![]() ![]() Wan and screenwriters David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Will Beall and Geoff Johns know this movie is for kids and for those who want to feel like kids at the movies, and this visual extravaganza delivers just that. It’s an overstuffed two-and-a-half-hour behemoth, and though it skimps on things like character development, there’s enough to distract from that. The bouncy chemistry between Arthur and Mera is pure screwball comedy, drawing from “It Happened One Night,” while the fantastic setting likens it to “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” Then there’s the battle against a bellowing crab, the King of the Brine, that is straight out of Tolkien. One hallucinatory neon chase scene set to a thumping electro beat is straight out of “Tron: Legacy,” while another dark, gothic journey into a deep-sea trench filled with savage, snapping monsters taps into Wan’s horror background. As King Orm, Wilson bellows about his plan to become the “Ocean Master” with a Shakespearean intonation that contrasts nicely with his half-brother Arthur’s relaxed surfer-brah demeanor. What’s most impressive is just how committed the actors are to the completely silly affair, clad in shimmering wetsuits, astride giant seahorses and hammerhead sharks. Wan assembled quite the esteemed cast to support Momoa and populate the fantastical undersea world, including Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundren, Amber Heard and frequent collaborator Patrick Wilson. The fruit of their union is the hunky, long-haired Arthur (Jason Momoa), half-human, half-Atlantean and bestowed with his mother’s unique oceangoing gifts - underwater breathing, super-strength, extremely good fighting skills -which he applies to taking down high-tech pirates, clad only in jeans and tattoos. She’s Queen Atlanna of the underwater kingdom Atlantis. Nicole Kidman sets the tone for this bombastic and kooky movie, playing a quirky mermaid Barbie who washes ashore and is rescued by a kindly lighthouse keeper, Tom (Temuera Morrison). To his credit, most of it sticks, if you’re willing to dive right into this wacky ocean adventure. You have to admire the effort, scope and sheer audacity of everyone involved - especially Wan, who throws it all at the screen. “Aquaman” is pure camp, wildly entertaining and an eye-popping spectacle. He took a character from the hit-or-miss DC Comics Extended Universe, best known from the HBO show “Entourage” and a brief “Justice League” appearance, and made the biggest, goofiest, craziest aquatic superhero action movie he could. The “Saw” and “The Conjuring” filmmaker doesn’t do anything halfway. “Sure.You have to give credit to James Wan that “Aquaman” is as good as it is. ![]() A marine biologist from the comics, Shin – who was seen fleetingly early in the movie on a news broadcast – is obsessed with finding Atlantis and asks Manta for insight on his Atlantean gadgetry. (And also a fine time for a GIF showing Black Manta arriving for battle in baller style.)įollowing the climax where Aquaman finds the Lost Trident of Atlan, defeats his bro in an all-out underwater battle and becomes the king of Atlantis, the action shifts to Manta, who is rescued, bandaged up and recovering under the watch of Dr. Seriously, THIS IS YOUR FINAL SPOILER WARNING. (For real, it’s pretty cool.) With the help of an Atlantean hit squad, Manta tracks Aquaman down in Sicily, unleashes laser bursts from his iconic helmet, but the bad guy gets his butt whupped pretty bad, never to be seen again. Understandably irked, Black Manta gets in cahoots with Aquaman’s half-brother, Atlantean King Orm (Patrick Wilson), who has designs on being the Ocean Master and outfits Manta with technology that turns water into lasers. ![]()
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