So, Aquaman's been out a few weeks now and is totally deluging the box office with ticket sales. See what I did there? LOL Aquaman has hit the world with the force of a tidal wave, and shows no sign of stopping. As of January 10, Aquaman had earned over $978 million and should break $1 billion by the end of the weekend. (UPDATE: According to Forbes, Aquaman broke the $1 billion mark yesterday.) The earnings before the weekend totals come in was already $150 million plus over the DC comics film universe biggest hit, 2017's Wonder Woman. It also beat EVERY Marvel solo film in China in just 7 days. You know what? IT DESERVES EVERY FREAKING PENNY!!!!
I find it ironic that the DC Comic's character that was always the butt of jokes for decades is becoming such a major character in the DCEU. There are a ton of reasons why this is so. One of those reasons is that the studio ignored the fact that people have dismissed Aquaman as being "the guy who talks to fish" and looked at why his character has endured for nearly 80 years. His first appearance was WAY back in 1941. To put that in perspective, I am over 55 years old. My MOTHER was 2 years old when Aquaman first appeared. I first saw Aquaman on TV in the 60s and 70s through the Filmation cartoons, including the Super Friends. But, those perceptions of Aquaman's lameness were never something I shared.
Aquaman has always been cool, no matter what you've heard. He has super strength, is nearly invulnerable due to the denseness of his muscles and skin because of living at extreme depths. He can swim at very high speed, leap several hundred meters at a time, has the agility of a dolphin, obviously can breathe and speak underwater, can see in the darkness of the deepest waters, and, of course, can communicate with and command undersea creatures. Let's not forget that totally badass trident, too. Oh yeah, he is also the King of Atlantis. So, Aquaman is totally a hero who has not received his due. Until now. James Wan recognized the coolness factor of Aquaman when decided to take on the challenge of bringing the King Of The Seas to the Silver Screen. Reportedly, Wan had the choice between making a Flash solo film or Aquaman and chose the latter because it was a challenge he wanted to accept in bringing a less popular character to the big screen. James Wan is the second reason for the success of Aquaman.
James Wan has been making a name for himself in Hollywood for years by directing and/or writing some of the best horror films of the 21st Century: Saw, Insidious, the Conjuring, Dead Silence, Annabelle, and The Nun. He has only only made three non-horror films including Aquaman: Death sentence and Furious 7. He has this seemingly uncanny ability to know what the audience wants and delivers it in spades. Nicole Kidman raves about the Insidious and Conjuring films and is one of the reasons she agreed to appear in Aquaman. He also knows casting, seeming to find the perfect actor for every role.Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Dolph Lundgren, Willem Dafoe, and Patrick Wilson all just seemed to be perfect in their roles. Not to mention most of the cast had appeared in superhero films before. Patrick Wilson's appearance in the film was almost guaranteed, as he and Wan has collaborated on four other films before this. The casting of other characters whose roles were not as large also worked extremely well. Temuera Morrison as arthur's father was actually insisted upon by Jason Momoa, as he is a huge fan of Morrison and sees him as a role model. But, casting Randall Park as Dr. Shin and Graham McTavish as King Atlan are outstanding as well.
The story is widely being compared to Black Panther (favorably) and there are definite similarities. I won't go into those here, since so many others are already doing so. But, the simple fact is that they are there, but, in Aquaman, Momoa's Arthur Curry is the Erik Killraven character. Think about it. For all the similarities between the two films, Aquaman is NOT a ripoff of Black Panther. Both films stand alone in their incredible stories. Both are a heck of a lot of fun, too.
Another reason Aquaman works so well is the fact that it IS fun. The DC and Marvel cinematic universes are always going to be compared to each others. Marvel's early films are known for their humor and characters who pop off quips constantly. Especially Tony Stark/Iron Man. The decision was made by DC to make the DCEU films darker in tone to set them apart from the MCU. That was a major mistake, in my humble opinion. Okay, so Batman is the Dark Knight, all broody and borderline psychotic. We get it. But, Superman has always been the bright side of the World's Finest equation, the sun to Batman's moon. The fun was gone when they rebooted Superman and the DCEU. It wasn't until Wonder Woman that humor started to creep back in. Kind of fitting, really, that a female character would bring a ray of hope into the DCEU. James Wan and Jason Momoa broke through the veil of darkness in a huge way in Aquaman. Finally.
From the opening scene of Aquaman taking out the pirates, we finally see a hero who enjoys doing what he does, as he showed in the Justice League movie. As he takes out the bad guys, he smiles and jokes. No, not everything is funny, but there is a balance previously unexplored in the DCEU. There is an undeniably contagious energy for the audience watching this. Even at its darkest moments, Aquaman delivers the joy of being a comic book fan. An octopus playing drums? A copy of The Dunwich Horror in Tom's lighthouse, Gerry Anderson's "Stingray" TV series on the television, Annabelle laying on the floor during Arthur and Vulko's meeting, King Ricou being named after Ricou Browning who was one of the portrayers of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, ....all of these are loving nods to fans of genre movies, TV, and comic books. In fact, according to Wan, the drum playing octopus is Topo, AC's sidekick from the 60s & 70s. Although the film has serious themes, these little touches keep it lighter in feel to previous DCEU entries.
Finally, one of the biggest reasons for Aquaman being such a great movie is the imagination used by those who created the undersea world of the film and the success achieved in translating those ideas to reality. The film is the first DCEU movie to be shot completely digitally, but it is not completely dependent on CGI. Some of the costumes and makeup designs used were a combination of practical effects makeup and CGI, and it is seamless. Some lesser hailed designs, like Black Manta's sub, are really amazing true to the comics. But, of course, the biggest set pieces, Atlantis and the Heart Of The Ocean are breathtaking. I predict multiple technical Oscars for Aquaman. Going back to Black Panther, wakanda was gorgeous, but that was far easier to create (in my mind) than an entire undersea world. Bravo!!!!
So, on the whole, I have to say that you MUST go see Aquaman. See it in 3D IMAX if you can. It is worth the extra money for IMAX. Come back tomorrow for the first in a series of daily reviews of films old and new.
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