Imagine just fully leaning into your comic origin?
Just taking everything about those stories and saying “HEY! This’ll totally work on the big screen!”. Moreover, when those stories are about a man who’s half-Atlantean, can talk to fish, rockets through water at supersonic speeds, and yells out “CHEEHOO!”, then kudos to you.
And to that I say, kudos to you James Wan.
In retrospect, especially with his past as the butt of DC jokes, Aquaman was always going to be swimming against the current.
But I tell you what…his film is RIDICULOUSLY fun!
Like I said, imagine leaning into your comic origins? Wan delivers it with aplomb. The significance is fully supported when they showcase Arthur’s classic orange and green costume in action.
Momoa for me has had the leading man tag on him for awhile. Seeing him lead, supported by an outstanding cast, is exciting as he pulls it off. Uncertain of his lineage and the means to rule, he plays the ever-reluctant King well. Patrick Wilson plays the incumbent Orm, a character that will no doubt draw Loki-like comparisons. Nicole Kidman plays their mother, Queen Atlanna, while Amber Heard portrays Mera, who delivers some of the best action in the film and isn’t just fodder. Willem Dafoe mentors, and Temuera Morrison provides fatherly love, rounding out our new family of ocean-dwellers.. And yes, Aquaman might just be Maori in this continuity. Oh! Yahya Abdul-Mateen II delivers an excellent performance as Black Manta.
The silly helmet? You will come to fear it!
Placing Arthur into a world much like our own, where we dare pollute our oceans, it’s under the surface where what may be this year’s best fantasy film lives. Gloriously colored ocean floors come to life as our heroes literally fly through it, with a kind of implicit and more forceful nature that somehow makes Superman’s flight look dull. Epic battles with alien creatures that come from the depths, it all cascades toward an enormous battle that the previous DC films have yearned for. Heck, it might even surpass some of the battles we’ve seen in Marvel!
Aquaman’s greatest power comes from its confident, unashamed delivery of the stories it’s based on. A fishboy becomes a fishman, who rides a wave of wacky action and humour that ends up propelling it to the top as one of the standouts in the DC Universe.
Much like delicious fish sticks, give me more AQUAMAN as soon as possible because I know what she ordered, and it was not the fish filet. It was this wonderful film about a fishman.
