns, which are all mine and reflect my particular experience of the film, it's an entertaining movie, except for the sometimes flat dialogue and its use of familiar tropes, making parts of it tiresomely predictable. When Amber Heard was onscreen, everything was fine by me. Some films are candy bars, other films are nourishing meals. Aquaman is a soda that tastes pretty good but after a while I wanted some fresh water in the form of originality and something alive and deep beneath the hyper-abundance of surface details.
Still, I don't deny that this film will appeal to a lot of people. I don't think they're misguided or wrong for enjoying it; after all, I kind of liked it, which is nonetheless not an endorsement. Still, if there's an Aquaman 2 will I go see it? Sure, why not? Especially if it has an Amber Heard skinny dipping scene.
Vic Neptune
Since one can hear the denizens of underwater kingdoms in Aquaman quite clearly, as if they're actors speaking in a recording studio, I felt a step removed from the elemental medium they're supposed to inhabit. I wanted an audio effect on their voices, not some glug-glug sound, but a squelching effect, perhaps, something that would squeeze their tonalities at least a bit, making them sound strange, like one would expect Atlanteans, giant crab men, mermen, to sound like.
On the visual side, this film, based on the DC Comics character, is like an acid trip for the eyes. The underwater scenes teem with activity, life, huge cities, fantastic vehicles, aquamen riding sharks, killer whales, riding in vehicles shaped like sea creatures. I got the impression that even barnacles in this world have their own servants.
The physically fit Jason Momoa, who once played Conan of Cimmeria, reprises his role first seen in Justice League, in which he shared screen time with Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. Covered in Polynesian-type tattoos, Arthur--Aquaman--is, like Dwayne Johnson, a monster of a man who looks, even in real life, like he could pick up a Dodge Ram and throw it a hundred yards. He's a so-so actor, limited, but that probably has to do with his physique and the roles he's garnered from it. Another past bodybuilder-type actor, Dolph Lundgren, plays a supporting role as an underwater King and father of the red-haired Mera, played by the stunning and spunky Amber Heard, who offered a lot of fun for me in terms of eye candy. Mera also gives the story some needed lightness at times. When she's like a fish out of water, moving through the world of land-people, she has no idea about cultural concepts. A flower seller in Sicily gives her some roses, because, I guess, she's so fucking beautiful, and then she eats one.
I didn't like the film's tendency to mirror other comic book-based movies. In this, it offered familiar tropes, like the lost mother/wife as in Ant Man and the Wasp, reviewed earlier in this blog. There's the super-battle climactic scene trope, as in every comic book-based movie of the last two decades. Aquaman's chief underwater adversary, the Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson), is also his half-brother, like with Thor and Loki in the Thor and Avengers films. The duel in a massive arena between Aquaman and his brother reminded me of a duel in the third Thor film between the Hulk and Thor. Swarms of menacing sea creatures chasing Aquaman and Mera reminded me of shots in The Matrix Revolutions.
Like Momoa's chest, so much in Aquaman is on a massive level. So much presence of Atlantean and other intelligent life under the ocean's surface is going on, it's hard to accept that humanity hasn't figured out they have wet civilized neighbors, or that satellites haven't spotted Atlantis glowing brightly. The ocean world depicted doesn't bear close analysis.
The enormity of computer generated movement at times overwhelmed my eyes. Some shots were difficult to look at. I never felt queasy, but I imagined some viewers hypersensitive to motion might find parts of the film unnerving. When the film would take a few minutes for a short scene with two characters talking I felt relieved, as if a rock in the sea had appeared for me to sit on and recover my breathing, until I'd get crushed again by the next wave of CGI.
For all these aesthetic concerns, which are all mine and reflect my particular experience of the film, it's an entertaining movie, except for the sometimes flat dialogue and its use of familiar tropes, making parts of it tiresomely predictable. When Amber Heard was onscreen, everything was fine by me. Some films are candy bars, other films are nourishing meals. Aquaman is a soda that tastes pretty good but after a while I wanted some fresh water in the form of originality and something alive and deep beneath the hyper-abundance of surface details.
Still, I don't deny that this film will appeal to a lot of people. I don't think they're misguided or wrong for enjoying it; after all, I kind of liked it, which is nonetheless not an endorsement. Still, if there's an Aquaman 2 will I go see it? Sure, why not? Especially if it has an Amber Heard skinny dipping scene.
Vic Neptune
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