Aquaman: A Fun, Dynamic, Yet Silly Action Flick Aiming for Guilty Pleasure of the Year

The beautiful and severely wounded Atlanna, princess of the ocean depths, is washed ashore near the home of a charismatic and lonely lighthouse keeper. As fairy tales go, sparks fly, a storm brews, and madness ensues. In time, they have a half-blooded son, Arthur: half human, half lord of the seven seas. All would be well, but Atlanna is forced to leave the human world to protect her family. The future king is left with his father and Vulko, a trusted aide of the royal family, who helps Arthur master his superpowers. Time passes, the king grows, communicates with fish, gets stronger, acquires tattoos, and occasionally saves ships from pirates. But the moment arrives when the inhabitants of the underwater depths tire of the surface dwellers polluting the oceans and generally behaving unworthily. Arthur’s half-brother decides to wage war on land, leaving our hero with no choice but to confront his relative and reclaim his rightful throne.

A heavy mission was placed on Aquaman’s shoulders: to raise the DCEU from the depths (pun intended), but for a job of this scale, they should have called James Cameron, not James Wan, and his submarine. Though, okay, partial resuscitation was successful. First of all, it’s beautiful. “Aquaman” is like “Thor” if it took place in Bikini Bottom instead of Asgard. The director managed to build a mesmerizing underwater world, give a quick tour of the sunken Atlantis, and immerse the viewer in the events just enough for the first part of the franchise. It’s clear that the attraction is very dynamic, spectacular, and quite fascinating. They seem to have coped with the entertainment part. Although, for example, the Black Manta storyline seems untimely here. Two supervillains for the price of one movie ticket is sometimes a nice bonus, but in this case, it’s unclear why they decided to cram another conflict into the story. Three’s a crowd, as they say, and in Aquaman’s first solo outing, it feels especially acute. They could have saved him for the next part, instead of releasing all the Krakens at once, it’s too much to take in.

Why Aquaman is a Comedy

Now, let’s explain why “Aquaman” is a comedy. Things aren’t great with the humor; you don’t always want to laugh at the places prepared for jokes, it’s too reminiscent of KVN (a Russian comedy show) from 2003. Although “Aquaman” knows its place in the genre chain and doesn’t try to pretend to be a sensible and more or less logical film, the shamelessly saccharine dialogues will not give the viewer peace. Sometimes it seems as if molten molasses is pouring from the mouths of the characters right onto you. The big screens haven’t seen such a sugar tsunami since some “Notebook.” Not everyone will be able to restrain themselves here, although there is no greater pain for a director than laughter in moments not intended for fun (Tommy Wiseau is hiccuping somewhere).

Environmental Focus

Special thanks to the creators for focusing on the environmental problem. In 2018, you can’t just release a blockbuster without a radical topical subtext or political statement. Yes, the situation with the footage of a huge amount of plastic in the ocean is presented very directly here. But the environmental situation is now in red alert mode, and perhaps, if not through social videos, then through blockbusters, it will be possible to reach the minds of citizens. Otherwise, Orm Marius himself will do it, and it’s better not to joke with him.

Casting and Performances

The casting of Jason Momoa as Aquaman was very bold; Snyder, one might say, completely rethought the character. But, in truth, we still see more of Jason Momoa than Aquaman on the screen. This is another case of an actor’s persona fitting well into the image, which is not necessarily bad, but still strongly draws attention. Despite the wind in his hair and meaningful glances, there is no chemistry between Jason and Amber Heard. From the very beginning, it is clear that they are written in the script to be together (you can’t even call it a spoiler), so you kind of know how it will end, but you can’t say that you particularly believe in their union. Patrick Wilson fit into the role most organically. I really want to see him in the sequel, he is truly the antagonist we deserve. And after a CGI version of Willem Dafoe without wrinkles (!) appears in the frame, you can safely say: “Now I have seen everything in this life.”

“Aquaman” flies from the screens straight into the guilty pleasure list. You don’t want to scold the film, if only because it’s fun and, in principle, copes with its task: you will have a fun time, whether you laugh at “Aquaman” or with “Aquaman.” Let the DCEU lower the bar so low that a more or less coherent plot can already be considered successful for the franchise. James Wan doesn’t reach for the stars. For everything else, there is James Cameron.