Aquaman, 2018.
Written and Directed by James Wan.
Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ludi Lin, Temuera Morrison, Michael Beach, Randall Park, Graham McTavish, Djimon Hounsou, John Rhys-Davies, Leigh Whannell, Sophia Forrest, Natalie Safran, and Julie Andrews.
SYNOPSIS:
Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.
This is a solid, if not slightly uneven entry into the DC Universe. I really enjoyed this film for the amazing visuals and interesting storyline. I felt like Jason Momoa did the role of Aquaman justice in this first solo outing. The movie has so much going on that you have to watch it multiple times to take every little detail in. Director James Wan has lovingly created a world where Atlantis exists and where Aquaman is a beer guzzling, bar fighting, lunk head with a heart.
My issues with the movie are more nitpicky. Some of the jokes felt a little too forced and hokey for my tastes (like Mera eating the roses or Atlanna eating a goldfish). These make the characters seem a little dumbed down. The Queen eats fish? The Princess doesn’t know you don’t eat flowers? Beyond that, there’s the wig issue. With all the money going into this film, you couldn’t get a better wig for Temuera Morrison? I’m talking Peter Facinelli-level bad wig when he’s younger and discovers Atlanna. Thankfully, the bad wig is not around for long before Arthur’s dad just shaves his head and goes bald.
Aside from those minor things, this movie was extremely enjoyable to watch, had a lot of fun stuff in it, fight scenes underwater, superpowers, a love story, the good guy winning over evil, and lots of cool costumes and gadgets. I can’t wait to see what they do with Aquaman 2!
BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS
“Aquaman” 4K UHD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD Special Edition contain the following special features:
-Going Deep Into the World of Aquaman
-Becoming Aquaman
-James Wan: World Builder
-Aqua Tech
-Atlantis Warfare
-The Dark Depths of Black Manta
-Heroines of Atlantis
-Villaneous Training
-Kingdoms of the Seven Seas
-Creating Undersea Creatures
-A Match Made in Atlantis
-Scene Study Breakdowns
-Exclusive Sneak Peek of Shazam!
The special features are really spectacular on this disc and almost serve as a mini film school lesson. There is so much packed into the special features that it made the movie that much cooler to watch on repeated viewings. Wan succeeded in creating an amazing world, not to mention seven kingdoms and learning about everything that went into that was fascinating. Being a huge Jason Momoa fan, I really enjoyed the first two special features that really dove into how Jason came on board, what he brought to the role and how he was transformed into the most badass version of Aquaman that we’ve ever seen!
Overall, this is a solid movie made better by the generous amount of special features. I highly recommend it!
Aquaman is available now on DVD/Blu-ray and 4K in the US as well as digitally on all the major platforms. It is released on digital in the UK on April 6th and on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on April 8th.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Tai Freligh is a Los Angeles based writer and can be followed on Twitter.
Originally published March 26, 2019. Updated March 27, 2019.
