Aquaman (2018)

Mixed reviews kept me uncertain whether I would watch this—until I read a circa-New Year's column about the most important silver-screen superheroes of the last decade. Aquaman was the only one I hadn't seen in any movie. Anyway, this season isn't big on new superhero pics, so now seemed like the best time to catch up.

In this version, the title character (Jason Momoa), a.k.a. Arthur Curry, is the son of Maine lighthouse keeper Tom (Temuera Morrison) and Queen Atlanna of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman), Tom having rescued her when she fled an arranged betrothal. Arthur may be the world's only such cross, since most people have no idea that those who sank with the ancient city survived via advanced technology and have descendants to this day. His hybrid nature and mostly unsubmerged upbringing do nothing to hinder his Atlantean powers, which he studied under vizier Vulko (Willem Dafoe) and uses primarily to be humanity's high-seas hero of legend, but many Atlanteans think less of him for those reasons as well as his unlawful origin. He doesn't want the throne of Atlantis anyway, until the sympathetic Princess Mera (Amber Heard) urges him to try to take it because his half-brother, King Orm (Patrick Wilson), is about to launch a war against the "surface dwellers."

Now, I'm not so far behind the times on Aquaman that I thought him a joke like on Super Friends. He doesn't just command aquatic life, tho that is the main power to separate him from purebred Atlanteans (and gets awesome with some critters). His own bulletproof brawn and handiness with a trident let him plow through any number of mooks, be they regular humans or Atlantean commandos, in or outside the water. That said, the Aquaman I knew best was more like Orm before the Justice League got into his good graces, so I still had a bit to learn about the mythos.

It strikes me that Orm has something in common with Thanos as lately portrayed: He observes a major crisis—in this case, water pollution and overfishing—and aims for the most severe solution. Many in the audience would almost support him, except that he's deceptive and brutal to fellow ocean denizens in his zealous hate-on. The heroes do not send an anti-environmentalist message by opposing his plan: Their explicit principle is that the Earth is one world, so you can't profit one part of it by harming another. The most insular entities still get affected. Because of this, some deem a hybrid king most appropriate.

A secondary antagonist is David Kane, a.k.a. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a surface dweller who wants revenge on Aquaman for killing, or at least refusing to save, his piratical father. Admittedly, Aquaman isn't as reluctant to kill as other DC Comics heroes I could name. Maybe that's why he often seems kind of a jerk.

After a while, I had to ask myself why I felt more generous toward this flick than I had toward John Carter. It's about equally ludicrous. Heck, at least Carter didn't understand alien dialog right away. Even Wonder Woman acknowledged the curious lack of a language barrier, albeit without offering a cogent explanation. Does sharing a universe with Superman call for a grandfather clause?

Well, one point in AM's favor is that it has more obvious relevance to us than JC. Despite the world building, it's set on our home planet in modern times, and the conflict concerns all humans, whether they know it or not. While we see only a few snippets of his life before heroism (good job not letting background bog down the story), Aquaman is less alien to us than Thor. He doesn't even hold his drink as well as Thor.

Second, AM does a little better in writing. Unlike so many DC Comics movies, it's neither overly serious nor played largely for laughs. Humor is limited to a touch of banter, and tragedy never takes center stage. It's as good as some Marvel Cinematic Universe entries that way. And Aquaman and Mera have a more convincing chemistry than Carter and Dejah.

Third, the visuals are pretty cool. I can't give Aquaman all the credit for the action sequences; water-bending Mera and even Atlanna have their badass moments. I think the key ingredient, more than the plentiful CGI, is the cinematography.

Not bad, director James Wan. I wouldn't mind checking out more from you. Preferably something with more intelligent premises.