AQUAMAN: A TITANIC WAVE!

    So I just saw Aquaman and I've got a couple of things to say. Before I start, if you were worried about it being bad, you're safe; it's not.  So let's start from the most essential part of the film;

1. THE STORY

Arthur and his Father

    Before I started, I was a bit scared that the film would act as a justice league sequel of sorts rather than an aquaman stand alone film and I was glad to see that they only referenced the film once and it was for about four seconds.  Aquaman isn't trying to set up a million future films or anything, it's focused on the story and the story is really simple.

Arthur and Mera journeying together 

  There's a cliché fate of the world stake but this time, the stakes revolve around Arthur himself.  This fight is not for the justice league, it's a personal journey of Arthur Curry, the half breed known as the Aquaman.  Loosely based on the new52 storyline; Throne of Atlantis, Aquaman draws elements from that story but instead, it doesn't completely make the principal antagonist Orm pure evil, instead, it manages to make him stay in that thin line between evil ruler and crazed psychopath.  

I read a couple of reviews for this film that complained about it being too long and honestly I didn't even notice the run time. I feel like most critics just look for the dumbest things to complain about. I don't think anything was drawn out, all the character development went side by side with the story's narrative.  The story itself like I said is basic, Arthur Curry half human,half atlantean is forced to go and Challenge his full breed brother Orm when he threatens to destroy the surface world which Arthur calls home. The fact that James Wan(director) and his team could make a two hour plus film from that which manages to be entertaining through out is truly a remarkable feat. I also want to commend the way flashbacks were used in this film, they really fit perfectly into the narrative rather than slowing it down without pay off. 

2. The Music

   After seeing the final trailer from Aquaman, I couldn't help but feel goosebumps when I heard the theme they used for the film.  So, today when I got into the theatre and watched the film I was really impressed with not only Aquaman's theme but the villains theme which really surprised me.  

It's menacing, it sounds strong.  I think the best way to describe is something that scares you but also attracts you at the same time.  When they first played in the first Black Manta scene, I was like "yo,this sound is really intimidating". It kept me thinking of what to expect when ever the villains show up.  Now, the music isn't all great, there's this terribly placed song that plays when Mera and Arthur are bonding.  I think that was the song that drew me out of the narrative a bit, i felt like they could have used something much better but other than that the music was terrific.

3. The Villains

King Orm

   Each character here has their specific motivations, Arthur wants to save the surface world, Mera wants peace in Atlantis, Black Manta wants revenge, Orm wants to destroy the surface world.  So, I'll start off with the villains, first off let's talk about Manta.  Black Manta in this film gets backstory and you understand why he's after Arthur but you never understand why he was doing what he was doing before that.  

Black Manta

You hear a story about his grandfather or so but still, it doesn't feel like a well planned backstory because even before wanting Arthur, Yahya(the actor)  plays Manta with so much passion and aggression that you want to know what drives this kind of man.  People say he's not in the film for long but I feel like he had an appropriate number of scenes here.  He's menacing each time you see him and he's truly a worthy adversaries.

  Now, let's talk about Orm,for the most part of this film, he's a really convincing villain, strong, dangerous, intelligent and precise. With all those attributes he carries all the scenes he's in really well but by the end of the film, I think they nerfed him just to get that happy ending.  Other than that and the fact they didn't tie in the destruction in man of steel as one of his motivations , I really enjoyed him a lot. I think both villains played their part really well.

Shout out to Mera,she was freaking badass and strong

  With that being said, I will not pretend that Aquaman is a masterpiece.  Everyfilm has it flaws, they were moments where I felt like it was trying to be too funny but that's just a little issue.

This scene was kind of annoying to me but funny 

Another thing was Atlantis, I loved how beautiful and full Of life it was but I feel like they went a bit overboard with the level of technology the city had, It was just too much honestly, from Water holograms to gigantic wa. I just felt like it should have been toned down a bit, I think if they reduced the level of technology advancement, Atlantis would feel a little bit more real.

 Asides from that, Aquaman is a really good film, it's enjoyable,funny,has cool characters,its visually pleasing and it's a film for everyone.  Its not super cheesy and it also doesn't take itself to seriously.  Before seeing it,i was contemplating whether to see it or Spider-verse and as much as I love Miles Morales, I was glad I saw this first.