Aquaman, another flop of DC

Rating: 5/10 (24 December 2018)

Marvel x DC is the rivalry of this century. Clearly, though, Marvel has always taken a lot of advantage in this confrontation. Simply because their adaptations are better, better done, and especially, have infinitely better scripts.
It's amazing that at a time when technology is so advanced as to create amazing scenarios and great underwater scenes, perhaps what "Aquaman" does best, DC can not get someone decent to write a story that is minimal enough evoke Freudian problems with father or mother, and embarrassing situations. The scripts are the greatest Achilles heel of DC productions. If "Batman vs Superman" (2016) had that embarrassing scene of the two heroes resolving a fight just because they discovered that they had the same name of the mother, in "Aquaman" we were presented to the monster alone and with depression. Alone and isolated from the world in the depths of the endless sea, Karathen warmed his heart just because Arthur (Jason Momoa) talked to him.
"Ohh, you talked to me. How beautiful. In a thousand years, no one has ever done that. Can take the trident for you".
This is just an example of how "Aquaman" is flopped, although it had great potential.
Overall, the tacky aesthetics established by Zack Snyder also tired. And let's face it, never worked very well in the DC film series. The best works in this sense were precisely the "300" (2006) and the "Watchmen" (2009), perhaps one of the best films based on comics.
Joining this to the moments worthy of a cinema that is not practiced more - what was that kiss of the Aquaman in the princess Meira (Amber Heard) in the middle of the war? - there is very little left to praise about the film.
But let's try a few moments. For example, the underwater scenes are actually very good and well made. The special effects idem. The whole fight in Sicily is also a high point. All the aesthetics and design of Atlantis, a civilization extremely advanced in relation to the human, have also been very well made, although sometimes Atlantis looks like a scrap of "Avatar" (2009) with "Carbono Alterado" (2018) .
On the other hand, it is too tiring Aquaman's quest for such a magic trident. Was it even necessary to show in detail and with generous time all the peoples of the seven seas? If they were more restrained, it would save at least half an hour of film. And there was still the parallel plot of the Manta (Yahia Abdul-Mateen II), a surface villain who gave a hook for a second movie.
Speaking of villains, King Orm (Patrick Wilson) is an embarrassment that only DC gives us. He has tantrums because he has a half-blooded half-brother, wants to start a war with the surface based on a supposedly nasty assault. In addition to becoming the Lord of the Oceans, what ambitions are Orm wanting to start a war with the surface? Want to be the lord of the planet? After all, you can not believe that men are polluting the planet and you have to act before it's too late. And all part of an anger of the half brother, whom he blames for the death of his mother, in short, everything very badly counted.
Speaking of the relationship of Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) with her children, another DC problem arises. Lack of care with what we call transmedia storytelling. This is another moment in which Marvel is giving a bath in the rival. During the film, Princess Meira quotes that the Aquaman needs to reclaim the throne or the brother will initiate a war. And it recalls its importance in defeating Stepenwolf, thus implying that the film follows the events of the "Justice League". So far so good. The problem is that in "Aquaman," Arthur says that he never treads on Atlantis because of what the people did to his mother. Only that of stepped there in "Justice League" to speak and fight Steppenwolf.
In addition, in "Aquaman", it is clear the love and devotion of Arthur for the mother since always. The problem is that in "Justice League" he speaks of Atlanna with rancor, as if he had been abandoned ("Your queen left me at the door of my father's house"). But in "Aquaman," it is shown that both had a coexistence in Arthur's childhood and the clear love between them, in addition to the devotion that has lasted forever. That is, the DC multiverse has holes and contradictions. And it is not tied tightly. And this is further evidenced by the lack of planning for the next steps.
James Wan did not deliver the Aquaman to his full potential, but Jason Momoa looked very well in the lead role. It looked like it was the right choice, though the alpha male bombed look was very different from the original Aquaman.
But DC still owes a string of great movies in its new phase. The only one that deserves all the praise remains "Wonder Woman" (2009).