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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11204 Location: Bright Falls
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Aquaman
Quote: Aquaman is a 2018 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the sixth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Directed by James Wan, with a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, from a story by Geoff Johns, Wan and Beall, it stars Jason Momoa as the title character, with Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Nicole Kidman in supporting roles. It is the third live-action theatrical film featuring the title character, following Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017) and the first full-length feature film centered around the character. In Aquaman, Arthur Curry, the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, must step forward to lead his people against his half-brother, Orm, who seeks to unite the seven underwater kingdoms against the surface world.
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Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:04 am |
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Darth Indiana Bond
007
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:43 pm Posts: 11009 Location: Wouldn't you like to know
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Re: Aquaman
People have seen this flick?
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Mon Dec 03, 2018 4:13 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67043
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Re: Aquaman
We will do in 3 days.
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Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:52 pm |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11204 Location: Bright Falls
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Re: Aquaman
Not sure where to begin here, I hated Justice League and have not been fond of other recent DC films including Wonder Woman either. And Aquaman pretty much falls into the same mess as them, jokes are dumb or fall flat, muddled story and character development, uninteresting action. For the first half of the film I wasn't really bored though, and in the second half there's some cool horror-like underwater sequence, but the film is long at 140min. and I had grown tired of it by the time it was over. Like BvS before it, Wan, or DC really seem to want to set up this epic superhero film, but they just stuff too much in it, that nothing gets the time to play out. It just a continuation of jokes and action, and to some extent it felt more like a comic book film more than any other film in a good way, so from a frenetic and spectacle standpoint there were things I liked. Sound is good too and from a technical aspect the underwater world building at times looked incredibly impressive visually. So there are parts I enjoyed here and there, Momoa is cool as Aquaman and I like the roles of Defoe, Kidman,Lundgren and Wilson as well. But Heard's only asset is her looks, she's distractedly hot, but annoying when needing to convey any kind of motion and ends up miscast. There's also this Black Manta character or something in the film, and it all just feels so unnecessary and unimportant to the story and is not a serious threat to Aquaman in any way either (the films' after credits scene, with him, is lame too). DC apparently has pretty terrible villains. Anyway, I did not hate it, my expectations were not high and it was pretty much in line with that. Some of the underwater scenes were quite enjoyable, but there's simply just not much else to watch it for.
C-
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Sat Dec 08, 2018 5:19 am |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 18878 Location: San Diego
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Re: Aquaman
I thought this was really entertaining. Visually gorgeous and the action was really well done. Don't really get the complaints about story, it's a pretty standard story but there's nothing wrong with it. Character is a bit lacking (Arthur/Mera romance is not earned at all), but overall a really enjoyable movie.
1. Man of Steel 2. Wonder Woman 3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition 4. Aquaman 5. Justice League 6. Suicide Squad
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Sun Dec 16, 2018 4:18 am |
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Passionate Thug
Top Poster
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:01 am Posts: 5261 Location: Wakanda
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Re: Aquaman
Just what you need a "comic book" movie to be. My initial thought that an action sequence literally every 2 minutes would get old quick but James Wan mastered it perfectly. It plays a lot like one of DC's Animated movies. Get a general set up then ball out. Visually it's the best looking DC film to date outside of the Krypton Scene in Man of Steel. My favorite parts were the "Trench" and "Ending mega battle". Nice little nod to Justice League as well to just barely keep the universe together. If Shazam and Wonder Woman 1984 are decent it definitely puts them right back on track.
My DC rankings
1. Wonder Woman 2. Man of Steel 3. Aquaman 4. Batman v Superman 5. Justice League 6. Suicide Squad
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Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:11 pm |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11204 Location: Bright Falls
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Re: Aquaman
DCEU:
1. Man of Steel 2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 3. Aquaman 4. Suicide Squad 5. Wonder Woman 6. Justice League
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Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:24 pm |
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Brian
Ocarina of Time
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 1:21 pm Posts: 7951 Location: Hyrule
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Re: Aquaman
I loved it, a visual masterpiece. Mamoa carries the whole film but all main characters have their moments to shine; both villains were outstanding, Orm and Manta are menacing...... and Mera.... she's gorgeous.
1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition 2. Man of Steel 3. Aquaman 4. Wonder Woman 5. Justice League 6. Suicide Squad
_________________ Most Anticipated 2023
1. Super Mario Bros Movie 2. Rebel Moon 3. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 4. Oppenheimer 5. The Flash 6. Elemental 7. Aquaman 2 8. Dune Part 2 9. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 10. Blue Beetle
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Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:49 am |
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Mau
100% That Bitch
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:42 pm Posts: 16898 Location: Monterrey, Mexico
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Re: Aquaman
A Rly good Comic book film and second best after WW in the DCU.
B
_________________ Tongue Pop!
I kneel with Magnus.
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Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:36 pm |
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Flava'd vs The World
The Kramer
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am Posts: 23781 Location: Classified
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Re: Aquaman
Meh. It has some really cool parts that were making my inner comic fanboy squeal, but as with most of the DCU, it plays like something that was written by 10 people who all had their own ideas on how to make The Next Worldwide Smash Hit That Everybody Will Love And Cherish Forever. Because of this the movie never seems sincere, only desperate to please me constantly. It is a whore.
But the action scenes and effects in general still make it worth watching. I'm all for a spinoff about the giant octopus who plays drums.
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Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:18 am |
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Flava'd vs The World
The Kramer
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am Posts: 23781 Location: Classified
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Re: Aquaman
Best Parts:
1. The Octopus 2. Amber Heard - I'm surprised at how much I liked her. Her character is basically just sexy warrior princess but her facial expressions are always on point. Like a mix of ScarJo's natural charm and Gal Gadot's childlike innocence. 3. The transitions and long shots - very fancy. Especially during the fight with Black Manta
Worst parts:
1. The editing. I know it seems weird to bash when I praised the transitions, but I'll give the cgi team most of the credit for that. This was the biggest disappointment. Wan is sooo good at setting up his scenes, both scary and action. But here, things just happen and then more things happen and then more things happen. There's so little context to anything. Couldn't we get 15 seconds for the crab people before using them in the big heroic final battle? Or get 15 seconds to establish Arthur's father before forcing the romantic beats upon us? Little things like really add up and this hurt the movie the most. 2. The dialogue. My goodness. Again if it was playing as a dumb 90s disaster movie it could have gotten away with this. But as the next Avatar? Not so much. 3. Black Manta. Wasn't ever sure if I was so supposed to be sympathetic towards him. They give him and his dad a lot of screen time, but only after they've established him as a murderous psychopath. And every one of his scenes could have been accomplished by any Atlantian asssassin.
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Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:38 am |
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Flava'd vs The World
The Kramer
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am Posts: 23781 Location: Classified
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Re: Aquaman
1. Wonder Woman 2. Man Of Steel
3. Suicide Squad 4. BvS
5. Aquaman 6. Justice League
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Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:50 am |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11204 Location: Bright Falls
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Re: Aquaman
Good review flava'd!
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Fri Dec 21, 2018 3:43 am |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 18878 Location: San Diego
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Re: Aquaman
Huh, I thought the editing was pretty well done.
The only thing I really disliked was the quick 15 awkward seconds of that Pitbull song (like... why) but thankfully it's that short.
Saw it again in Imax tonight. Don't usually notice it but the wide shots in Imax are gorgeous.
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Fri Dec 21, 2018 3:57 am |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Aquaman
Beyond moments of visual splendor and one fairly exciting action sequence (the chase and fight in Sicily), I did not enjoy this film very much. I understand it is aiming for a certain Flash Gordon absurdity, with characters riding armored seahorses and so on and so forth, but it is not complemented by enough joy or mischief. It registers as an inexplicably dreary kind of camp, short on the 1980 Mike Hodges film's zany buoyancy.
The nonstop computer-generated chaos, however well-rendered, grows numbing, and the world building is unimpressive beyond its superficial majesty; this Atlantis is certainly an elaborately staged light show, but its culture and politics never feel authentic or shaded in the way, say, George Lucas' planets often did in his flawed Star Wars prequel trilogy (which this film reminds me of).
It is also just super, super long. Neither the combination of Jason Momoa's burly, one-note machismo and Amber Heard's photogenic vacancy nor the, "Will our hero accept his destiny as king in time to stop a war?" storytelling is enough to sustain interest for two-and-a-half hours.
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:59 pm |
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Dil
Forum General
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm Posts: 8942 Location: Houston, Texas
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Re: Aquaman
I loved it. Yeah the script has problems and some of the acting and dialogue is dodgy as hell, but my god did I have a blast watching this. It is easily one of the most insanely comicbooky superhero movies I have ever seen, and I love the fact that it embraces and even relishes in it's own ridiculousness without giving two shits. This is the kind of fun experience that I was hoping for with the past DCEU films that I never got, but maybe I'm a bit bias because I already have a fondness for swashbuckling adventure flicks like this whether your talking about The Mummy from 1999 or the POTC movies including DMC which I do honestly kind of love as well even though I am aware its not as good as the first movie. I wasn't completely sold on Mamoa before, but he was pretty awesome in this. Sure he's automatically a cool dude just by looking at him, but I thought he had a lot of range and charisma here as well. He's a very likable character and I even enjoyed his emotional scenes with his parents whether it was Nicole Kidman or Temuera Morrison. James Wan's direction really shines here too IMO. So many well staged action sequences with the big fight with Black Manta in the city being my favorite right next to the pure, epic insanity that was the final battle. I definitely would have liked to see a bit more of Atlantis because I had such a good time being in that world and seeing all the various creatures and people in it, but I was still mostly satisfied with what we got anyways.
A
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Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:25 am |
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Dil
Forum General
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm Posts: 8942 Location: Houston, Texas
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Re: Aquaman
My ranking of the DCEU films so far:
1. Aquaman 2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition 3. Man of Steel 4. Suicide Squad 5. Justice League 6. Wonder Woman
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Sun Dec 23, 2018 3:50 am |
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Jmart
Superman: The Movie
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 8:47 am Posts: 21152 Location: Massachusetts
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Re: Aquaman
If Momoa and Heard had even an ounce of chemistry I might have been a little more invested in the batshitiness that is Aquaman. But they don’t. And as the film went along I grew more and more bored. If I was invested in them then I might have been invested in the stakes. Instead, it’s a visual treat, and there are a couple of fun action sequences (and the movie gets bonus points for having the Curry’s be Boston Bruins fans), but that’s about all it has going for it.
At least it’s better than Batman v Superman. The DCEU (or whatever the fuck they want to call it) seems to be heading in the right direction.
C+
1. Wonder Woman 2. Man of Steel 3. Aquaman 4. Justice League 5. Suicide Squad 6. Batman v Superman (any version)
_________________My DVD Collection Marty McGee (1989-2005)
If I’m not here, I’m on Letterboxd.
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Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:22 pm |
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BJ
Killing With Kindness
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:57 pm Posts: 25020 Location: Anchorage,Alaska
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Re: Aquaman
This movie is AWESOME!
BJs Grade:
A
DCU:
1. Wonder Woman 2. Aquaman 3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition 4. Man of Steel 5. Suicide Squad
Have not seen Justice League.
_________________The Force Awakens
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Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:04 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67043
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Re: Aquaman
So a King Arthur movie has finally caught on in the US and is making money! Just under the guise of Aquaman instead of the British legend. It's amazing how similar the central plots are. He's even fucking called Arthur!
Anyway, this was a bore. Apart from the Sicily sequence and The Trench dive (which was gorgeously shot), it's a bad film. But I kind of appreciate it as an origins story. It's better than Wonder Woman. It started off ok, and I feel like everything on land was actually fine enough, but most of the film is underwater, and those scenes blew. I hated Atlantis, with its modern spaceship-under-water vibe. The acting is bad all around, and I still don't like Momoa playing a "bad ass" biker dude (which then screams like a bitch inside that pod when Amber Heard rescues him from the duel with Patrick Wilson). Though actually, I felt Amber Heard was the best one in the film. Super hot and just invested a little more than the rest, it seemed.
The film was just oddly pieced together. I found it difficult to get into its rhythm. All the gags flatlined, most due to delivery. Just directing a brick shithouse like Momoa to play the jokey guy was never going to work. And that Black Manta was a terrible villain. He looked like the black Power Ranger!
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Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:54 am |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11204 Location: Bright Falls
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Re: Aquaman
I went to see this another time together with Algren, despite not liking it much the first time around, and I pretty much experienced it the same. The story is just not compelling for me, and it makes me check out most of the time. Its got a few great set-pieces as the Atlantis escape and the Trench dive that are worth experiencing on the big screen, but everything else around it is mainly fluff for me.
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Wed Dec 26, 2018 1:59 pm |
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am Posts: 14544 Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Aquaman
This was incredibly lame and dull. I hated it.
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Wed Jan 02, 2019 11:41 pm |
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Felipe
Child Actor
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:20 pm Posts: 36
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Re: Aquaman
mmmmmmm I didn't know what to expect from this movie and I still do not know. Almost fall slept 3 times.... forced jokes... nah!
A........QUAMAN deserves a C
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Thu Jan 03, 2019 7:34 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67043
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Re: Aquaman
Felipe wrote: mmmmmmm I didn't know what to expect from this movie and I still do not know. Almost fall slept 3 times.... forced jokes... nah!
A........QUAMAN deserves a C For a split second there I thought you'd given it an A.
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Thu Jan 03, 2019 8:17 am |
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Harry Warden
Orphan
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:47 pm Posts: 19747
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Re: Aquaman
Yeah. this was pretty awful. Incredibly noisy and still seemed really pointless. The acting is horrible across the board as well. Kidman probably fared the best but even she and the usually reliable Willem Dafoe are pretty bad. The two leads are completely awful. Momoa makes The Rock look like an Oscar winner by comparison. Heard is, as always, amazingly gorgeous but even Mike will admit that she's not a very good actor and this isn't the film to change that perception.
RE: Algren and Black Manta - And then he looked like a Power Ranger villain once he got the power suit.
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Thu Jan 03, 2019 2:34 pm |
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