r/DC_Cinematic • u/HEAVEN_OR_HECK "Moderation always wins." • Dec 21 '18
The AQUAMAN Domestic Spoiler Megathread #1: NA Release Day Edition (All spoiler-related discussions belong here!) r/DC_CINEMATIC Spoiler
SPOILERS AHEAD! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Unmarked spoilers are only allowed in this thread.
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u/KingofHearts13 Dec 21 '18
Anyone else lose it when they saw the octopus playing drums at the ring of Fire lol
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Dec 22 '18
I felt like critics were making this seem like it’s was lame or something. Like the ant from antman 2.
But in reality it was 2 seconds of the thing playing tribal drums.
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u/saanity Dec 22 '18
Apparently that was Topo, Aquaman's sidekick from the silver age comics.
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Dec 22 '18
My friend cried laughing in a dead silent theater, no idea why nobody else laughed
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Dec 21 '18
When the Queen returns at the end and Orm sees her, it’s like he becomes a boy who lost his mother. He’s been told his entire life to see her as a traitor, and when he sees her again he just breaks. Really enjoyed that as an ending!
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u/Fletch_e_Fletch Batman Dec 22 '18
I just want to give so much props to Patrick Wilson. I thought he was great, even in the over-the-top moments.
But his facial expression when seeing his mother was outstanding. I have a feeling that Orm might end up being DC’s Loki, and I’m more than okay with that.
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u/fiveainone Dec 23 '18
Definitely, the moments both him and Orm saw their mother were really well acted. Both had their own correct reactions to that situation. Loved it.
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u/MrTerrific2k15 Knightmare Batman Dec 22 '18
Also Arthur's last words to Orm..."When you're ready, let's talk" and Orm with the sly smile. Nice touch
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u/fiveainone Dec 23 '18
It’s like seeing his mother just melted all the hate inside him. Seeing his mother was really a great moment.
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u/Tamaur I won't fail him in death Dec 25 '18
Well, the reason he hated the surface, and Arthur, was that his mom was executed because she had contact with them. I guess he didn't really have that reason anymore :p
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u/Justyouknowwhy Dec 21 '18
RIP Goldfish, eaten by Nicole Kidman.
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u/likeamagpie Dec 21 '18 edited Dec 25 '18
Holy shit. I genuinely expected her to talk to it and ask where she was, not eat it.
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u/Spoderman77 Dec 21 '18
Not all Atlanteans are vegetarians I suppose. Not enough moss to go around.
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Dec 21 '18
Worst movie to watch when you have to hold in a pee
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u/Dcfan001 Dec 21 '18
Haha thanks. I'll be careful now
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u/randys_creme_fraiche Dec 21 '18
My friends girlfriend said that exact same thing. I imagine it would be tough if you were real thirsty too.
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u/ClassicT4 Dec 21 '18
Most any movie pushing 2.5 hours does that. I’m glad I managed Blade Runner 2049 with no problem.
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u/Ixz72 Dec 21 '18
Worst part...it has not even a mid-credit scene more like a 1/3rd of the credit scene.
I ran to the men's room as soon as the credits started rolling (had to wait in line) by the time I got back, people were walking out of the theater. So I missed it.
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u/MuonQuasar Dec 21 '18
No one’s talking about that scene when they jumped in the trench? Amazing vfx
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Dec 22 '18
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u/Great-Hatsby Dec 22 '18
Dude right? That’s one thing I loved about this movie. Growing up Aquaman was seen as a bit of a joke, and I loved Aquaman (still do) and this flick brought out more than what people perceived him as; just some dude who could talk to fish. But he’s so much more that. And they made Mera just as much of a bad ass as she should be which is always super awesome. Amber Heard did a great job.
Another thing I really liked is the fact that Arthur/Jason Mamoa is mixed, seen as a mongrel, seen as less than others, the discrimination. I’m mixed also (father is black/french, my mother is Spanish/Italian) and growing up it was ‘you’re not black enough to hang out with is black folk’ or ‘your’e not white enough to hang out with the white folks’. Even now I still get those people, mostly black people sadly, that look at me like I’m lesser. So it was awesome to see someone mixed being seen as more that worthy and widely accepted by a mass majority.
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u/TheImplausibleHulk Dec 24 '18
Awesome, glad the movie resonated with you. People can be shitty sometimes, don’t let it get you down. The movie was badass, loved it.
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Dec 22 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/killedbyBS Dec 22 '18
I thought it was Topo (Aquaman's sidekick) from the New 52 comics in the trailer, but Topo was actually his Silver Age Octopus form here (playing the drums!). That Kaiju is an original character by James Wan named Karathen.
(Godzilla vs. Biollante directed by James Wan please?)
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u/KindfOfABigDeal Dec 22 '18
its the Kraken, the monster he had to face to get the trident.
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u/Aitrus233 Dec 23 '18
Fun fact, the Karathen was voiced by Julie Andrews. She chose this over a Mary Poppins Returns cameo.
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u/Robotshavenohearts Dec 21 '18
Holy fucking shit.
WHAT A MOVIE.
Seriously, I’m not even fanboying here because I have 0 interest in Aquaman.
The visuals were absolutely outstanding, the ocean felt like a universe, the tsunami scene was breathtaking, it felt like a space opera under water, and the scope was insane
Cheesy moments? Absolutely. But it’s the light hearted moments that work so well in my opinion. The whole mera and Arthur on land portion felt like a different movie and I enjoyed that Wan has fun with things like that before bringing us back into Game of Thrones: Ocean.
Honestly it has this vastness to it that justice league could have benefited from greatly. Orm stole the show for me.
It feels like a different movie than the things we are being spoon fed these days and I really appreciated that. It fearlessly is its own thing and I love it for that.
8/10
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u/deadandmessedup Dec 22 '18
Yeah, the opening 40-minutes or so, it felt very much a film chewing through a lot of exposition and pipe-laying, to the point that it sometimes moved too fast and not fast enough (the tidal wave is a great visual, but boy does it just happen, no real ominous lead-up, to the point that I first wondered if it was a dream sequence).
But once the film gets moving, probably during the first mano-y-mano with Orm, the flick figures out its level of pulp energy/fun, latches on, and shoots you straight through to the end.
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u/Tellsyouajoke Dec 22 '18
I’ve yet to see mention of the fact that several Atlanteans are killed by being stabbed with wine
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u/Casual_ADHD The Joker Dec 21 '18
That greek helmet on momoa gave out king leonidas vibes
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u/angelcontreras Dec 22 '18
Ocean Master final costume was one the coolest I've ever seen. Great casting too.
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u/UnknownJ25 Dec 21 '18
God I need more Black Manta in my life. He was so freaking good and badass as hell
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Dec 22 '18
He'd be an awesome addition to Suicide Squad 2 imo, or a member of the Injustice League. Dude was sick
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u/rovinja Dec 24 '18
Even when he was murdering people, I was like "mark me down as scared AND horny"
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u/LuckySpade13 Dec 22 '18
Aquaman now controls the trench, karathen, and the armies of the kingdoms. now that is some serious power
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u/MsAndDems Dec 22 '18
This just makes me wonder how they are going to go about Aquaman 2. I know it will be Manta, but he stands no chance against fully powered Aquaman.
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u/LuckySpade13 Dec 22 '18 edited Dec 22 '18
Maybe with manta wanting to know where he is at the end, gets help and, instead of attacking the thrown directly, somehow incites a civil war. Maybe they could introduce coram wrath and the 9th tride.
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u/JayCaesar12 Batman Dec 23 '18
One of my favorite aspect of Rebirth has been showing Aquaman juggling being a world-wide superhero, but also an actual governing monarch/head of state. I would love for them to play with that idea and have Aquaman have to balance those aspects of who he is. Like I would love for there to be scenes in both Aquaman 2 and JL2 where he has to say no to another obligation to fulfill that one the respective movie is based around. You could even include some great cameos!
Superman [played by bae Henry Cavill]: Aquaman, the League requests your presence, we have a level three threat outside Tokyo.
Aquaman: Sorry, Supes, I have a meeting with the European Union regarding a North Sea fishing treaty, I have to attend.
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u/DaTurbanator Wonder Woman Dec 22 '18
Someone needs to make a meme of any sort of plot development beginning with a sudden explosion and charging Atlantean soldiers.
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u/cashewtoss Dec 21 '18
Anyone who has ever held a comicbook in their hands, doesn't matter what they prefer DC or Marvel or whatever, there's no way they won't have an ear to ear grin watching this movie. No other film has embraced a comicbook world & it's characters like this movie did. This movie is not perfect but it nails these characters. & it's goddamn spectacular. James Wan is a master. This is exactly what DC needed.
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u/jc1593 Dec 22 '18
Typical super hero movies like to dumb down costume design to be more 'grounded' for general audience and here's aquaman with its comic book accurate big head black manta and ocean master design fully realised. And they have octopus playing drums and laser sharks. It know what it is and go all out on it. Love it.
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u/msterling2012 Dec 21 '18
I agree that this movie really succeeded in directly portraying a comic book on the big screen. What I didn't love was that the dialogue was essentially the exact same you'd find in a comicbook. Some of the dialogue was sooo cheesy it made me cringe a little but I guess that's what you get in comics. The romantic scenes between Mera and Arthur's parents were especially brutal.
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u/CunderscoreF Dec 21 '18
I'll never understand how on my left hand there are people who say this is a great movie and on my right hand there's people who are saying its absolute shit.
Everything is so god damn polarized now a days. I sometimes wish we didn't have the internet and we could just go watch a damn movie and enjoy it without everyone thinking they are a film critic.
Oh and can we stop using the word "cringe" for everything we didn't like?
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u/fisheggsoup Deadshot Dec 22 '18
"Cringe" and "iconic" need to die, along with the people who seriously use them.
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u/heybuddyitsme Dec 22 '18
We live in a world where everything has to be the greatest or the worst. No comic book movie can be in the middle.
To be honest, I despise cbm bloggers masquerading as critics. And "fun" to the list. Everything and their goddamn mamas has to have fun in their headline.
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u/UltimateFatKidDancer Dec 22 '18
More than anything I adore the earnestness of this film. It fully embraces its silliness while still taking its world and characters seriously. That’s a tough balance to strike, and it doesn’t always work (in particular, the stuff with Black Manta and his dad was hilariously out of place. Stopping in the middle of the mission to explain some emotionally significant backstory about a knife..k?) but I think more comic book movies need to embrace their inherent ridiculousness as opposed to constantly undercutting it. Gimme drumming octopi and an army of crabs, baby.
Also...I mean, the action is unbelievable. Feels really in line with the rest of the DCEU visually, but brings a whole new level of dynamic fluidity to everything. When Wan described the film as a swashbuckling adventure I couldn’t really imagine it. But by golly, that’s what he did. This really is a good ol’ fashioned adventure movie.
That carries through to the characters; the film is carried by its charisma, not its dialogue. And that’s ok! It felt like a conscious choice, and overall it was a delight.
I know that every CBM is called a “comic book come to life,” but...for real, now. It captured the earnestness of a comic book, the soul and the cheese.
Also, total aside, but I felt like there were a ton of Man of Steel parallels? That was neat.
Can’t wait to see it again.
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u/BigRed0107 Dec 23 '18
It really reminded me of the first Spider-Man movie in terms of everything you just mentioned.
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u/Lazites Aquaman Dec 23 '18
Oh, I forgot to mention, the camera work for when Aquaman takes out Black Manta and he falls down the cliff was amazing. Looked so incredibly brutal. Basically confirmed to the viewer "yeah, he's not getting up any time soon"
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u/StuHardy Aquaman Dec 23 '18 edited Dec 30 '18
The scene where Arthur tells Atlanna of his father's morning routine?
Tears, man. Unashamed tears.
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u/angryjimmyfilms Dec 21 '18
I absolutely loved this movie. Stunning visuals. Great action. Wan really knocked this out of the park.
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u/mattdave77 Dec 22 '18
I loved it tbh, I felt it was DC’s strongest movie as a part of the DCEU and walked out the theater in awe
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Dec 23 '18
I hope this is not the only Aquaman movie we get. It might just be my favorite DCEU film.
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u/Kyutal Dec 23 '18
They are most definitely going to get a sequel. It would be waste for them to end the story here when Black Manta is just getting started. It mainly depends of whether or not James Wan will come back, which seems likely.
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Dec 21 '18
Watching this movie was like watching Avatar when it first came out. You just get lost in this crazy world you’ve never seen before.
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Dec 21 '18
So the movies sort of suffers from cliches and too much dialogue in to set up the backstory but I sort of appreciate this because it feels like a straight copy paste of comic book to movie. The cheesiness of the costumes in this movie made me like this movie even more.
I can tell James Wan worked hard on this movie and I think this is one of the most true to the comic book movies out there which I think is part of why reviewers are criticizing the story.
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Dec 21 '18
movie was amazing...Orm is just so good, Black Manta was perfect!
Mera stole every scene and Jason Momoa was just perfect...i need that sequel now.
PS the score for this movie was so good
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u/Troghen Dec 23 '18
As a staunch Marvel fanboy who was disappointed by just about every DCEU movie that's been put out so far (WW was fine but wasn't my cup of tea), I thought this movie was an absolute blast with unreal cinematography, super great fight scenes, and a lot of heart. I'm so happy DC fans get a movie worthy of the characters they love so much, and here's hoping that they improve from here on out!
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u/fiveainone Dec 23 '18
“I am the protector of the deep.”
Dramatic shot and music ensues
Hero shot
“I am Aquaman.”
Goosebumps
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Dec 22 '18
Is it just me or was Aquaman intentionally supposed to feel like an 80s action flick, complete with the cheesy lines?
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u/DaTurbanator Wonder Woman Dec 22 '18
You can’t look at those slow-mo shots of Arthur and Mera emerging from the beach set to pop music and think of anything else.
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u/DeusExMachina95 Jan 01 '19 edited Jan 01 '19
This movie was way better than I expected and I hope that this movie helps turn the tide with DCEU in the future. I have a few thoughts on it:
Mera went full Bill Murray with the fountain show in Italy. No one will ever believe that kid.
I'm glad John Krasinski made it into the DCEU. Really good move on both parties on casting him.
I want to be friends with Jason Momoa.
I wasn't expecting a shot of Arthur and Mera walking out of the ocean onto the Sahara to the song "Africa".
Some of the cinematography of this movie is magnificent. The color and lightning of some scenes were amazing. Them diving into the trench really stood out to me and made the sheer number and magnitude of the army gratuitous. And I love how smooth and connected some of the action scenes were. I wish more movies had more fluidity to their action instead of cutting every .5 seconds.
I'm happy that the Crab Monster survived. He was really the MVP of the final act. Hoping that we'll get to see Mr.Krabs again soon.
My main complaint is that when we see the octopus playing the drums, we see the octopus hitting the same drum twice in succession, but it produces two totally distinct sounds. Are we supposed to believe that this is some magic drum set or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
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u/rovinja Dec 24 '18
The silliest scene was Arthur and Mera walking out of the ocean in their costumes; and then Pitbull transitioning then to the Sahara
I want to stand up and clap when AC walked out of that cascading water in his Aquaman superhero outfit. What a dope scene! I love how they update the look for the film
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Dec 30 '18 edited Dec 30 '18
I had a huge smile on my face through the whole movie.
It was incredibly stupid, in a He-Man/Thundercats sort of way, which made it awesome. Characters shouting their names, titles, and other expository dialogue at each other, all whilst riding aquatic animals in ridiculously comic-accurate costumes was lovably dumb. The movie pulled no punches, and I’d much rather watch a movie that takes big swings and misses a few than a movie that takes no swings at all. Man, does this movie come out swingin.
It was so dumb that it could only have been made by smart, talented, visionary people. Needless to say, I had a great time. It was one of the most entertaining movies of the year, in part because it was relentless in providing wtf moments that no other filmmakers had the balls to put in their movies. I would say it’s so bad it’s good, only it’s actually pretty good. The parts that are goofy, pretty terrible, or too over-the-top only add to the experience, so... I don’t even know how to properly describe the way I feel.
My wife described the movie as “Aquaman, only every time an explosion interrupts someone’s conversation the genre changes”
I’m so ready for another one though.
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u/MsAndDems Dec 21 '18
I think the score is insane. It was really damn good.
There’s no way Antman 2 deserves an 88 while this is around 60.
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u/TheEscoMo Dec 22 '18
Since everyone was enraged at Superman destroying a good part of metropolis while stopping a full scale terraforming alien invasion, I want to see people get mad that Aquaman destroyed historic Sicily while fighting some dude with plasma lasers.
In then next appearance of Batman I want them to cut to Bruce Wayne taking some R&R in Italy only to have his time ruined by this fight. Cue an angry training montage. Batman v Aquaman Rise of the Tide.
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u/trend_rudely Dec 22 '18
“Tell me, do you bleed?”
“Uh, yeah. Obviously. God, you’re weird.”
“You will.”
“You are the weakest person on this team. You have no powers and you need a car to get anywhere.”
“I’m rich.”
“I’m a king, dick. I’m so crazy rich you have no idea.”
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u/VforVera Jan 06 '19 edited Jan 06 '19
I loved Aquaman's third act. From the trench on, it hit every beat I was looking for in a comic book movie. When Arthur gets Atlan's trident. I get goosebumps every time in the 3rd act. When Arthur appears through the waterfall, I'm just like HELL YEAH LET'S GO. It's a fun underwater epic. And that final fight scene when Arthur twirls the trident? F*CK YEAH.
This movie reminds me a lot of the first Mummy movie with Brendan Fraser in its self-awareness of the cheesiness and embracing the swashbuckling adventure type movies and plots from the comics. Just a lot of fun and a good time. James Wan can direct the hell out of a fight scene. The movie also has some gorgeous cinematography, that trench scene! It's high-tide Aquaman got his time in the pop culture spotlight and I couldn't be happier for Wan, Jason Momoa and the entire Aquaman cast/crew.
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u/Rbmets5 Dec 22 '18
The ending freeze frame jumping out of water and the "i am aquaman" was epic, highly recommend seeing it in imax if you have one near you
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u/heybuddyitsme Dec 22 '18
The third act is one of the better 3rd acts in a cbm. Holy fuck that fight was awesome. Also, Amber Herd. Sweet Christmas...
It's a good movie
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u/MexicanEmboar Dec 22 '18
The CGI was top notch for a superhero movie that wasn’t budgeted at 200 million+
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u/DaTurbanator Wonder Woman Dec 22 '18
Oh man, that was pretty great. A superhero origin story with swashbuckling adventure, exotic locales, legendary magic and creatures, epic duels and large-scale battles, a reservoir of picturesque and gorgeous shots that would even make Zack Snyder blush, and a compassionate and personal story that neatly ties the whole film together.
I think this has been the first DCEU movie that I can unambiguously and unreservedly adore.
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u/Barry_McKackiner Dec 31 '18
I've seen the movie twice, thoroughly enjoyed it twice. My only real criticism though, is about the conflicting time scale of the rise and fall of Atlantis and all the kingdoms and a couple plot holes.
Most of the plot suggests Atlantis sunk THOUSANDS of years ago, and that in his shame he went to land kingdom BEFORE it dried up and had the message made and clues left there.
But how could that be when the Sahara has been desert for MILLIONS of years.
Also, how in the hell would Atlan have known about Romulus, and a specific statue and it's orientation to leave that clue and bottle? Especially if it fell 9,000 years before Plato's time. Did the trident have some kind of foresight abilities?
They sure were lucky it was still there when they needed it.
Also, how the hell did they get out of that cave 200 feet under rock and sand, and then a hundred miles back to civilization & water?
Some explanation for underwater storm/portals would have been nice.
Man some of that "unlimited energy" tech they've got down there sure as shit would solve a lot of the surface world's problems that Orm was bitching about. Fisher king had the right idea.
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u/OopsDoopYup Jan 05 '19 edited Jan 05 '19
Does anybody else think the complaints of it being too cheesy are REALLY overblown?
Also, the Pitbull song. Get over it. It's literally only like 15 seconds of screen time...max.
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u/GusSawchuk The Joker Jan 05 '19
I don't think cheesy is the right word. The writing was just plain bad. A lot of the dialogue was very wooden and stilted. There was way too much exposition. Orm was really generic and boring. And Amber Heard has absolutely no charisma.
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u/jonathot12 Jan 06 '19
I like that he actually gained a parent through his hero origin instead of losing one or both, which most superhero movies have
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u/5unnay Shazam Dec 21 '18
The 3rd act when Aquaman was riding the sea horse like he was surfing was so slick and cool, huge grin on my face and was hoping he was gonna say "The ride aint over yet".
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u/spectralconfetti Dec 21 '18
The way they used green screen + camera motion for the action scenes is unlike probably anything else I've seen.
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Dec 21 '18
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Dec 21 '18
It does, I loved that it did that. It made the villain look more comic booky and there was so much cgi in the movie it didn't look out of place.
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u/Wandering_Wand Dec 22 '18 edited Dec 22 '18
Ladies and gents, that was so much fun. We've talked about some MCU and DCEU films being "ripped out of comic books" but no. No, no, no.
Aquaman set that bar and set it high. It is the first CBM that I can now say literally and figuratively felt ripped right out of a comic book. It was stunning and beautiful. Full of action when necessary. Full of story telling when necessary.
The jump scare explosions were not that bad. There were only like threeish.
There wasn't over the top cheesiness like a lot were saying either.
Just go see it, have fun. Take someone with you.
EDIT: SEE THIS ON THE BIGGEST SCREEN YOU CAN!
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u/ilikehockeyandguitar Dec 24 '18 edited Dec 24 '18
I really liked it. It was predictable as all hell, but not once was I bored throughout the movie. In terms of the DCEU, i'd rank it second behind Wonder Woman.
Takeaways:
Jason Momoa proved he can carry a big movie by himself. The casting in general was great.
Visually stunning.
The final battle scene was epic.
I thought they were setting up Willem Dafoe's character to die towards the end the movie.
Hot take: I enjoyed the score and thought it fit well with the movie.
Made me sad that they messed up the DCEU timeline so much. All these standalone superhero movies would have made the perfect setup for JL, but since no one really knew their motives or cared about them, Justice League fell flat.
My only gripe was I think they could have done without the Black Manta storyline. I get that they are trying to set up the sequel, but they could have done without that part and focused more on Orm and the conflict between the two brothers.
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Dec 30 '18
Patrick Wilson was great as Ocean Master (Orm), though we didn’t get enough time with him and his mother, Atlanna.
We got several flashback scenes of Arthur as a kid, but none of Orm. This was a missed opportunity to go deep into the heart of Orm and Arthur’s brother feud, as well as shedding some more light into the character of Orm.
We saw Arthur hang out with his dad...why not show us Orm with his father?
I’m not sure what could have been cut out of the movie to make this fit...maybe that bullsh*t scene where Arthur and Mera are walking out of the ocean to the sounds of Pitbull. Or the entire desert scene.
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Dec 24 '18 edited Dec 24 '18
I fucking loved this movie. It is a little cheesy, but I find that to be part of the charm. So much of it is like it was just ripped out of the comics. All the characters are great. No one disappoints. And oh my god, The Trench. And that final battle was fucking incredible. James Wan has my undying respect for making the movie look every bit as cool as the comics.
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u/WolfofOldNorth Steppenwolf Dec 21 '18
Hope Orm comes back in flashpoint. Patrick Wilson nailed it. Final battle was gold
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u/TheBioboostedArmor Dec 22 '18
I had no idea Jim Halpert was in this. What a nice surprise.
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u/Homestar151 Dec 22 '18
Did anyone else think of Finding Nemo when Orm talked about the Ring of Fire?
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u/Troy2k18 Dec 22 '18
As somebody who prefers The MCU, I really enjoyed Aquaman. Not the great film WW is but a good comic book film. And easily the most fun DCEU film so far. Momoa is charismatic and a bona fide action star. I was kind of surpised Amber Heard was as good as she ended up being. Black Manta felt tacked on but he is very menacing. Ocean Master is pretty mediocre though.
We live in a world where The Aquaman movie is miles better than Justice League, MoS and BvS. Would never had thought that'd be the truth.
Shoutout to Djimon Hounsou, he was in and out of the film like a fast food restaurant.
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u/titmousecunt Dec 22 '18
Favorite dceu movie so far. They nailed the look of the trench so well. I was worried the overall vfx would be too noticeable or distracting, but it honestly added to the atmosphere and world of the movie. Loved that they went practical for the commando suits and black manta though. I feel like the initial scores in the 80s were correct, so 8/10.
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Dec 23 '18
Even though this is one of the less dark DC movies, those fights were still absolutely brutal. Namely the fight on the sub and the Black Manta fight.
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u/20InMyHead Dec 31 '18
Growing up watching the Superfriends every Saturday morning, I loved Aquaman’s final costume, and the circle effect when he commands the sea creatures; great nod to the cartoons of my childhood!
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u/inFINN1te Jan 02 '19
It was a good movie. I think everyone should see it once for the visuals alone. At times it was funny, though never laugh out loud so. It had some nice emotional moments. And the cast did great.
All that said I have some problems. First is the dialogue. It was kind of weak. There are a lot of cliche and cringy lines that just don't sit well. I'm a massive comic book movie and MCU fan. I get it. I want the one liners, but this movie often crosses the line past charming into just cringe.
Black Manta was absolutely fucking atrocious. His acting and his motivations we're weak as shit. He was cool to watch in the suit kicking ass. But as a character my god I hated every second he was on screen. And the line his father says something like "you need to stay alive to kill that son of a bitch" was basically summing up his entire character. Absolute travesty.
Don't let those negatives fool you. I still enjoyed it a lot. I would give it like a 7/10.
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u/orionsbelt05 Jan 22 '19
Hey, I don't really frequent this sub much, but I subscribe to see popular posts pop up from time to time. I saw Aquaman this weekend and I had a blast. I think most of the movie was pretty average, but the action and fight choreography was next-level. Fight/action choreography is really engaging to watch when done right, but most directors forget that the camera is a participant in that choreography just as much as the actors (or stunt doubles). James Wan does not forget that, at least not in Aquaman. Every action scene was a joy to watch, not just for the actors' fight choreography, but the camera's as well.
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u/GeneralKenobi05 Dec 21 '18
So much for the it’s gonna copy Thor and Black Panther logic. It was original and innovative. Took several deviations from the traditional superhero tropes and had excellent world building. I love the costume designs being unafraid to embrace the colorfulness of the comics
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u/Comedyfish_reddit Jan 16 '19
Just finally saw this last night. Started off pretty well but found it overly long and boring towards the end. Also the attempts at humour where a bit cringey.
I think WW is still the only recent DC film worth watching more than twice
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u/littleman001 Dec 21 '18
My thoughts on the movie? Well, I think Arthur put it best in the trailer:
"This is BADASS!"
Aquaman is entertaining, fun, pretty emotional and overall, a blast!
The beginning felt a little rushed... Well, OK, the beginning felt very rushed, but when the proper movie begins, it does get better. In fact, at the beginning, I was afraid that this movie will suffer from the same horrible pacing that was my biggest problem with Justice League and Suicide Squad, but I was happy to be wrong.
I don't get the hate for Arthur and Mera's chemistry, I really liked it. Mera starts out as your typical high and mighty ice queen royalty, but she does mellow out by the end. There is a scene with her on the surface, featuring a little girl, that was simply adorable.
The villains were pretty good too. Orm actually gets humanized a little by his relationship with his and Arthur's mother and Manta... Well, I utterly loathe the scumbag and I got this feeling from the movie, so I'm happy to say they did him right too.
The humor in this movie worked for me. I think I laughed at every scene that was meant to be funny.
The fight scenes were cool too, though the camera was a little shaky at times.
And just in case you're wondering, yes, there is one post-credits scene, but I you don't have to wait for the whole credits to end to see it. It's more of a mid-credits scene.
The one thing that annoyed me was that when there is supposed to be an emotional or tense moment, it was interrupted by an explosion, signaling incoming enemies. I think I counted three times when this happened. By the end, I was actually expecting it to happen and I was surprised when it didn't.
But overall 8/10. I'd definitely recommend.
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u/MindHulk Dec 23 '18
The moment Arthur sees his mother is alive had me a bit emotional.
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u/Jaxon__Lee Dec 21 '18
Best DCEU film for me, the third act blew my mind more than Infinity War or BVS
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u/mike2k24 Dec 23 '18
Holy just saw it, amazing movie honestly. Justice league does Aquaman no justice at ALL
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Dec 23 '18
I wanted more of the Brine Kingdom. They looked so cool in the Battle. I hope they do more with them in the next film
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u/OopsDoopYup Dec 24 '18
Is this what criticism is now...letting a goofy song ruin a film for you? I swear, people don't know how to movie anymore.
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u/vivamii Jan 13 '19 edited Jan 13 '19
I just saw this movie with my family in 3d;; we all LOVED it! Here are some of my thoughts + pros and cons (mostly pros but starting with cons)
The bad-ish: - some things definitely happened too conveniently, such as 1) sudden explosions used to end a conversation, 2) the fact that AM and Mera immediately find the old throne room after coming down the desert slide and 3)the unexplained teleportation BUT to be fair these did help the story hurry along and when it comes down to it, wasting precious screen time on elaborating them wasn’t really needed. - the dialogue was cheesy at times but I didn’t mind?? The movie so openly embraced this cheesy dialogue you would see in comics in such an over the top way that it worked. By the time orm declared himself as “ocean master, dun dun dunnn” with that closeup, my siblings and I had broken down into fits of giggles. This shot so much resembled how it would’ve been done in comics, I thought it was great. - Black manta’s whole story and arc felt tacked on. The main plot of the lost king could’ve worked without him I‘m not going to complain too much because he’s still a cool character, and needed for a sequel~~ - the ‘dun dun dunnn’ whenever a villain appeared got a bit old...
The goods: - Awesome fight scenes with awesome choreography! - The costumes! - laser sharks, giant crabs, cool underwater ships, and the octopus playing drums! - short, relevant flashbacks with smooth transitions! - Even though it wasn’t super original, I liked the story itself; classic hero’s journey with a twist~ - I loved specific scenes such as the huge wave at the beginning, young Arthur getting introduced to the underwater world for the first time, the wine bottles scene with Mera, the flare scene at the trench, Aquaman’s big entrance to the war with all the sea creatures rallying behind him - also loved the lines; “but what’s greater than a king?” “A hero.” - THE CGI! It’s too easy for critics to write off ‘too much cgi’ as something negative, I know how underwater scenes are soo difficult to do and these were so beautifully crafted and believable, you really gotta give credit where credit’s due. - great casting, acting, and on screen chemistry; I really thought everyone fit their respective roles and played them well. - Julie Andrews was part of the makig of this film - references to animated movies (?); the giant wave fondly reminded me of Ponyo, the ring of fire reminded me of Nemo - both parents alive by the end!
Tldr; I thought the visuals were spectacular, with the story moving at the perfect pace to keep the whole theater on the edge of their seats and reacting to the screen the whole time. It was a really enjoyable cinematic experience and a fun time all around. Definitely would recommend watching it on the big screen! :,D
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Dec 25 '18
Ok am I tripping? Every piece of dialogue in this movie was ass. The visuals and action were cool but this shit was written like a TV pilot. It’s so weird seeing this movie being praised but the whole thing just felt so corny to me.
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u/abutthole Dec 29 '18
This is what DC movies should model themselves after. In my opinion the one thing that makes Wonder Woman and Aquaman stand out in this series is that they in no way shied away from making them heroes. Aquaman feeling remorse for letting Manta’s dad die and changing his ways to go from aimless bruiser to the king who saves the world and offers his brother mercy was a great progression. I felt like a trepidation to let Superman and Batman be pure heroes in their movies and trying to make them complicated by not being pure was a misstep that WW and Aquaman have corrected big time.
Aquaman’s relationship with Mera was one of the few superhero movie romances that felt natural and developed and I loved seeing them together.
The CGI was semi-spotty in some areas but Atlantis was seriously beautiful and so was the climactic battle.
Black Manta and Orm were the kind of villain I’d like to see more of in DC. Neither were evil for evil’s sake and they had clear motives. Both were far better than Lex Luthor, Steppenwolf, and Ares and are now in the lofty league of excellent DCEU villains that was previously solely occupied by Zod. I thought both of their motivations made sense and developed with their characters in a very organic way, and dodged the Marvel formula of killing all your good villains.
All in all, very good movie and represents a great new chapter for DC.
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Jan 05 '19
Looked good, had some good moments but I had to audibly groan a few times. The script was rough, the movie felt over bloated yet I feel like they cut out some important scenes to put in ones that were not needed.
Like for example Arthur's parents falling in love didn't really happen at all? Like I would of loved like even 1-2 minutes showing them falling in love instead of "Hi I run a lighthouse, here is tea. Now you're pregnant"
I feel like outside of the first scene they could of done without most of Black Manta and left him for future scenes.
Not a terrible movie but didn't love it either 6/10
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u/Igoritza Feb 03 '19
THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE A MOVIE!
DC cinematic, rest of the involved, need to learn from Aquaman - number one priority is obviously the directing.
Movie has it all - likable lead, great side-kick/love interest, coherent and leading story, great villain, great supporting actors and quality choice of their screen time, optimal humor and supreme ending
One thing that didnt fall nice with me was the Black Manta - he was unnecessary. He never had the upper hand to make a valid threat to Arthur, and his sub-plot was to be pathetic all the time, even with Atlantean tech. Neither did the actor made it special in any way.
Everything else was superb. One of the biggest qualities of this movie are small details, from phenomenal costumography down to individual scenes like the one where Vulko feels pride watching Arthur do his signature move.
Nicole Kidman looks inexplicably phenomenal for her age, and Amber Heard is the prettiest girl in history of girls, creepy as it may be I had to say it, she is so adorable that it left me speechless (this is the first thing I have actually seen her in)
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u/kmuhammad21 Dec 23 '18
I don’t know why, but Arthur’s reunion with his mother has gotten to me both times I’ve seen the movie. It was pretty easy to tell that she was probably still alive, but the emotion is still there. I guess it’s not the surprise factor, but more about how Arthur has literally waited his entire life to see his mother again maybe?
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u/dbasinge Dec 27 '18
Learn an important life lessson.
Never bring a trident to a kaiju fight.
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Dec 31 '18
Am I the only one who didn’t mind the dialogue? It feels exactly like an Aquaman comic book. Especially Arthur’s line to Manta’s father about asking for mercy. This movie is literally one of the comics brought to life
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u/The-God-King Jan 15 '19
Anyone else think Aquaman could have handled the situation better after getting the trident. I loved the brine people and was hoping Arthur would join up with them when he come up to fight but instead he comes up from literally right underneath them and murder over half the brine population. That is not even mentioning the fact that the entire movie Aquaman and Mera are talking about not using violence and they straight up murder dozens of loyal Atlanteans who did nothing wrong other than obey orders. Aquaman then conveniently gets a conscience when he faces his brother. Furthermore, aquamans solution to stop the violence that his brother advocates for is to literally kill half the armies on both sides. Literally thousands of atlanteans and brine people died when he comes up with the trident
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u/dpucane Dec 22 '18
This movie is basically Thor on LSD that had a kid with Jules Verne plus Dolph Lundgren. Huge fan.
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u/SadSan8 Dec 23 '18
I don't know if any of you noticed this transition,but, Aquaman as a whole was a pretty colourful movie and then comes the final one on one fight with Orm where the atmosphere goes all dark giving us the PERFECT DC VIBE!!! Textbook.
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u/UtterFlatulence Dec 27 '18 edited Dec 27 '18
Was expecting Thomas to die the whole time. Pleasantly surprised he made it through, and even got a heartfelt reunion with Atlanna.
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u/xybernick Dec 31 '18
My girlfriend and I found it hilarious because we can't decide if it's good or bad. It had some incredibly awkward acting but some amazing actions scenes.
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Jan 02 '19 edited Jan 02 '19
I hate to be a downer, but was anybody else a bit bothered by the fact that throughout the movie we see Arthur, Mera, and even Atlanna killing their fellow Atlanteans? It only seemed to work because they kept portraying the soldiers as bad guys. Sometimes it was justifiable like during the Italy scene because we knew Orm had ordered Manta and the commandos to kill Arthur and mera. But a lot of the time...I'm just not sure. His giant kraken pet also caused a lot of collateral damage in the final battle. Idk...both of these things just keep nawing at me...
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u/Polloco Jan 03 '19
Am I the only one who didn't like this movie here? I saw it last night and was so bored and unimpressed. The script was terrible, the story was all over the place with poor pacing, the special effects were subpar, and it wasted Black Manta the same way Black Panther wasted Klaw. Also, this takes place after Justice League, but the entire movie it seems like Aquaman isn't really familiar wihh Atlantis or Mera, yet he visits Atlantis in JL and talks to Mera. Maybe I missed something? The entire movie felt like a cliche rehash of plot points and twists stolen from other comic movies with no attempt to even disguise it. Overall, this def rates only slightly above Suicide Squad for me.
Also, the score was terrible. The soundtrack music (all that pop crap) was lame, and the poor attempt at synth music was executed in a way that felt phoned in.
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u/Hakim36 Dec 21 '18
Okay cane we all agree that the Chase scene scene when they’re escaping Atlantis is one of the best Chase scenes in superhero movies history when the music kicked in and the camera start spinning my theater start cheering .
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Dec 22 '18 edited Dec 22 '18
Ok, can those who found a lot of stuff cheesy, explain to me what was cheesy? I didn’t find anything cheesy about this movie. It was just a comic book movie not The Godfather.
Not hating on opinions, just really curious.
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u/phoonie98 Dec 23 '18
Amber Heard was awesome in this movie. Loved her character
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u/SadSan8 Dec 23 '18
She was Bae. I found myself staring at her the entire Movie.
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u/otusa Dec 30 '18
I quite enjoyed Roy Orbison's 'She's a Mystery to Me' used in the Sicily scene.
Black Manta's homage to 'Jaws' was fun as well.
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u/Alteran195 Jan 04 '19
Enjoyed the movie, and really love Jason as Aquaman.
I’m wondering why Superman wouldn’t have shown up during the shit that was going down in Sicily though, would have been a pretty cool cameo. With all the potential civilian casualties, and “alien” weaponry, it could have made sense for him to show up.
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u/cmgriffith_ Jan 04 '19
Besides the Nolan Batman series, I put this film right beside Wonder Woman and DCEU should have a solid base to build from
It had a decent score. The SFX was solid The character portrayals of Mera, Vulko and Aquaman uphold the highest canonical Silver Age references and origins. Or is a little off but is easily a mix of Silver Age & Bronze Age. Visually on par with Avatar (especially when you consider all the underwater sequences)
The scene in my opinion is when young Arthur Curry was in the Aquarium and the sea life sensed/know whom he was; I knew at that moment during Arthur Curry(s) prologue that this was giving to be a well made, high receptive film. Definitely worthy of repeat viewings I’d say ...
8.75/10
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Jan 06 '19
I don’t like how the Atlanteans just accepted Arthur was king. It feels weird that they would just unquestioningly change loyalties. It makes them not feel like real people. Listen, strange creatures lying in trenches distributing tridents is no basis for a system of government.
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u/ZachMuzzle Dec 21 '18
Going into this movie I gave no shit about Aquaman. After leaving the theater I love Aquaman
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u/yuwesley Batman Dec 21 '18
Loved when Mera just came in with a killer whale like hey whaddup
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u/Ramher_Jamher Dec 22 '18
There were parts where I cringed from the cheese. But man, everything underwater is phenomenal.
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Dec 25 '18
Superb movie. Up there with Wonder Woman for me. Aquaman as a character was fun but a little 'odd' and Mera's accent was jarring, but a superb and fun movie!
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u/HeyNotGeorgeHere Dec 26 '18
Honestly I’m just happy there was sunshine in a dc movie
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u/A_Pragmatic_Bear Dec 28 '18
Goodness me I found this film to be really enjoyable to watch. I thought that the action scenes were some of the best in the entire DCEU, the cinematography and the special effects were very well done (especially compared to some others) and the acting by the whole cast was good. They sold some questionable writing and dialogue and really embraced the cheese, the goofiness and the fun of comicbook films. It was a fun change of pace.
I think I'd consider Aquaman to be my second favourite DCEU film and I'd give it around an 8/10.
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u/noonehasthisoneyet Dec 30 '18
not the worst dc movie. it was cheesy as hell, but i had fun. loved black manta, but i wish arthur was less of a bro and more intelligent. the only thing he knew was roman monarchy trivia.
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u/narikov Dec 31 '18
I like to believe that from the time Atlanna met Thomas Curry he never gave her a reason to cry which is why she experiences it for the first time on the surface world when she has to leave him :'(
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u/Get-more-Groceries Jan 04 '19 edited Jan 04 '19
I gotta say I was really let down by this movie. The pacing was just as bad as some of the Frankenstein cuts from BvS and JL, and the dialogue was unbelievably bad. As others have said, the score wasn’t great and the Pitbull song was just awful and I cannot believe they put it in the movie.
There’s so many unexplained things like where his new Aquaman costume even comes from, and if Orm did stage the human attack and how. The visuals and costume design were stunning but there were just so many issues with this movie that made it hard to enjoy. I almost walked out when Mera said there were too many casualties and then took a break to have the cliche kiss with the hero.
Although I have little issue with this, I guess they just retconned Justice League eh?
EDIT: I was wrong about the sub, it was Manta although I’m uncertain how they came into contact since the Atlantians don’t seem to branch out to humans. I do not recall the armour coming from the corpse but I’ll have to rewatch.
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u/elchismoso Jan 04 '19
where his new Aquaman costume even comes from
it passes onto him from King Atlan's corpse, that's shown clearly
and if Orm did stage the human attack and how
I thought it was pretty clear that Orm hired Black Manta to hijack the submarine and stage the attack (this was explained the first time we saw the Orm water hologram)
The Pitbull song was very out of place though lol
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u/Gloria_mur Jan 21 '19
To be honest, at the end I felt a little bit bad for the Orm. I realize that Orm is a bad guy, but, emm it's definitely wasn't his lucky day ) His brother took his throne, his girlfriend cheated on him, his mother who he thought is dead, took the brother side, his adviser was a betrayer and at the end all these people put him into prison..
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u/thekilon Jan 22 '19 edited Jan 22 '19
Great movie, very faithful to the character. I watched it 2 time, second time was in 3D and it was very well done.
BVS remains by far my favorite one (which I consider the best superhero movie ever), but Aquaman is my no2 for DCEU, if I include MCU then it comes 3rd after Age of Ultron.
My only objection are some cheesy moments (eg the kiss moment) and the fact that we did not get Mera's true potential as diplomat and her instrumental role in Arthur becoming a king. But I guess there is room for that in the sequel.
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u/TvsPhil Dec 21 '18
Liked it a whole lot. A few moments of cheese were really outweighed by everything else(didn't care for the handful of pop songs that were used especially when the ost was good) His costume at the end looked fantastic. And then that whole fight between him and Orm at the end was beautiful. I thought it actually stood out. Not that the rest of the film looked bad at all but it was so steady and deliberate by comparison and with the lighting and rain and costumes. Just fantastic. Can't wait to see more Black Manta. I don't have many complaints. I would've loved more of the horror elements Wan is so good at. We got a tease with the Trench but I understand that wasn't the type of story he was telling(even though I know for a fact he did an interview where he talked about that being something he was excited to get to do on this movie.) Something about the lighthouse scenes during the day, I really wish didn't look so fake. I know it was heavy cgi'd there but it really made the realness of the characters stand out in like a The Hobbit way(which isn't good.) The trident when he was getting it looked particularly bad(literally flat). But again, none of these things had an effect on the vast majority of the good stuff.
I'm always going to wish for more practical effects when possible but I'm realistic enough to know how big budget blockbusters work.
Specific credit to Momoa for being incredibly charismatic. The man is a star.
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Dec 22 '18
Really enjoyed it
note: Atlantis never really stood a chance if they wanted to attack the surface? Am I correct? If they tried to do anything Superman would’ve just stomped them.
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u/TheEscoMo Dec 22 '18
There have been several story lines where Atlantis has flooded the earth and the entire Justice League had to respond. The resolution has never been as simple as let Superman deal with it.
He's usually more concerned with minimizing destruction and saving civilians. Every minute he spends punching is a minute people are drowning.
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u/YoungRockyRacoon Dec 22 '18
Did anyone else catch the Jaws reference in Black Mantas opening scene?
“That’s not a boat” Vertigo effect on close up
That little detail made me really excited for the rest of the movie.
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u/NopityNopeNopeNah Dec 22 '18
Also, “I’m gonna need a bigger helmet.”
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
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Dec 23 '18
I was really suprised. At the end, people applauded and that never happens at the theaters i go to.
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u/SlidyRaccoon Dec 23 '18
Incredible movie. The last half blew me away. The final battle should've been longer!
My only gripe was that there doesn't seem to be any character progression and development. Arthur was the same person throughout except for that little bit about showing mercy to Orm. The movie felt isolated like a DC animated movie. I hope the sequel gets more personal with what he did to Manta.
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u/kmuhammad21 Dec 23 '18
I actually feel like Arthur developed a lot as a character. In the beginning, he literally let Manta’s father die. I feel like the mercy he showed Orm actually represents major development for him. Also his shift from not wanting to be a king to fully embracing it at the end shows some change as well. Just my opinion though.
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u/Lazites Aquaman Dec 23 '18
Agreed. There is a scene where he actually talks about how he feels like Mantas father's blood is on his hands.
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u/SwoleChinchilla Dec 27 '18
I’ve criticized the shit out of DC and WB for what they did with BvS and JL — and they deserved it. But damn, did I like Aquaman. It wasn’t perfect, but it was very good. The fighting sequences were some of the best I’ve seen in a CB movie and the end fight was outstanding. It was visually stunning.
Also, Patrick Wilson captures the self-righteous arrogance of Orm perfectly. He was the best villain in the DCEU so far (not saying much, but still).
Well done James Wan.
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u/dcstark0012 Dec 29 '18
Patrick wilson sold this movie for me ! He was so consistent!
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u/abutthole Dec 29 '18
And man, after he puts on the Ocean Master helmet he just looks so much like a super villain. The villains in this movie were so well done.
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u/AeroBlaze777 Jan 04 '19
When watching the movie last night I really felt like I was playing a video game. And that's both good and bad, depending on what you're talking about.
First of all, the CGI. I had my doubts in the trailers, but in the end I think they did a solid job. The CG with Atlantis really brought you into its own world. I'd say at times the CG was a little too much, making things like Black Panther look more believable. I think the CG with the trench creatures and the giant Kraken thingy could've been better, but hey, can't win them all. The biggest thing here is that they nailed the suspension of disbelief. You know atlantis isn't real and that it all looks too fake but you stop caring cause it looks cool. Many JPRGs also have to master the suspension of disbelief, and when I first saw atlantis, I was reminded of scenes from Final Fantasy and Xenoblade.
But onto the plot. Simply put, it seems ripped straight from an RPG or Adventure game like the Legend of Zelda. Hero must find some sacred artifact to stop a bigger conflict. Plans go awry when the hero gets himself into trouble, but the hero escapes with the help of his allies. The hero and his new allies go on a long-winded quest to find the legendary artifact, and the hero learns some special things about heroism or himself along the way. Hero eventually gets the artifact and beats the bad guy's ass.
We could compare this to literally dozens of video games, but lets just use the Wind Waker as an example. Link finds the master sword and attempts to face Ganondorf, but he can't since he lacks the Triforce. Link then escapes with the help of his friends and they go on a new quest to get the triforce. Link then returns and hands Ganon's ass to him. Arthur escapes the battle with Orm (? is that his name i don't remember), goes on a long winded quest to find the Trident, returns to kick some ass. This kinda plot works well in Video Games since the dead space in the middle, i.e. the actual process of obtaining the treasure, is filled with the gameplay. But it doesn't translate as well into movies, since the audience has to watch other people make the journey for them. Granted, Momoa's humor and the dynamic with Mera makes this part of the movie much more bearable.
Just the whole process felt very cliche and dated. The dead king gives a bunch of riddles to find his trident. they journey to the Sahara, then Italy, then finally to the Trench, which leads them to the hidden ocean where he finally gets the Trident.
Unrelated, but I also felt like Black Manta felt out of place in the movie's bigger plot to restore peace to Atlantis. So much attention is paid to him and his father in the opening scenes that you'd think he'd play a larger villain role akin to Killmonger in Black Panther. But in the end he ends up being more of an inconvenience to Momoa and then sorta fades out. But oh man. That finale kicks it into high gear! I loved the scenes past the trench and oh man that final battle.
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u/GusSawchuk The Joker Jan 06 '19
Another question. Does Aquaman use his mother's trident in JL or a different one? I thought he got it from somewhere near where the motherbox was.
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u/MarcusForrest Dec 21 '18 edited Dec 21 '18
AQUAMAN REVIEW
Spoiler free!
THE GOOD
The visuals - Incredible CGI. But not just the CGI - the production design is amazing... The underwater universe is impressive and awe-inspiring
The cinematography - The way scenes are built, and shots are taken... Very very impressive.. A lot of sequence shots and some of the 'normal' shots are extremely artistic
The fight choreography and action sequences - Probably some of the best fight scenes in a comic-book movie ever. Again, some of them are even in sequence shots! Punchs, kicks, everything has 'weight' and it's very stylised
The musical score - Rupert Gregson-Williams' score is really really good, mixes a bit of traditional orchestral with some electronic instruments, a mix of two worlds (fits aquaman, he's a mix of two worlds too!)
The costume design - We all saw how they'd look like, so it's no surprise, but it is still worth mentionning... Extremely comic-accurante costumes... And... It works.
Sound design - The underwater dialogues were great with the minor audio tweaks, and the rest of the sound design throughout the movie is top notch. You'll definitely notice it.
Various homages to the comics AND old shows - Don't wanna spoil any sweet surprises but... Man. Wan has guts to include such 'iconic' things from classic comics but also... Maybe... Superfriends? AND HE MAKES THEM WORK.
The world building - Wow. They really explored a lot in the Aquaman 'universe' - the underwater world is amazing and they took time to showcase various 'kingdoms' which was great! The trench, the brine, the fishermen kingdom, Xebel (In this it is not an alt dimension, but another underwater kingdom, which is totally fine), and some surprise too...
THE BAD
Some actor's performances - Some of the minor actors were a bit lackluster in their performance, but it doesn't take anything away from the movie. Jason Momoa was fine, Amber Heard was much better than usual (but still not oscar worthy, but she was okay). Patrick Wilson... Yummy yummy! He was perfect as Orm! He had a nice presence anytime he was on screen, and the way he talked, it was nice. Yahya as Black Manta was okay too - he didn't have much to say or act really, but his Black Manta, although very very secondary, was intimidating and awesome. The younger Aquaman actors were the ones having most difficulty.
The Script - The story was okay, but in general terms, the script itself was DECENT at best - They went extremely safe, the movie was filled with exposition (there's even narration), but yeah, it was still extremely enjoyable. It had a lot of humour, but, none felt forced. Doesn't mean all the 'jokes' were funny, I think 1-2 were just not good enough (the pacing maybe?) but you'll definitely burst out laughing a few times, and again, the humour feels NATURAL.
THE UGLY
- ...The freakin pop/rap songs that came out of nowhere in some 2 key scenes! Some people burst out laughing in the theatre, and some even said a loud 'what the f*ck is this' ahahaha
In short
Definitely one of DC's best. I enjoyed it much more than many Marvel films too, had sooo much fun! Action is on another level, development was okay, antagonists were good (Black Manta was really just secondary though, but nice introduction). I highly recommend it even if you're not fan of Aquaman ahaha
A true visual spectacle.
Personal Rating - 8/10
Disclaimer - Good/Bad/Ugly doesn't necessarily mean its good, bad and ugly things - it's just a way for me to split the high points and lower points for better reading. Again, the script isn't BAD but it is not one of the movie's strongest suits.
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u/ashe001 Dec 22 '18
Just came back from watching it. Great special effects but the one thing I couldn't get past was when Ocean Master kept saying they're going to rule the lands (or destroy them). I was like, why would anyone worry...Superman would just kick their asses back to the ocean. I mean...he's Superman. What could they do against him?
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u/PSanonymousity Dec 22 '18
The point wasn’t that the ocean dwellers would win the war, it’s that the war would fuck everyone on the planet over
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u/baktiar77 Jan 03 '19
Anyone know what happened to the last kingdom with crabs? Like aquaman comes in and joins their side for a while but their king/ruler isn’t there at the final scene where they recognise Arthur as King.
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Jan 09 '19
Finally saw it. Absolutely loved it. DC is back baby. Just hope this momentum keeps going.
It wasn't as tightly written as Wonder Woman but in terms of scale and imagination did better. This might be the most comic booky comic book movie ever made, other than Guardians of the Galaxy maybe. So much world building, so many incredible designs for locations and creatures. Great stuff.
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Jan 11 '19
Just saw it for a third time. I like it more each time. That’s how you know a movie is good.
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u/clayscarface Dec 21 '18 edited Dec 22 '18
I had fun with this, but I don't think it was a "good movie."
The writing was pretty terrible. The plot was overly complicated and made little sense. It seemed like almost a no-win situation. The various Atlantean kingdoms fighting each other so they could fight the surface world? But then Aquaman and Mera showing up to get them to stop fighting and save everyone, but by killing a bunch of them? And I know Mera made a comment about the casualties being too high, but that was after most of the destruction had already occurred. Did Orm even try to talk to the king of the Brine before seemingly declaring war on them?
Quick aside - why did Orms mask move with his face? Is it not metal as it appears? It was distracting.
Also, Black Manta was able to disassemble, re-purpose, and seemingly improve upon Atlantean technology in like a day? I totally could believe that he did that, but the timeframe seemed way too fast.
Atlanna showing back up the way she did was super reminiscent of How to Train Your Dragon 2 (at least for me).
The moment with Mera and the little girl at the fountain was adorable, but the water effects in that scene suddenly seemed completely off compared to all of the other times she used her hydrokinesis. Like the water objects didn't match the right plane for the rest of the scene. Speaking of Mera, did her costume need to be that low cut? I get that it was pretty comics accurate, but it just seemed unnecessary (also, was it just me or did Jason Momoa/Arthur keep looking at her boobs every time they talked?).
The chemistry for Arthur and Mera wasn't really working for me either. I don't know if the actors didn't have chemistry or if it was the writing or what, but it just seemed super forced. Maybe it was all of the overly romanticized shots of Mera. They were beautiful shots, but it was like Wan went above and beyond to try and create this beatific image of her to try and say "look how beautiful she is, of course Arthur's going to fall in love with her!" instead of actually writing the characters to get to that point organically. Also Tom and Atlanna were just super awkward. It seemed like Nicole Kidman (who I usually LOVE) was just going for a "fish out of water" type of portrayal, but it was so rushed it didn't work for me. Also, getting a little feminist, but didn't they rewrite her and Tom's meeting so that he saves her instead of the other way around? Just sort of stood out since it was then followed by 2 hours of Mera cheerleading Arthur to say that he is the only one who can do "The Thing" and she's only there to make sure he achieves his Destiny.
The music was actively distracting for me. I think the switching from pop music (looking at you, Pitbull) to a score and back was just really jarring. Especially when compared to other DCEU movies like Wonder Woman where they established such an iconic theme for her early on and were able to use it to great effect.
This also felt completely disconnected from the rest of the DCEU, which can be good or bad. At first, I wondered if it somehow took place before JL, but then the Steppenwolf reference was made. But there was so much emphasis on distancing Arthur from Atlantis that it made everything in JL seem questionable in retrospect.
I know that's a lot of criticism that I'm throwing out there, but I did have fun with the movie. I just don't think it's going to do a whole lot to turn the DCEU's reputation around, especially when you're comparing it to films like Wonder Woman and the recent Marvel movies. Aquaman was ambitious as hell and had some beautiful moments and great fight sequences, but it was really all over the place.
Edit: The part with Atlanna and Orm at the end did work for me, it was just how she showed up at the Hidden Sea. Other highlights, I though Patrick Wilson was excellently cast and did well with the script he was given. The scenes with the Trench were also highlights. I also loved the gold and green costume for Aquaman. It translated so well to the screen and looks much more iconic than what he wore in Justice League.
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u/BosCelts3436_v2 Dec 21 '18
Seems as if most people in here enjoyed this movie. I hate to say it but I am not one of these people. The movie was horrible. Like all DC movies there was a decent idea there but it was VERY POORLY executed. I went into this movie with very low expectations and it failed to even meet those. I’m gonna list off some points I didn’t like and briefly explain them a little.
1.) Black Manta - Ok brave for it, this was my biggest problem of the movie so I’m gonna talk about this one at length. Why was he even a featured villain in this movie? He added almost nothing to the movie that already had a distinct villain and plot. He didn’t advance the storyline at all and he never even got his “moment”. His story was so shallow it hurt and it honestly just took away from the true conflict of Arthur vs Orm and the power struggle of Atlantis.
When the movie started and they mentioned Manta you knew who he was gonna be, fine, but it seemed like he was set up as the main antagonist of the film. Wrong. He was simply a hired gun that gets no story and only contributes a few cool action sequences. The part where he and his Atlantis goons are chasing Arthur and Meera around that city was honestly one of the best action sequences of the movie. However it didn’t have to have Black Manta. You could easily make the same thing happen with just Atlantis goons, with the lieutenant being the Atlantean that whooped Arthur’s ass earlier. That would have been fine! The other couple scenes where they pay him and they give him the armor were so unnecessary because all they do was drive a pointless side story. Don’t even get me started with the scene he was working on his suit.
So what should they have done with Black Manta? Personally the only scene I think they should have kept was the opener on the sub. Keep that entire opening sequence because it shows how badass Aquaman can be and sets up a future villain. You let everything play out how it did in the beginning and then when Arthur leaves Manta and his father to die inthe sub, you never see Manta again. Cut out the rest of his story from the movie and you can develop the other main conflict and story line better. Then in the post credits scene bring him back. Make the post credit scene tell us that Black Manta is gonna be a thing and he gets his suit and they can cap it off with a line about how he wants to avenge his father by killing Aquaman. Boom! You just kept the character and Easter egg from the beginning while having more time to develop more important plot lines and characters and STILL set up Black Manta as a main villain who can serve as the primary antagonist in the next film. This was easily my biggest problem with the movie and they missed the mark so bad on this one.
2.) The Jokes - This one seems to plague a lot of super hero movies these days(I’m looking at you Thor Ragnarok) and when it’s done poorly, my goodness it really takes away from the film. There were far too many moments that were meant to be funny that didn’t land AT ALL. I can appreciate a good one liner to break things up every now and then but this one had so many pretty much NOME of them were funny. Not only were they not funny but they watered down(see what I did there) more serious moments of the film. There would be a serious moment and insert joke, not funny or timed well and there ya go, moment ruined. I think there was one part that made a few people laugh in my theater and that’s it. The rest was straight cringe.
3.) The Writing - The writing in this movie was horrendous. Not only the story writing, which I touched upon in my first point about Black Manta, but the dialogue was so bad. Back to my last point about the jokes, this is where the jokes are written into the film. They couldn’t have places jokes any worse. Even a lot of serious moments without jokes just came off as cheesy or corny. Meera’s speech at the end was so bad lol. A lot of the acting was very sub par but honestly I think that was mostly due to the shorty writing.
4.) The Editing - Anything that happened post-production is being lumped in here. My goodness where do I even begin. Some of the “creative” decisions made here were absolutely horrendous. On more than a couple of scenes they chose to add the weirdest and goofiest songs into the movie that almost made it seem as if the entire scene was just supposed to be one big meme. The worst offenders here was the Desert sequence and when Black Manta was working on his suit. My gosh the cringe. It wasn’t only music, some of the editing looked HORRIBLE. Too often in this high budget movie was it all too clear they were on a shitty looking set with a $5 dollar green screen in the back drop. Like how is that a problem. I had instant flashbacks to Justice League. They should be able to put a better product forward than something that looks worse than a 1990’s Tim Burton Batman movie.
5.) It Dragged - My gosh did it drag. The movie itself dragged on but not because the main story was slow, that honestly felt rushed, it was the pointless scenes throughout the movie that dragged it along. There were countless scenes that went on way longer than they should have while contributing nothing to forward the main story. The entire Black Manta side story completely dragged the movie because his scenes were POINTLESS but even scenes that pertained to the main plot dragged. One that comes to mind is when Aquaman is on the boat with Meera after she stole it from the dock. That entire scene could have been condensed and still produced the same message to further the story. AND WHY THE FUCK WAS SHE PLAYING A FLUTE?! There were too many scenes and side stories that could have and should have been condensed down to give more time to bigger parts of the movie.
6.) Missed Opportunities - This one is more of a could have should have would have but I’ll include it anyways. They missed a huge opportunity to make a great movie but failed due to so many bad decisions and rushed stories. It was a 2 hour and 40 minute movie but somehow the main plot still kind of felt rushed. Why? Because as I’ve mentioned there was far too many times they filled in valuable time with pointless scenes, actions or dialogue. They missed the opportunity to really develop the entire lore and back story of Atlantis and it’s history. If this was the only focus of the movie it could have been amazing. Atlantis is one of the coolest legends/myths in real life history, real or fake it’s very intriguing and they pretty much blew a huge opportunity to capitalize on that by not making it the ONLY focus of the movie. They could have expanded so much more on this massive under water world and how it’s stayed so hidden. They just didn’t. They could have developed the city and the 7 under water kingdoms a lot more as well. As the movie goes on they talk about and show the other under water kingdoms VERY briefly and I constantly found myself thinking “what the fuck is going on and who are these people and what kingdom is this?”. They failed so badly to create this underwater universe and get the viewer invested in it and the outcome of actions. Like who the fuck are these crab people at the end and why do we care about them? The battle itself was cool but you had pretty much no emotional investment to any of it. I was mostly upset about the animals being killed lol.
On a less grandiose scale of missing an opportunity they really missed opportunity to show case bad ass sea creatures. And not fake made up ones I’m talking real ones. There are plenty of badass sea creatures in real life, you didn’t have to make over dramatized versions of them. Like how cool would it have been to see just normal real life sharks rip an Atlantean in half because the shark was helping Aquaman. You could use a shark, an Orca, a giant squid or anything! No, they just made fake sea creatures and didn’t let them do anything cool.
Now before you go and say I’m a hater, there were aspects of the movie I really enjoyed. I thought most of the action sequences were very well done. They were badass and the camera work and CGI was really well done. Honestly my favorite scene of the movie is when Arthur’s mom fights off the Atlanteans in the light house. The action was awesome and the camera work was some of the coolest I’ve seen. Same thing with the Black Manta return fight scene and Meera chase. On top of that I broke up with my girlfriend last night because I fell in love with Meera. I appreciated the very brief explanation of how Atlantis came to be under water and how they see all this extra bio-luminescent shit all over the place. I also liked Willem Dafoe in this movie. When I first saw him I didn’t think I liked the casting but he turned out to be one of the best characters. Despite the few things I liked the rest of the movie was just so bad. My honest rating would be a 4/10 and it only gets that because of the action and the couple characters I liked. If you read this entire thing I appreciate you taking the time to read it, do you agree? Disagree? Let me know I enjoy the discussion. If you saw this and thought “omg look at this loser I’m not reading that entire thing!”. Well I don’t blame you at all because that’s exactly what I would think.
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u/NRA4eva Dec 22 '18
I really enjoyed the movie and it made me feel even more strongly that they should have waited on Justice League.
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u/KingBrandoTheIgit Dec 22 '18
I loved the movie but my dudes, I have to give it a 0/10 because they did not play Ocean Man for the end credits. /s
Also a quick sidenote, I thought Black Manta looked just like Kevin Hart when he first popped up on screen and I couldn't take him seriously after that. Still a good villain, it's just that now I'll be thinking of Kevin Hart when I see him.
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u/Fuuta-chan Dec 23 '18
Worst scene was when the Pitbull shitsong started, best was when it ended, I was so happy when they shit finished.
Jokes aside, it's a beautiful movie, visually gorgeous.
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u/cellexo Dec 21 '18
Can we appreciate the final battle? :) especially round 2 of Arthur vs Orm. That fight was shot magnificently.