I so wanted ‘Aquaman’ to be great. It was getting so much hype as the savior of the DC extend universe that I should have known it would never live up to the hype. DC is smacking of desperation with putting so much pressure on each new offering to repeat the success they had with Wonder Woman. In fairness, films like Batman vs Superman and Justice League have made money, but they aren’t capturing the hearts and minds of fans the way Marvel movies have. It shows there is a built in audience thirsting for these films to be good, but once again, studio heads trying to replicate and copy the Marvel business model have no idea what connects super heroes to fans. You can see them trying hard by throwing explosions, and great battle scenes, and humor, and over proportioned heroes, but what they lack is the character depth and humanity that Marvel captures in each one of its’ characters. Marvel puts story first, then builds all the fun around it. People who don’t connect with the super hero world don’t realize that and just focus on the superficial. It’s not about the costume or the powers, it’s about the people. Bless ‘Aquaman’ for trying hard…really, really hard, but this film fails to find its’ heart and tone and just comes out as a mish-mash of hurried scenes and story lines that some producer thinks the audience wants to see.
The lack of respect for the character of Aquaman has been so much of a running joke among comic fans that it has almost become a cultural phenomenon. Despite his strength and ability to communicate with aquatic life, he has largely been viewed as the most useless member of the Justice League. Writers have taken on the challenge in the comic world to take on reboot after reboot to somehow gain the character some respect but, despite some valiant attempts, have failed to give the poor King of Atlantis the stature he deserves (or rather was created to have). The Studio Execs at Warner decided to totally shake things up by casting the currently popular and ruggedly handsome Jason Momoa in the title role. While I respect taking chances, the biker cool-dude shagginess of Momoa is a complete miscasting of what is supposed to be a more regal and dignified role. The film also struggled to find a consistent tone. One moment it tries to be operatic and then silly and goofy the next. Jokes are randomly thrown in that fall flat (because Marvel has jokes in their movies) and elements are taken from other successful movies that also seemed haphazard. Everything from Star Wars to Avatar to, most blatantly, Thor were all exploited if not out right copied. And most painful of all was the leaden chemistry between lead Jason Momoa and leading lady Amber Heard. I don’t know what their screen test looked like, but I wish someone would have caught their complete lack of interplay before offering the roles.
The key elements of the hero torn between land and sea are there. In fact, the story of his mother (a surprising casting of Nicole Kidman) the exiled Queen of Atlantis and his father, the lighthouse keeper who rescued her was probably one of the highlights of the film. The improbable romance that somehow produced a super powered off-spring had heart. Much like Iron man was tailored to Robert Downy Jr’s personality, so was Aquaman adjusted to fit Jason Momoa’s. The problem was it didn’t fit. The immediate onslaught of CGI battle scenes, wondrous underwater cityscapes, and convoluted family drama came at the sacrifice of creating a fully developed character.
I will say that any film that puts Dolph Lundgren and Willem Dafoe in the same movie together has my attention, but their underwater acting seemed awkward at best. Patrick Wilson tried to recreate Tom Hiddleston’s evil brother act as Aquaman’s evil half-brother Ocean Master. He failed to match Loki’s multi-nuanced silver tongue performance and just came across as an effeminate hand wringing villain. And then there’s Aquaman’s love interest, Mira (played with the aforementioned wooden intensity by Amber Heard). How the main romance can go unexplained and undeveloped is unfathomable to me. They were either exchanging quip filled bickering or staring doe eyed into each other’s eyes depending on the scene with no real explanation of transitions. Despite the sporadic story telling there were zero surprises with most scenes being cliches. Training montages, grudge matches, the ‘only person who can take on the monster’ scenes. How many times can we see a ‘There can be only one’ scene and remain engaged?
My final complaint is that they way over powered Aquaman. Bullet proof and able to lift submarines? He’s not Superman. More isn’t always better in these movies and that was what this movie was all about… More! To the point of over the top. Despite all my grumblings, I can’t say that I hated it. It was more disappointment at something that could have been so much better. DC has to find their own vision apart from Marvel. Until that happens they will always be in their shadow. No matter how much the film makes.
I give this film ** stars out of five
