5 comments

1. 

   Rich

   December 22, 2023

   Quite the juxtaposition. Man of Steel made me so excited for what was to come. Lost Kingdom makes me so happy this nightmare is over.

2. 

   aquafan

   December 22, 2023

   I think this film was okay. I saw it with my girlfriend last night and on the drive home we talked about it, kind of “chewing” on our thoughts.

   I’m a big Aquaman fan, and I have my issues with Momoa’s portrayal, but I’ve come to accept his portrayal as a version of the character (not my favorite version, but a version none-the-less). In my opinion, my biggest issue with his portrayal is that he is not reserved enough. I never really saw Arthur as goofy or super extroverted (which is how Momoa plays him).

   There were some great themes in this film, such as the ideas of trust, of family, and of redemption. This is something my girlfriend brought up as both her favorite part of the film and her biggest disappointment. She loved the presence of those themes and how they were explored, but they also felt underdeveloped. As if they had something good going, but stopped short.

   The plot of this film, I think, was rather interesting, but it felt rushed. Imagine a comic book story line that takes place over 18-24 issues. Now imagine that same story being rewritten as a 6-issue mini-series. That’s how the film felt. *AT THIS POINT I WILL BE DISCUSSING SPOILERS* From the introduction of Arthur Jr. to Black Manta getting the Orichalcum should be a 6-issue “chapter,” the retrieval of Orm another 6-issue chapter, and the infiltration of Black Manta’s “factory” another 6-issue chapter. Finally the whole ending at the Kingdom of Necrus should have been at least a 4-issue chapter. It felt like all of this took place over the course of a single 6-issue chapter. There were a lot of short scenes, no long scenes that developed an idea fully. I think the film would have benefitted from an extra 30 minutes, but that would not have fixed the film. I think if the premise of this film were presented as a high-quality TV show (think See, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, The Chosen, etc) of 10-12 episodes, each being 45-60 minutes, it would be very good.

   Some of the CGI in this film was great, but there were scenes where there was an obvious green screen or awkward slow-mo.

   But I’m getting long-winded and do not wish to overstay my welcome. I enjoyed the first Aquaman film, and although I enjoyed it less-so, I enjoyed this film too. My vision may be blurred by my adoration of the character, I’m really just happy to see him on the big screen, but the article asked what I thought. Not a bad movie, but not great either. Good plot and themes, but highly underdeveloped. I could say more, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

   1. 

      ChE_MovieFan

      December 23, 2023

      I haven't seen this movie yet, but I'll chime in on Momoa's performance. I think he's probably the Aquaman for non-fans. There's a perception of the character that he's lamer than other superheroes, but Jason Momoa cuts right through that. He's not a particularly good actor, he always plays a certain version of himself - either a serious version or a fun-loving version - but in both he brings a badass look and vibe.

      In my view, as someone who just never could get into Aquaman, that's what was missing. So even though he's not at all "comic book Aquaman", he was never cast to be. He was cast to fix the character. And, IMHO, he did that. This is all why I think the Lobo recast idea is dumb. It'll be the exact same performance as his Aquaman, he just plays himself (which makes the prospect of his being Lobo a redundant one), but Lobo doesn't need him. Aquaman did.

3. 

   AnonymousHero

   December 27, 2023

   Meh. It was alright. A decent sequel for its narrative. It could've gone so many ways, from serious to hokey, but it was more Momoa-focused with the way he is and they did their own thing that they wanted to do. And whatever, if you're closing out a franchise, then you might as well. When it finished, I was glad to see it done. I look forward to the future DCU and proper treatment of its characters. At this point, we LITERALLY cannot afford not to get it right. If it fails going forward after Superman Legacy, shut the whole thing down. Maybe sell the property to another film company with a vision and they can wait a few years again to try. But DC doesn't deserve weak treatment if the people who govern it can't get it right.

4. 

   Tyranus

   December 30, 2023

   It had a lot of Silver Age energy while trying to tell a modern comic book story. It did not always work, but it was very fun.

   Black Manta was fantastic and the fact we got a "How's the wife and kids?" moment from him just made the movie for me.

   Going to see it again with my family on Sunday.