Aquaman movie

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by IMJ

I am really surprised by some of what I've read here. I haven't seen the movie yet, so it's not that I agree or disagree with any of this, but the media spent the last two weeks really hammering home how great this flick was for the DCU, but then just today I saw a headline that said "Aquaman posts the lowest DCEU Opening".

I guess once again, the initial media narrative is a manipulation rather than a report.

Well the movie opened up here like a week before Christmas so it is not shocking in my opinion. I think DC should have moved up the release date. But the movie opened up overseas two weeks ago and has brought in 400 million and doubled its budget from overseas alone, so I think the movie will do relatively well. Nothing amazing, but will make a healthy profit for WB. Anything it gets over here will be icing on the cake.

I am going to see this after Christmas. I wasn't going to but everyone in this thread has been praising this movie.

[Leo656]

Current plan is to go tomorrow night after we do Christmas Eve dinner at her grandma's.

Looks pretty good, but I swear, I never knew there was so much f*cking neon on the ocean floor. "WB: We Make Overreacting To Criticism Into An Art Form."

Add me to the "I never met anyone who called themselves an Aquaman fan" pool, too. I like the character fine but never really read any stories that made me wanna follow him consistently. One of the reasons I've been fine with DC's approach to the films so far is because of situations like this; we're now in a position where an Aquaman movie can not only exist, but potentially do very well, simply because some people already liked what they saw of Mamoa's take in previous films, and are willing to put the "It's Aquaman, he's lame" stuff out of their head on the strength of Mamoa's performance and enthusiasm.

Sure, they could have in theory put out an Aquaman movie before BvS or Justice League, but it wouldn't have taken off. The conversation back then was, "They shouldn't even waste time with Aquaman", and references to the sh*tty TV pilot they couldn't even give away for free. The little bit of Mamoa we got previously made people want to see more, and gave WB the confidence to invest in the character, and now here we are. I call that a win.

I agree with Krutch that it does look "stuffed", and also, that it probably comes from the new hyper-nervous (though admittedly wise) position of, "Don't bank on a sequel; if you have Good Stuff, then give it up while you can." They should've had that approach with the Green Lantern movie. I like that movie more than most, but it absolutely left all the best material for the sequel we never got. Now that there's no plan for DC films going forward, it only makes sense to just go balls-out every time, just in case.

[Krutch]

Originally Posted by IMJ

But could you expand on this? Why? How? I really am curious, and if it's true I'm not trying to crap on it at all, but I mean, how do you get into Aquaman fandom?

See, it's funny because to me he's the obvious choice to check out. He's got a unique power set and lives under the sea - you instantly know it will be a very unique reading experience compared to the land-based heroes. And you have so much flexibility as a storyteller writing Atlantis mythology.

What kills me is how inconsistent he is in the hands of the many, many writers that have taken a pass at him.

Need a character who can lift up a nuclear submarine with his bare hands? Aquamans your guy.
Need a character who gets taken hostage without explaining how? Aquamans your guy.
Need a character who can lift Sub Diego out of the water? Aquamans your guy.
Need a character who is attacked by normal ****ing crabs and loses a hand? Yyyyup - Aquamans your guy!

But yeah, I've just always liked Aquaman. He's different.

What can I say? I've always supported the King.

Originally Posted by Leo656

Looks pretty good, but I swear, I never knew there was so much f*cking neon on the ocean floor. "WB: We Make Overreacting To Criticism Into An Art Form."

Well, if it means anything, there's actually a tiny sequence which explains why things look so vibrant

[Andrew NDB]

Mostly it's (and I actually own all the Aquaman comics up until 4 years ago) a long series of writers beginning after the 80s who have said, "I am going to use this run to FIX Aquaman in the public eye!" And every writer has a different idea of what that should be.

[Leo656]

So, like Wonder Woman, with more seahorses.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

So, like Wonder Woman, with more seahorses.

It's more like... take the young Wonder Woman training sequences/montages and add them to Black Panther, then add some Sword in the Stone stuff at the end and that's pretty much Aquaman.

[Leo656]

I was specifically referring to your description of the Aquaman comics, mate.

I mean, HOW many writers since the 80s have done some variation of "Who Is Wonder Woman?" as their Big Story? Your description of the Aquaman books reminds me a lot of that.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I mean, HOW many writers since the 80s have done some variation of "Who Is Wonder Woman?" as their Big Story?

Oh god, how true. Or to delve a little further, "Who is Donna Troy?" has been even more unendingly annoying to me.

At a certain point it's like, f***, if she hasn't figured that out by now then how the f*** are we supposed to?

[Leo656]

Totally agree. It really gives the impression to outsiders or casual fans that a character is "broken" if most of the stories are about someone trying to "fix" them.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Saw it yesterday.

It was really well done but overall pretty average to me. Loved Amber Heard and I thought Jason Momoa's performance was better than in Justice League. For what the movie was trying to be it was fine but it was probably about as entertaining as an Ant Man movie. I may like Wonder Woman more than this but definitely the second best DCEU film for me. Definitely the most consistent of their films, so far.

Spoiler:

It's a shame that they didn't do much with Black Manta. He didn't really serve much purpose in the film.

[Xav]

[Andrew NDB]

Again, it just bothers me somewhat that they had to go so big with this. When they try and top it in part 2, what... will there be a giant battle underwater AND aboveground, with troops and stuff?

Obviously the sequel will have Aquaman teaming with his brother against Black Manta.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Again, it just bothers me somewhat that they had to go so big with this. When they try and top it in part 2, what... will there be a giant battle underwater AND aboveground, with troops and stuff?

Obviously the sequel will have Aquaman teaming with his brother against Black Manta.

I wondered the same thing. That was like "Dark Knight Rises" trilogy-ending levels of final battle in the very first Aquaman movie. Where do you go from there?

[Cure]

You raise the stakes by making them smaller. One can easily write a much more personal story of Black Manta going after Aquaman and his family, doing some messed up things along the way to get at him. It's not hard to imagine.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Cure

You raise the stakes by making them smaller. One can easily write a much more personal story of Black Manta going after Aquaman and his family, doing some messed up things along the way to get at him. It's not hard to imagine.

Yes, but given how each of the DCEU movies has shied away from that sort of story-telling, I'm not sure I trust them to do a smaller-scale, personal vendetta type story.

The last CBMs I can think of that did that are Civil War and The Dark Knight.

[ranger_scout]

The film wasn't as good as Wonder Woman, but I was having a good time from start to finish. The underwater scenes looked exceptional even though I wasn't seeing the film in 3D. The story was also consistent and I did like both the heroes and villains. Unlike Justice League, Jason Momoa was given the chance to do so much more and show a good amount of personality. My dad and brother, who both saw it with me, enjoyed it as well, but they thought it was a little too long.

Spoiler:

It was strange but cool to hear Mary Poppins, Maria Von Trapp, and Queen Lilian's voice coming out of the Karathen. Julie Andrews did a superb job.

[AT-Man]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Yes, but given how each of the DCEU movies has shied away from that sort of story-telling, I'm not sure I trust them to do a smaller-scale, personal vendetta type story.

The last CBMs I can think of that did that are Civil War and The Dark Knight.

China wants spectacles, and spectacles they shall get.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Yes, but given how each of the DCEU movies has shied away from that sort of story-telling

Yeah. Consider Man of Steel => BvS => JL. There was certainly no "slowing down" going on.

[oldmanwinters]

I had very low expectations for this one, but I had a ticket voucher, saw it, and I liked it! Glad I paid a little extra to see in IMAX, as it was well worth it as a visual marvel. I was more invested in the plot and characters than I expected. I never thought I would be excited to see Aquaman earn his iconic costume, but this movie made it incredible.

Also, it was nice to see Amber Heard featured in her iconic Mera costume for the majority of the movie. Very nice, indeed.

[MikeandRaph87]

This quote caught my attention.

"It’ll also be the leggiest comic book superhero movie since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in 1990 ($135 million from a $25m launch). Yes, the Christmas season provided a considerable advantage, but it’s still pretty damn leggy for a big-scale Christmas release. Not to get too hyperbolic, but it is possible that it could swim past Deadpool 2’s $318m (or $324m if you count in Once Up A Deadpool) by the end to become 2018’s fifth-biggest gross."


https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme...ber-heard/amp/