As superhero origin epics fare, James Wan’s “Aquaman” ranks as a seaworthy saga with spectacle to spare. Jason Momoa of “Fast X” is perfectly cast as the exuberant man who feels as content with dry land under his feet as he does navigating the depths of Davy Jones' locker. Nevertheless, there are moments when you have to wonder if the filmmakers didn't go overboard in their efforts to forge a new superhero franchise that recycles the venerable British myth of Excalibur as well as the intergalactic intrigue of “Star Wars.” The sea warriors sport their own distinctive brand of armor, but the influence of the Darth Vader's storm troopers is clearly apparent. Comparatively, the origin story segments generate greater spontaneity and deliver more emotionally charged sentiments than the clash for power between Aquaman and his chief adversary King Orm (Patrick Wilson of “Watchmen”) over who will wear the crown as the king of the seven seas and command a multitude of undersea armies. Orm’s efforts to incite a war with landlubbers and his antipathy for his half-breed brother Aquaman are straight out of a 1950's era Hollywood cavalry western where the hero is an army scout who has lived with the Indians and understands their plight. Sadly, Wan and scenarists David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, working from a story by Geoff Johns, James Wan and Will Beall, based on the DC Comics character created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, duplicate George Lucas’ “Star Wars” franchise with similar heroes and villains—tweaked of course—but comparable to Lucas’ characters. For example, although he has less power but a longer life than Obi-Wan Kenobi, Willem Dafoe’s character Vuklo is reminiscent of the Alec Guiness character. After all, he mentors the youthful Aquaman in the ways of the seas as well as the use of underwater weaponry.
Ultimately, what undercuts the best parts of “Aquaman” is the addition of a love story between our eponymous hero and Mer (Amber Heard of “Drive Angry”) and a disposable subplot involving Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II of “Ambulance”). Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the action laden sequences aboard a Russian sub where Aquaman and Manta square off after our protagonist kills the latter's face. Nevertheless, clocking in at a mind-boggling 143 minutes, “Aquaman” suffers from a surfeit of plot. Initially, Wan and his collaborators could have jettisoned this flotsam of a subplot and saved it for the sequel. The clash of titans subplot that eventually leads to Aquaman becoming the king of the ocean is taken to extremes, too. We’ve seen this kind of filmmaking too often and it just clutters up the beautiful origins story between Aquaman’s mom Atlanna (Nicole Kidman of “Dead Calm”) and his lighthouse father Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison of “Once Were Warriors”). It seems that Atlanna washed up with a wound literally on Curry’s doorstep at his lighthouse tower and he nursed this babe back to health. They grew on each other and inevitably as is the case, they fell in love and gave birth to Arthur. The search for the ultimate Trident and the depths our brawny hero must go to in order to claim that elaborate fork as the symbol of his power is straight out of the King Arthur legend. Altogether, Wan and company go overboard and pack too much into their narrative net. Happily, produced at around $200 million, “Aquaman” earned back its budget three-fold with a worldwide take of over a billion dollars! The undersea vistas as well as the exotic creatures lure in the forbidden depths of the trench that challenge both Atlanna and our hero are as extraordinary looking as the scenery is stunning. The cast that includes luminaries like Dolph Lundgren, Michael Beach as Manta’s father, Randall Park, and the voice of Julie Andrews as Karathen provide robust support for the Indeed, James Wan and his school of executive producers, including Peter Safran, Deborah and Zack Synder, Walter Hamada, DC Comics’ own Geoff Johns, and Jon Berg, deserve kudos for their accomplishments. One of my favorite scenes takes place in a bar when Arthur and his father are guzzling beer. A group of pugnacious hooligans approach our hero with what appears to be sinister intentions, but they turn out for happy campers who only want to take a selfie of themselves with Arthur. The montage of photos is hilarious as well as refreshing in what might have degenerated into just another cliched barroom brawl.
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