Mark Reviews Movies: AQUAMAN

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 20, 2018

After being suddenly and unceremoniously introduced in Justice League, Aquaman gets his own adventure in a new, stand-alone entry in that other comic-book movie universe. At this point, one almost is required to refer to this collection of movies, based on the characters from the DC brand of comics, as "that other" series of superhero adventures.

It's not just that the other brand has many more installments with, by the way, a better track record. It's that this other batch of superhero stories hasn't figured out how to do right by its characters (save for Wonder Woman, of course, whose position at the highest tier of this universe of superheroes doesn't even come close to being threatened by this new-ish guy).

Some may recall that Aquaman was established in his first appearance in one of these movies as a devil-may-care adrenaline junkie, with a gruff attitude, a heavy drinking habit, and a tendency to dismiss any sentiment that would paint him as a hero. One has to remember that characterization from the previous adventure, if only because Aquaman mostly ignores establishing, let alone developing or evolving, its eponymous superhero in any meaningful way.

The screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall basically gives us a couple of the same character beats from the hero's previous, team-based adventure, just so we have a bit of a reminder. Then the movie mostly ignores the character in favor of a tediously mythology-heavy plotting, some water-based action sequences, and a lot of world-building. It turns out to be a sort of reverse origin story: We know as much about the character as we're going to know at the start, and by the end, we're left questioning if we actually know anything about him at all.

This is a kind of origin story yet again, in that we learn of the hero's parentage and see a little of the development of his powers. For those who don't know of this character's almost universally mocked abilities, he can swim preternaturally well and has the ability to communicate with sea life. The casting of Jason Momoa in the role of Aquaman, also known as Arthur Curry, was a pretty smart move. We might laugh at the conceit of a superhero whose primary power is the ability to talk to fish. There's little chance, though, that anyone would even think of raising an eyebrow about such a weird superpower when looking at Momoa's hulking frame.

After a prologue—introducing the hero as the son of a lighthouse keeper (played by Temuera Morrison) and Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), who has removed herself from the underwater kingdom of Atlantis—we see Arthur save a submarine from a group of pirates. After that, the story has him being summoned to Atlantis by Mera (Amber Heard), who fears that Arthur's half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), the new king of the underwater realm, is preparing for war with the surface realm. Arthur grudgingly confronts his brother, and after losing in combat to him, our hero has to find an ancient trident that's the key to defeating Orm and bringing peace between Atlantis and the surface.

It's more or less something along those lines. The screenplay is so chock-full of exposition that something along the lines of a simple plot is lost to political bickering, war planning, discussions of the rules and details of this underwater world, and lessons in ancient history (For the curious, the Atlanteans survived after the sinking of their city by pure, dumb luck). The story becomes a sort-of globetrotting adventure, with Arthur and Mera searching for the trident in the Sahara and Sicily, while trying to evade Atlantean guards packing high-powered squirt guns (seriously) and a super-suited Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), one of the pirates from the sub, now seeking revenge against Arthur.

The story is monotonously routine, and so, too, is the world of Atlantis and other parts of the sea. It's a busy place, that's for sure, with heavy traffic swimming through the tall towers of the city and an assortment of creatures that look about as convincing as the movie's dry-for-wet effects—which is to say that they don't. Since this is the superhero who can talk to fish, there is some silliness afoot, from a squid pounding on drums to a race of talking crustaceans, but director James Wan takes the strange route of playing everything with a straight face.

It would be much easier to forgive and maybe even embrace the routine and the unaware wackiness of Aquaman if the hero himself had any distinct personality. Like the movie's story and its sense of humor, that vital element of the character never comes through.

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