A hero without a cape, living his justice in relative secret. But what happens when his heritage comes calling and he wants nothing to do with it? The true measure of a hero is not in what he believes he's worthy of or can do, it's in what he protects knowing he may not be worthy but giving his whole effort anyway.
So first things first, Jason Momoa is freaking hot. Oh. My. Ovaries. Straight explode, y'all. Okay, so after a bit of ... reminiscing on his amazing visage and his smooth baritone, on to the review of the movie.
Oh good Lord, I'm drooling...
#polynesianpride #eyecandyfordays
Let me warn you that a lot of this post might seem like a rant and that I didn't like the movie. But I did! I liked it when I just took it at face value rather than reading into it and delving into the content. Visually, it was stunning, both the actors, the underwater world they created, and the effects. It had a powerful message, cloaked in cheese, but the message of love and honor was definitely present. So...I enjoyed myself. I laughed sometimes and I choked up at other times. Overall, this was a pretty good movie.
Except that, well, I can't just leave it at that, can I? On to the "rant"...
I mentioned that the movie was visually stunning, yes? Well the use of color and cinematic effects was powerful. It was just too much. There was so much going on in some scenes that I could not focus on any one thing, especially not the characters that mattered the most. When the whole screen is constantly filled with shooting lights, explosions that look like fire (in water? Yeah, that was pretty weird), lava, thousands of creatures of the deep, a billion extras, and then somewhere in the midst of all that are the main characters trying to gain dominance during a big conflict? Yeah...no. Overwhelming the audience isn't effective. Just because we have all these cool CG techniques to bring fantasy to life doesn't mean you need to ram it down our ocular throats.
Another visual point that was hot for a while until it became eye-rollingly overused was the posing of Momoa, the brooding looks, and the close-up shots of his eyes. A few well-placed broody shots are awesome because they can evoke a sense of intense thought and inner turmoil. But overused and it's cliche and unimaginative. With so much talent to work with, you'd think they could change it up and use the story and better cinematography to convey a wider range of emotions instead of the same ones over and over with the same visual set-up.
And then there's the story line. Holy complicated Batman! (Ah, the versatility of the DC universe...) There were so many antagonists, so many conflicts all masquerading around as one big one, and so many secrets that don't move or stymie the plot at all. Streamline, people, streamline! This movie suffered from a lack of focus. By having the Ocean Master issue, the creation and consequences of Black Manta, the rivalry, the war, the reluctant hero, and the reluctant hero's quest, we've got way too much going on to do any of those things justice.
Honestly, I think we should have gone with the reluctant hero's quest because there would have been plenty of action, drama, a bit of romance, and at some point, our hero would have to think for himself. We've got another Harry Potter on our hands here, unfortunately. In order to make him more human, more "relatable", Rowling made him an idiot and all the answers were fed to him mainly by Hermione. Aquaman starts out with Arthur living his life following his own sense of justice, that innocents should be protected, even at the peril of the other humans that cause the suffering. His choices and actions are his own and, combined with his history, have paved the way for our protagonist to become a hero.
But once he's begged and pretty much forced to take on the role, virtually nothing is of his own volition. And aside from one scene where he uses the knowledge gained from his father, all the other answers are given to him by Mera. Now, I'm all for a strong female lead and that she could even upstage the males in the cast, but to essentially castrate our hero by treating him like an idiot and for the writers to perpetuate that ridiculousness does our hero absolutely no justice at all. At some point I expected Arthur to decide that the mantle placed on his shoulders was his by choice, not just by circumstance. That he'd be less reactive and more proactive.
Oh, and the romance was unnecessary and out of place. Throwing it in haphazardly made it seem disingenuous and fickle rather than a changing and growing of hearts that would become a true partnership for the good of both nations. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's the goal of their togetherness, but it was poorly executed.
So...to say I'm conflicted is an understatement. Why would you give us a hero that you could basically write from scratch because he's so misunderstood and underdeveloped and make his brain impotent and his brawn overwhelming? Where's the balance? Where's the focus? With cliche and simplistic writing, way more telling than showing, overuse of CG, and giving us a way too many conflicts because you're not sure how many sequels you can milk from this if you were to give us only one...what were you hoping for? High hopes, eye candy, and sheer curiosity will bring me back for a sequel...maybe. But probably only if it shows up on Netflix.
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