Aquaman Retrospective Review & Analysis

Aquaman is the 6th movie in the DC Extended Universe. In today's edition of the Nerd Heaven Podcast, I delve into this story, discussing what worked for me, and what didn't. Ultimately, while I had been hoping for something more along the lines of Man of Steel, I found there was a lot to enjoy in this underwater tale. And bonus points because they filmed it here in Australia.

Transcript

Before we launch into today's episode, I just want to acknowledge the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the actor who played Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I've just read that he passed away due to colon cancer at the age of 43. That's just one year older than me. My condolences go out to his wife and his other loved ones. It's really sad to hear of anyone who has died, but someone who is public like this who is loved for his art...yeah I just wanted to acknowledge that.

 

Welcome to Nerd Heaven.

I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars.

And I am a Nerd.

 

Today, we’re talking about Aquaman.

 

DC Fandome happened two weeks ago. It was pretty exciting. We Got a teaser for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which was awesome. It gave the promise of a much deeper weightier version of the film. I’m very excited for it. We learned it will be shown in 4 parts, each episode 1 hour. And then later be edited into a 4-hour movie.

 

We got reveals of all the characters in The Suicide Squad. We learned the Flash movie is very much focussed on the concept of multiverses.

 

And we got a trailer for The Batman. And I have to admit, it looks really good.

I’m still mourning the loss of Batfleck, and I’m not sure why we need another Batman trilogy not connected with the established continuity.

 

But the movie has a lot of promise from what I’ve seen. I don’t doubt Robert Pattison. I’ve always kept an open mind about him.

But speaking of Affleck, there’s a lot of chatter online about him returning to play Batman in The flash movie, although nothing was said about this at Fandome. So … I’m still not 100% sure whether to believe it or not.

 

Part of me thinks it’ll be one last hurrah to farewell his character, and that they may use the whole flashpoint thing to replace him with Pattison. But who knows.

Anyway, it’s an interesting time to be a DC fan.

 

So let’s dig into Aquaman.

 

The description on IMDB reads

Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.

 

The screenplay was written by

David Leslie, Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall

Based on a story by

Geoff Johns James Wan and Will Beall

And this movie first released on the 26th of November 2018.

 

I love the way they  use the underwater effect over the studio logos at the start. Very effective

 

We launch straight into the meeting of Arthur’s parents in 1985.

Wow, so that means I’m quite a bit older than Aquaman, and by extension, probably Jason Momoa.

ISn’t that weird. I mean, Jason is a “real man” so I tend to assume he’s older than me.

 

I love the way Nicole Kidman plays the confusion of her character, Atlanna, in a world that is so alien to her. Going to the surface would kinda be like going into space for us.

It makes some sense that she’d eat the goldfish. She doesn’t know when she’ll get her next meal in this world, although I think it’s mostly played for comedy.

 

And yet, she speaks and understands perfect english. The ability for characters to communicate is always a challenge for writers of sci-fi and fantasy, so I can understand why it is often just ignored, like in the stargate TV shows,  But I wish they’d had her speak a completely different language upon first meeting. All it would have taken was a quick montage or him teaching her a few words, and then have her use a slightly broken english after that.

 

As it is, they cut from first meeting to pregnancy. IT would have been a really easy fix.

I like how they point out the significance of the fact that atlanteans and humans are biologically compatible, able to reproduce. That IS a big deal.

 

She sees this as symbolic of Artuhr’s ability to unite two worlds.

And then the guards show up, wanting to bring her back to the arranged marriage she fled.

I love their laser weapons, and I REALLY love their water-filled EVA suits.

But we notice straight away that she can breathe oxygen? This will be addressed later.

 

Atlanna returning home in order to protect Artuhur, is somewhat reminiscent of Jor-el and Lara sending Kal-el away to protect him.

It’s a touching scene. But i’m not sure it fully captures the unbelievable, indescribable pain, of saying goodbye to your husband and son for the last time.

 

The transition from her going home to the aquarium is cool.

And the scene where the fish come to little Arthur's rescue is awesome. And then they all just crowd around him with reverence. Great stuff.

This has to be a purely instinctual reaction on their part since fish are not sapient.

So we see a submarine get hijacked. I kinda like the line “I won’t tell you how to captain if you don't tell me how to pirate”

 

There’s some interesting father and son stuff with Black Manta and his Dad. Apparently, his grandfather was a frogman in WW2 but after the war, his country forgot him. We’re not really told specifically what this means, but clearly there was  some --- about how he was treated in a post-war world.

I wonder, was it a racial thing? I can well imagine that black soldiers returning from the war were not given the respect they were due.

In any case, it has resulted in three generations of piracy. Quite a legacy that mistreatment created.

So Aquaman shows up This will be our first look at adult Arthur Curry in this movie, but from this point on, the story is set after Justice league.

Already I’m appreciating this character more than I did in the second half of Justice League. 

We’ve got a little of the grittiness back that his early appearance promised. And a lot less of the silliness.

So Black Manta has been scouring the seas looking for Aquaman. And he’s just like “Do I know you?”

What’s not clear to me is why this man has been searching for Aquaman. In a few minutes he’ll have good motivation. But to my knowledge there’s no reason for animosity between them right now, other than the fact that Aquaman just ruined his planned piracy of this submarine. Maybe that’s enough.

 

I like Aquaman’s response to this guy raising this son into a life of crime.

“Shame on you,” he says, without a hint of irony.

 

I’m actually seeing a lot of the man-of-stel-eqsue emotional grittiness in this scene. It’ll get a lot chessier later in the film, but I’m loving this stuff.

 

Despite his crimes, we can really empathise with black manta at this moment, as he’s forced to leave his father behind to die. Aquaman has effectively killed his father.

Now he has strong motivation.

Good stuff.

Very emotional.

 

Where did David Kane and his dad get the futuristic submarine that looks like a spaceship? Remember, I even found it hard to accept Batman’s troup carrier in Justice League, and that, at least, was developed with Bruce Wayne’s fortune.

I love sci-fi technology, but it has to have a reason to exist.

 

So Arthur goes to meet his own dad, which provides quite the counterpoint to Manta’s loss.

 

And while I’ll certainly question the moral choices of the Kane family, I don’t doubt the love that existed between father and son. Both of these men had great relationships with their dads.

Which makes them mirrors of each other, in a sense, but is also a nice change from the stereotypical broken father relationships you often see in fiction.

 

When Arthur’s dad says “I’ll buy you breakfast,” and then the camera immediately cuts to a massive empty beer glass being slammed onto the bar, I laughed out loud.

 

The thugs wanting a selfie with Arthur was mildly amusing but also a bit on the nose.

 

Visually, Atlantis looks amazing. Very impressive visuals.

But there’s definitely a feeling of un-reality to it. They give an occasional bubble out of the mouths of the creatures to hint at this all being underwater, but it really doesn’t look like it is. Everything is too clear. I can buy that in this underwater world, sea creatures would be domesticated in the same way that land animals have been by humans, so rinding on seahorses and sharks. Okay. But the sheer size of these creatures is a big thing to ask of our disbelief. And the way the sharks are controlled. Again, the only way I find I can buy this is if there is telepathy involved. The movie doesn’t outright say this, but I have to employ this as head-canon to make it work.

 

I like how there is such a big world underwater, with multiple kingdoms. All collectively known as Atlantis. But for all of this to be down there undiscovered by humankind? Sure, I can buy they would be able to hide themselves from us in the great depths of the ocean, but why hide themselves? They seem to have had little to fear from humans throughout most of history. With today’s modern weapons, I guess we pose more of a threat to them. But then, they have water-lasers.

The prevailing opinion seems to be to let the humans destroy themselves, but Orm sees them as a threat, a threat that should be confronted, not hidden from.

 

And then these ancient ruins are attacked by a submarine. They’ve been discovered. It seems Orm was right to view the humans as a threat. It makes sense that they would be found now. After Justice League, the existence of the mysterious Aqua man is public knowledge. Many will be curious and will be actively searching for the truth behind the legends.

 

And then Mera shows up to seek help from Arthur.

The whole history between Arthur’s contact with Atlantis is a bit muddy. We know he’s met Mera before. In Justice League, he went down underwater to speak with her. So her had first met her even before that. But he’s never actually been all the way into Atlantis itself. I’d have liked this to be explained a little better. I’m not sure which movie to fault, this one, or Justice League.

Mera wants Arthur to take up the mantle of rightful King of Atlantis. An idea he finds laughable. They don’t want me. They executed my mother. I’m illegitimate and half human.

But a character named Vulko believes in Arthur, and has found evidence of an ancient lost trident he believes will allow Arthur to rally the people behind him.

This is some pretty standard almost cliche fantasy fare here.

 

Arthur has no interest in being King, but if Orm attacks the above world, he’ll treat him mercilessly. Just as his mother was treated.

 

And then, the little twist. David, soon to be Manta, is secretly working with Orm’s faction. He hijacked the Russian sub and used it to simulate an invasion from the surface dwellers, so Orm could get the other kings on side. But Manta is very angry that Arthur intervened and killed his father. He cares nothing for helping Orm. He just wants revenge.This also explains where Manta and his dad got the super advanced spaceship sub. I’ve only ever seen this movie once, and there’s some details here that I’d forgotten.

 

The scene where the giant wave sweeps a battleship toward shore looks fantastic, as does the effect as Mera holds back the water so Arthur can get his dad out of the ute. (what Americans call a pick-up truck. I need to add that become statistics show most of my listeners are American)

Arthur learn’s Mera’s name for the first time, so clearly, they are not all that well acquainted.

 

Orm has officially declared war. All over the world ships are being washed up, along with rubbish - lots of rubbish - that has made it’s way into the oceans.

It wouldn’t be an Aquaman story without an environmental angle. It’s kind of part of the deal, isn’t it.

My question is, how is this much rubbish ending up in the oceans? Oh, I know ocean plastic is a real issue that threatens marine life. But our rubbish here in Australia is all buried in land fill. We don’t just dump it in the sea. I guess I’m possibly not very informed on this issue. Probably should do some research.

Anyway, as much as Orm is the bad guy, I kinda don’t blame him for dumping all that back to us.

 

Now we get a childhood flashback, and get to learn more about this character Vulko. He’s the atlantean who taught young Arthur to use his powers.

By the way, have you noticed just how much the atleantean’s clothing resembles the black kryptonian suits? Very similar texture.

We get more great underwater visuals.

Arthur learns that he can talk underwater. This still bugs me, and will bug me all though the movie. There should at least be bubbles. When you speak, you are expelling air through your mouth. I wonder if it would have been practical to make all underwater dialog telepathic. It would make for challenging performances, and they’d have to record all the dialog separately. Yeah, probably impractical, but part of me would love to have seen it tried.

Anyway, I’ve said my piece. I’ll put this issue aside now.

Arthur is willing to help Mera defeat Orm and prevent the war, but after that, he’s done.

He really is a reluctant hero. This mirrors his journey in Justice League.

He wasn’t interested in helping Bruce, but when the war came to him, he had no choice but to help. 

 

So arthur goes to Atlantis for the first time. When you see all the traffic lined up to get in, you realise just how vast the population of this world is.

Highborns can breathe underwater and in air. Which explains how Atlanna was able to breach on the surface, but the guards who came after her couldn’t.

This actually makes some sense. The whole concept of highborn, or nobility, basically represents a narrowing of the gene pool. In many stories, this narrowing is done deliberately to keep a certain genetic trait from becoming widespread. In this case, a remnant from their time before Atlantis sunk underwater. Of course, narrowing the gene pool can cause all sorts of problems as well.

 

We get some cool worldbuilding. We see Atlantis while it was still on the surface. How they had a technological society, more advanced than ours, in some ways, in ancient times. I love this kind of stuff. The idea of ancient advanced societies is very compelling. 

In the end, it was their own pursuit of power that lead to the fall of Atlantis.

And Vulko tells of the lost trident of Atlan, first ruler of Atlantis. It was imbued wit the power to command the sea. Vulko has information that will lead Arthur to it.

But before he can embark on his quest, he is captured by Orm’s forces.

 

Orm baits Arthur into a challenge. If Orm wins, it will solidify his position.

Arthur is confident he can win. But that’s typical tough-guy bravado. 

It was kind of stupid on Arthur’s part. You don’t run into something like this without understanding what you’re getting yourself into.

but then, that’s Arthur. He’s a flawed character. He’s impulsive. And I like that.

And he’s right about one thing. If he wins, it’ll solve all their problems.

 

They cast both the child Arthur and teenage Arthur pretty well.

 

I love the flashback, when Orm finally admits to Arthur that his mother is dead, and that she had married Orm’s father. Very emotional. The look on Arthur’s face really hit me. Right in the heart.

Great acting.

Then he says, “Are you saying they had her executed, for having me?”

Wow. What a thing to live with.

 

Ok. So now we come to the ring of fire.

I don’t know how to tell you this, but fire kinda doesn’t burn underwater.

Now, looking at it, I think it’s supposed to be magma. Ok. But water would cool it and solidify it, right? And if the water’s not cold enough to do that, well, Arthur and Orm would probably be quickly turning into seafood chowder.

And, they’re not swimming. They’re walking around, as if this was the surface.

Everything about this annoys me. I know it’s hard and expensive to shoot everything on wires to make it look realistic, but…..seriously? If we’re not gonna bother to do it right, why are we bothering at all?

 

In science fiction and fantasy, you have to suspend your disbelief on a lot of things. Men can’t really fly, or breath underwater.

But you have to really think about what you want the audience to believe.

A superhero movie like this asks for quite a bit of suspension on the big stuff. So don’t make us suspend our disbelief on the mundane. With stuff that is …… silly. Dare I say stupid?

 

When I say I want my superhero movies to be realistic, I don’t mean that every detail must be exactly true to life, because then it wouldn't be a superhero movie anymore. The most important thing tends to me the emotional realism. But stuff like this can be important as well.

And the line is gonna be different for everybody, but for me, this scene crosses the line.

 

And here’s another thing that crosses the line. An octopus playing the drums.

What? Is this a sapient octopus?

 

So Arthur’s mother’s trident, the one he wielded in Justice League, is destroyed.

Mera has to interrupt the duel and rescue him to save his life.

Arthur has now lost all credibility. He’s discouraged and a laughing stock.

This has set Mera’s plan back significantly.

He was supposed to have Atlanta’s trident before challenging Orm.

Oops.

Again, I like this because it’s Arthur’s character. And it’s all part of his arc.

We get a fun action scene as the spaceship submarines chase each other through atlantis. All good spectacle.

 

So hiding inside the whale was clever. It seems Aquaman’s ability to communicate with sea creatures is unique to him, not common to all atlanteans.

 

And then, suddenly, we go from the ocean to the Sahara. How different can you get?

There’s a nice quiet scene on the plane where Arthur realises how much Mera has sacrificed for him. When she rescued him, she effectively banished herself from Atlantis. Even her own father wouldn’t take her back now.

But in reality, her father still cares and wants her to be rescued, not killed.

 

Vulko convinces Orm they should be arrested and brought home.

 

There’s an Indianna Jones aspect to this movie, especially this part. I really like Indianna Jones

 

They don’t really explain how Mera and Arthur can jump from a plane and land unharmed on the ground. It seems they have Superman-level invulnerability.

The only explanation they really give for the Atlantean’s powers is that they naturally evolved underwater. But invulnerability like that? That’s a little far fetched.

I just don’t think this movie gives sufficient reason for the existence of these incredible powers.

 

Anyway, Manta has just been armed by Orm with Atlantean water lasers. He uses the Atlantean technology to build himself a suit. And Black Manta is born.

 

We get some more cool mythology. One of the tribes of Atlantis settled out here when it was still an inland sea.

When the water dried up, they died out.

So now we have the remains of an ancient aquatic kingdom buried under a dessert.

That’s really cool.

 

And now Mera has telekinetic powers to draw water out of Arthur’s body and make it fly through the air. Oookay.

 

I’ll admit I did laugh out loud when Arthur said he could have just peed on the machine. Does that make me a bad person?

 

The idea of a sacred object that can unite a divided people is a common trope. The sword of Kahless from Star Trek comes to mind.

But…..how does that work.

The trident in the wrong hands could be devastating, but in the hands of the true heir, it could unite the kingdoms above the surface and below.

How? Why?

How exactly will the people put aside their differences because some bloke comes along holding a trident? I don’t understand the logic.

 

Orm really is a bad guy. He kills the king of the fishermen in front of his daughter, and them commands her to rally her armies. She’s not exactly say no, is she?

 

Arthur figures out the mystery of the bottle. It’s nice to see Arthur portrayed as having a brain, as he’s been portrayed as kinda stupid in recent scenes.

Manta shows up, and they have a big battle.

The line when he says “Call me Black Manta” was pretty cheesy. I don’t think we needed that.

 

The battle in the town is pretty good, in an Indiana Jones kind of way. It’s not a deeply emotional fight, but the spectacle is entertaining.

 

But Manta must have some REALLY good shock absorbers in that armour of his.

Arthur has a nice reflective moment.

He had a choice to save Manta’s father. He chose to let him die.

And now he’s made an enemy. It’s a nice relaiseation. I was thinking the same thing during the fight. So nice to see Arthur contemplate it as well. How might this all have unfolded differently if he’d not let the man die?

 

He still doesn’t think he’d be any good at leading. He doesn’t play well with others.

But Mera sees him as a bridge between people. That’s his strength.

 

Vulko reveals his true allegiance in front of Orm and gets arrested for it.

Logically, it would have been smarter to keep holding his tongue but I guess he just couldn’t hold it in any longer. He’s been dying to say those words to Orm for a long time. I get that.

 

So Arthur and Mera are heading for the trench, where horrible beasts reside. The beasts his mother was sacrificed to.

But they show up early and attack the boat.

They’re super creepy. I love them.

 

There are so many of them. This is a really scary scene. Nicely done.

I just did a quick google search, and apparently flares that work underwater are a real thing. Ok. I can’t complain about that, then.

 

And then we find this weird air-filled cavern deep under water.

This is hard for me to swallow.

The title on the screen says, the hidden sea. Earth’s core.

First of all, core has got to be a bit of an overstatement.

The heat and pressure at the core of the earth wold be way too much for anyone or anything to survive. I mean, the depths we think of when we talk about going underground, they barely scratch the surface. Our planet is a lot bigger than I think people realise until they really stop and think about it.

I doubt a dry place like this underwater is in any way scientifically plausible.

I mean, it’s cool, but it’s really hard to swallow. And they don’t even try to explain it. This is the difference between a movie like this, and a movie like Man of Steel.

But … they’ve got dinosaurs.

 

Anyway, we find that Arthur’s mother, Atlanna is still alive down here.

Turns out, you can get into this place, but you can’t get out. The only way of escape is the trident.

It’s guardian will only allow the true king to pass.

 

Arthur is afraid. I think, because he still doubts his worthiness.

 

I really like Atlanna’s explanation of the difference between a king and a hero.

A king fights only for his nation. But Arthur fights for everyone.

 

Arthur didn’t come here because he thought he was mortal. He knows he is not.

He’s not here for selfish ambition.

He’s here to save his home and the people that he loves.

The guardian creature likes this. Finally someone who may be worthy of the trident.

So he gets the trident, and when he emerges from the waterfall, he’s changed clothes.

No explanation is given for this.

 

But he’s in the traditional Aquaman suit. 

I don’t know if that was really necessary. I just don’t know if the traditional costume really suits Jason Momoa’s Aquaman.

But anyway.

 

Orm is attacking the kingdom of the brine.

They haven’t accepted his authority.

 

The guardian creature is massive and pretty scary. But it’s not Aquaman’s noble steed.

To be honest, it’s doing all the work. Arthur is just standing on it’s back looking macho.

 

But he does call all the dolphins to come join the battle on his side.

 

There’s too many casualties. They have to end the battle quickly. Oh, but first, let’s have a good long snog.

I mean, I’m happy for them to have found love with each other, but it’s not really the time.

 

Mera’s father recognises Arthur’s authority by the fact that he carries the trident. That means the guardian has recognised him, and he commands the sea. The creatures of the trench obey his will.

That actually makes sense.

I’m starting to see how the trident can unit the people.

 

So they have a big fight, and Arthur spare’s Orm’s life. Showing mercy unlike he did with Manta’s father. This is a nice pay-off,

 

But then Orm learns his mother is still alive

She gives a nice speech, but those words are not going to be enough to sway him. Not in a hurry.

But Arthur is ready to talk, when Orm is ready. I wonder what might become of that.

 

But Atlanna’s place is not in the sea. It’s with her husband.

What a great moment when he sees her at the end of the jetty, and they are finally reunited.

 

So there you have it.

I’m glad I decided to cover this movie. I enjoyed it more than I remembered.

 

It’s not man of Steel, but it’s an entertaining movie. It’s like a Marvel movie.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this trip through Aquaman. It was fun. Next time, we’ll be looking at Shazam. That’ll be cool.

That leaves just one more episode before we launch into Star Trek Discovery season 3. I’ll probably do a recap of my thoughts on the first two seasons.

Don’t forget you can get the first book in my Jewel of the Stars series for just 99 cents at books2read.com/jewel (and that’s the number 2), and the prequel story for free by going to adamdavidcollings.com/free

 

And I’ll see you next time, on Nerd Heaven.