Well, the good news is that we finally have a good King Arthur movie for the first time in a very, very long time.
The bad news is NOPE, JUST KIDDING - IT'S ALL GOOD NEWS BECAUSE THIS IS A KING ARTHUR MOVIE WHERE AN OCTOPUS PLAYS THE DRUMS.
There's sometimes as fine line between movies that are genuinely good while being confidently big and brash and loud and kinda dumb, and movies that are equally confidently big and brash and loud and kinda dumb that they're more in the "so bad, they're good" category. At first blush, Aquaman seems to dance all over this line with abandon - equal parts swaggering and giddy as it dives through a hodgepodge of inspirations, genres, tones, while also putting Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry through a Hero's Journey that'll be more than a little familiar to anyone who's seen Black Panther or Thor.
But as ludicrous as the plotting gets and as inconsistent as a handful of character details feel, there's an earnest core that gives just enough weight for the story to stick and a small army of great actors who are absolutely committed to everything that's being asked of them.
It's kinda beautiful.
The story opens with Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis (yep, it's that kind of movie) washing up on shore next to a lighthouse run by Tom Curry. Nicole Kidman and Temura Morrison don't have much time to breeze through a year's-long relationship, but some endearing chemistry and clever visual language establish an adorable unlikely romance that results in the birth of "half-blood" Arthur. Arthur learns of his Atlantean heritage as a young child (Kidman reenacting the story of their most powerful king and his magic trident using a teddy bear and a fork is exactly as great as it sounds), meaning that the film gets to sidestep a lot of exposition dumping. By the time Arthur is an adult, he already knows about his mother's royal heritage, the existence of a magic underwater kingdom, his own super-human abilities, and has even been "Aquaman"-ing for some time - complete with social media-anointed nickname. The film conveys these things through early action sequences (like Arthur stopping pirates on a hijacked submarine) or cleverly-woven flashbacks that match-cut to "present-day" story beats.
Director James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) has a knack for not only genuinely investing in his characters even under absolutely ludicrous circumstances, but also a rare command of cinematic language. Aquaman has a lot of story, backstory, and plot to get through, but Wan finds ways of keeping it visual engaging, even if it's just two characters throwing monologues at each other, and he even manages to foreshadow entire character arcs into what could have easily been throwaway gags. It helps that he knows when to use familiar structural tools to his advantage when dealing with so much dense mythology. Arthur is tasked with claiming his rightful place on the throne in order to stop his half-brother from waging war with the surface world, getting pulled into court intrigue, treasure hunts for powerful artifacts, gladiatorial duels, and sequences that would feel at home in an H.P. Lovecraft story. It's. . . a lot.
None of it holds together with the graceful narrative control of Ryan Coogler's Wakandan epic, but Wan sprints ahead with enough affection for the setting and characters and exuberance that it's impossible not to get swept up. "Oh, you thought Aquaman is a lame character with stupid powers?" the movie asks. "Well, allow me, $200 million, and the stunt team from Mad Max: Fury Road to show you that all that 'lame' stuff is actually AWESOME." I'd rather not list all the outlandish things that this film throws at the viewer, because half the fun comes from realizing that, yes - you actually are seeing "that" in an real movie, but suffice it to say that the movie treats Arthur's ability to talk to fish more like Thor's control of his magic hammer than like a cheap party trick, and it works like gangbusters.
It helps that Jason Momoa's clearly having the time of his life as the title character. Momoa has yet to show himself to be more than a somewhat limited - if infectiously likable - screen presence, but he's well-utilized here as a man with a chip on his shoulder who must bridge two worlds with understanding, tolerance, and mercy. At every turn he's paired with one or more fellow performers who are either a veteran character actor or a living screen legend to bounce his Big Defining Character Moments off of, which is never a bad idea, but works especially well when folks like Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, and Patrick Wilson are going so hard in the paint. I cannot overstate how much fun everyone seems to be having with this delightful nonsense, from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's surprisingly sympathetic Black Manta to Willem Dafoe's clever twist on the "scheming vizier" to a delightful cameo from Julie Andrews.
However, at the end of the day, it's the genuine emotional warmth that ends up being the secret sauce, giving the larger-than-life Lord of the Rings-esque spectacle and scenery-chewing family melodrama actual impact. For anyone who's followed the Fast & Furious "Fambly" for the past eight films, this dichotomy of "I can't believe I'm seeing people do this!" and "These people better be able to do this!" will be familiar, but there's a message of inclusivity, empathy, and the rejection of toxic, violent culture that really brings Aquaman home.
Look, you'll likely know early on if this is the kind of pulpy silliness that you can connect to or that will utterly turn you off. It's as unapologetic in bringing comic imagery into the frame as a MARVEL Studios film, but the strange half-Ancient Greece, half-The Little Mermaid aesthetic combined with the "epic fantasy meets martial arts movie" film-making results in something utterly unlike anything else in superhero cinema, or even in modern blockbusters. If this sounds like your jam, you're going to have the time of your life.
And if not, I dunno, go see Into the Spider-verse again.
The bad news is NOPE, JUST KIDDING - IT'S ALL GOOD NEWS BECAUSE THIS IS A KING ARTHUR MOVIE WHERE AN OCTOPUS PLAYS THE DRUMS.
There's sometimes as fine line between movies that are genuinely good while being confidently big and brash and loud and kinda dumb, and movies that are equally confidently big and brash and loud and kinda dumb that they're more in the "so bad, they're good" category. At first blush, Aquaman seems to dance all over this line with abandon - equal parts swaggering and giddy as it dives through a hodgepodge of inspirations, genres, tones, while also putting Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry through a Hero's Journey that'll be more than a little familiar to anyone who's seen Black Panther or Thor.
But as ludicrous as the plotting gets and as inconsistent as a handful of character details feel, there's an earnest core that gives just enough weight for the story to stick and a small army of great actors who are absolutely committed to everything that's being asked of them.
It's kinda beautiful.
The story opens with Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis (yep, it's that kind of movie) washing up on shore next to a lighthouse run by Tom Curry. Nicole Kidman and Temura Morrison don't have much time to breeze through a year's-long relationship, but some endearing chemistry and clever visual language establish an adorable unlikely romance that results in the birth of "half-blood" Arthur. Arthur learns of his Atlantean heritage as a young child (Kidman reenacting the story of their most powerful king and his magic trident using a teddy bear and a fork is exactly as great as it sounds), meaning that the film gets to sidestep a lot of exposition dumping. By the time Arthur is an adult, he already knows about his mother's royal heritage, the existence of a magic underwater kingdom, his own super-human abilities, and has even been "Aquaman"-ing for some time - complete with social media-anointed nickname. The film conveys these things through early action sequences (like Arthur stopping pirates on a hijacked submarine) or cleverly-woven flashbacks that match-cut to "present-day" story beats.
Director James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) has a knack for not only genuinely investing in his characters even under absolutely ludicrous circumstances, but also a rare command of cinematic language. Aquaman has a lot of story, backstory, and plot to get through, but Wan finds ways of keeping it visual engaging, even if it's just two characters throwing monologues at each other, and he even manages to foreshadow entire character arcs into what could have easily been throwaway gags. It helps that he knows when to use familiar structural tools to his advantage when dealing with so much dense mythology. Arthur is tasked with claiming his rightful place on the throne in order to stop his half-brother from waging war with the surface world, getting pulled into court intrigue, treasure hunts for powerful artifacts, gladiatorial duels, and sequences that would feel at home in an H.P. Lovecraft story. It's. . . a lot.
None of it holds together with the graceful narrative control of Ryan Coogler's Wakandan epic, but Wan sprints ahead with enough affection for the setting and characters and exuberance that it's impossible not to get swept up. "Oh, you thought Aquaman is a lame character with stupid powers?" the movie asks. "Well, allow me, $200 million, and the stunt team from Mad Max: Fury Road to show you that all that 'lame' stuff is actually AWESOME." I'd rather not list all the outlandish things that this film throws at the viewer, because half the fun comes from realizing that, yes - you actually are seeing "that" in an real movie, but suffice it to say that the movie treats Arthur's ability to talk to fish more like Thor's control of his magic hammer than like a cheap party trick, and it works like gangbusters.
It helps that Jason Momoa's clearly having the time of his life as the title character. Momoa has yet to show himself to be more than a somewhat limited - if infectiously likable - screen presence, but he's well-utilized here as a man with a chip on his shoulder who must bridge two worlds with understanding, tolerance, and mercy. At every turn he's paired with one or more fellow performers who are either a veteran character actor or a living screen legend to bounce his Big Defining Character Moments off of, which is never a bad idea, but works especially well when folks like Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, and Patrick Wilson are going so hard in the paint. I cannot overstate how much fun everyone seems to be having with this delightful nonsense, from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's surprisingly sympathetic Black Manta to Willem Dafoe's clever twist on the "scheming vizier" to a delightful cameo from Julie Andrews.
However, at the end of the day, it's the genuine emotional warmth that ends up being the secret sauce, giving the larger-than-life Lord of the Rings-esque spectacle and scenery-chewing family melodrama actual impact. For anyone who's followed the Fast & Furious "Fambly" for the past eight films, this dichotomy of "I can't believe I'm seeing people do this!" and "These people better be able to do this!" will be familiar, but there's a message of inclusivity, empathy, and the rejection of toxic, violent culture that really brings Aquaman home.
Look, you'll likely know early on if this is the kind of pulpy silliness that you can connect to or that will utterly turn you off. It's as unapologetic in bringing comic imagery into the frame as a MARVEL Studios film, but the strange half-Ancient Greece, half-The Little Mermaid aesthetic combined with the "epic fantasy meets martial arts movie" film-making results in something utterly unlike anything else in superhero cinema, or even in modern blockbusters. If this sounds like your jam, you're going to have the time of your life.
And if not, I dunno, go see Into the Spider-verse again.
As always, always on point and entertaining to read. We are suppose to go tomorrow to see it.
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