‘Blu-ray or Bust’ - AQUAMAN

‘Blu-ray or Bust’

AQUAMAN (2018, 143 minutes, DC ENTERTAINMENT/WARNER BROTHERS)

Holy fish nipples—it sure did take a while for the DC Universe to awaken to the juggernaut which is Marvel.

They seemed dead-set on concentrating on a small number of properties, mainly Batman and Superman—so much so that much of their comic’s content went ignored. When Marvel opened the door for them, it was with little known characters, or ones that at least had never gotten the big screen treatment before. With GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and ANT-MAN, the studio proved that you could get away from the mainstream heroes like IRON MAN and CAPTAIN AMERICA and still provide the audience with originality and humor.

Not to rain on DC’s successes: Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman with his DARK KNIGHT trilogy was quite successful, but so was Tim Burton’s BATMAN vision back in the day. The hiring of the ultra-serious Zack Snyder to bring SUPERMAN back from hiatus was also profitable, even if it was met with mixed reviews. There was also the “Wonder Woman” TV show back in the 70’s, but that seemed more a weekly show about a damsel-in-distress than it did about a near-goddess. Yes, DC has stumbled a bit along the way—but it has also soared, and not necessarily upon the cape of the Man of Steel.

The WONDER WOMAN movie may have helped rejuvenate a flagging DC Universe, but AQUAMAN has cemented it, made it a relevant reality. The casting of Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones”) was a brilliant move. He brings an everyman quality to the character of “Arthur”, the reluctant half-breed son of the former Queen of Atlantis (played by the always incredible Nicole Kidman—seriously, I don’t care how old she is, she can still pack a punch, and I am still willing to bear her children). He is called upon to save Atlantis, the place he renounced when his mother was sacrificed to The Trench. But his half-brother Orm has taken the throne, and wants to wage war on the surface world.

One of the several beating hearts of this film are the strong female characters, which you have the aforementioned WONDER WOMAN to thank for. Amber Heard plays Mera with a tough yet amusingly cynical approach; she doesn’t necessarily think that Arthur is cut out to be the king of Atlantis, but she’s willing to kick a whole lotta butt to protect him. And Nicole Kidman as Arthur’s mother proves that even mommies can open up a can of whoop-ass when needed. DC is totally capitalizing on Marvel’s idea to hire first-rate actors to play their heroes, and it pays off wonderfully.

What DC does with AQUAMAN is they took a character that was seen by many in the comic world as being not-so-cool and turned him into an utter badass. But they’ve also begun to steer away from the seriousness of Zack Snyder’s take on the universe and injected a much-needed dose of humor. There are times in this film that lift it above your typical Marvel fare, and much of that is at Arthur/Aquaman’s expense. By being able to poke fun at its lead character, it allows the audience to relax—if not relate more—with its super human character.

There are several special features docs included with this release, and all are interesting enough to check out. The best is the final one, which takes you behind the production and shows you just how many sets they created for this film. Yes, there is a lot of CGI, but not as much as you would expect. And the fact that Mr. Momoa looks to be as much fun on set as he appears to be onscreen is an unexpected bonus.

This is a game changer for DC. And while I do enjoy Mr. Snyder’s work (the Director’s Cut of BATMAN V SUPERMAN is near brilliant, and I’ll always stand by his Director’s Cut of WATCHMEN as one of the best comic book movies ever made), I do hope that the studio sticks by this current trend. No, I don’t have to laugh at the hero, but it helps to be able to laugh because of them.

Film Grade: A-

Special Features: A

Blu-ray Necessary: Absolutely

- T.S. Kummelman