Changing habits

It seems I'm starting to change. After watching virtually no TV for about 8 years, and only occasionally watching a movie with my partner, I've watched more movies in the last month than I have in the past 8 years.

At the end of April, this started with the many war films that were broadcast on Dutch TV. Celebrations of Remembrance Day on May 4, and immediately after Liberation Day on May 5, was of course the reason for this. And while I've always wanted to write a blog about some of these films, the words just haven't come up yet. It doesn't matter, the movies are in my memory… and someday I'll share my thoughts about them. But before that, let's just move on to watching other movies.

Movie night with my partner

My partner has 3 days off this week, so last night we didn't have to watch the clock, so it was time for a movie again. And yesterday evening a movie came on TV that still provides a taste for many people in this time. Yesterday evening it was time to go to a movie that came out in 2018. I had never watched it before. Of course, I had heard a few things about it. Especially the last days. And not so much this film but the sequel, which will most likely be released in 2023. And I have to admit that I haven't heard much about the film itself either, but a lot more about whether or not the actress that plays the female lead is allowed to participate in the sequel.

High expectations

Yesterday evening we saw a movie of which I had high expectations after seeing the trailer and reading the story. And of which I only had one conclusion while watching the film. I think it's a movie that could have been a lot more if they hadn't gone over the top with the super misguided, unrealistic sci-fi set. Undoubtedly there are people who thought this was super cool and awesome. But for me and my partner, it was one of the things that we didn't think fit in this movie at all.

source: youtube Warner Bros Pictures

The film was released in 2018 and has certainly been in the spotlight again in the last month. Whether that's about the movie itself, or whether this has more to do with the army of Johnny Depp fans, who are now seizing every opportunity to tear down Amber Heard's acting performance.

AQUAMAN

For those who have not yet seen Aquaman and are curious about the story, I will tell it very briefly.

Story

Arthur Curry is the son of a fisherman and the queen of Atlantis. He was born on land but can just as well live underwater. He's Aquaman! The moment his half-brother Orm decides that he wants to become an Ocean Master and destroy the land, Mera intervenes. She persuades Arthur to claim his rightful inheritance. Defeat his half-brother and prevent a major war between the ocean worlds and the destruction of the land. It is clear that this will not just happen. This quest leads Arthur and Mera to different places and entails different encounters. It is a journey through different worlds and emotions.

My opinion

As I said, after seeing the trailer and reading the story, I actually had quite high expectations for this film. I'm a sucker for the old myths and Atlantis has always captured my imagination. But what I've always imagined of Atlantis is very different from director James Wan's idea of ​​Atlantis.

The Atlantis I had in mind certainly didn't look as futuristic as the Atlantis I was presented with yesterday evening. There were no spaceships in my Atlantis, nor would there be any futuristic creatures in my Atlantis like the ones in this movie. That was a point where I personally thought it didn't fit the story of this movie at all.

The appearance of Jason Momoa, who plays Arthur Curry (Aquaman), also reminded me much more of a ferocious Viking rather than an Aquaman. With an Aquaman, I think of someone who would have gills behind his ears, webbed feet between his fingers and toes. Someone who speaks somewhat slurred and who is not at all comfortable on land. But I don't expect to see a superhero who has superpowers that are completely unrealistic in both land and water.

SPOILER ALERTS

At the beginning of the film, you see that as a young boy he has an excursion in a kind of SeaLife where he notices that he can talk to the fish in the aquarium. This detail could have been used a lot more in the film in my opinion if he's going to claim his rightful inheritance. I would have preferred him to act as a leader by applying this power, which I think DOES suit an Aquaman. While he now has to rely on brute force, which in my opinion is not with an Aquaman fit. This detail only reappears at the end of the film.

You can also see that he goes swimming with Vulko at a young age. Arthur thinks he can swim well and Vulko says he just thinks that and that he still has a lot to learn. The next moment, however, he shoots like a spear through the water after Vulko. Without any teaching moment where Vulko would explain to him how to actually swim. In my opinion, this learning process is portrayed far too little. There could well be a fight scene less and a learning moment more. After all, learning how to handle his special water powers could be an important part of the story, which is now ignored. I really think that's a missed opportunity to give the characters a little more depth.

Although this all seems to sound quite negative now, I did enjoy watching this film. There were, as I wrote, several things that I did not find appropriate, or would not have expected to see. But I thought the story in the whole film itself was a nice idea. The story idea that Aquaman grows up on land, and then is eventually called to the water kingdom of Atlantis to begin the special quest that will allow him to claim his rightful inheritance. That he has to make a journey through all kinds of hints to eventually find a golden trident that makes him the rightful king. I found that part of the story very nice and very fitting for an Aquaman.

I could have given the characters a little more depth, and the acting was not equally believable on all points. Many scenes of Jason Momoa made me feel like I was watching a super futuristic Viking. Amber Heard also failed to convince me in her role as Mera. Although she must come across as a strong woman fighting for the peace and salvation of her beloved Atlantis and the Earth, she failed to convince me by her fairly flat portrayal of this character. I couldn't detect any passion in her playing and actually found her character to be very cool throughout the movie. I found that Jason and Amber, (who fall in love according to the story), had little chemistry.

What has ensured that we still enjoyed watching this film is partly because my partner and I often disagree about what is nice or not nice in a movie. But on this film, we were in complete agreement. This led to fun discussions about what we thought was not right in the film, what we would like to see differently, what we expected differently, and what we would certainly have done differently if we had to make the film.

It is clear that the whole film would have looked different if we had made it, that we are not directors is a good thing. So luckily we don't have to worry about it any further, but we can look back on a nice evening watching a movie together with our dogs ... with an average movie for us. A film that I certainly wouldn't call a complete top or flop. Let me say a surprising film, where the surprises were not always good in our opinion. But which in any case has been good for the necessary entertainment on several levels.

The Sequel

Aquaman 2 is scheduled to be released in late December 2022 or early 2023 and is already a hotly debated film. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with the great story, nor with Jason's acting, but with the presence/absence of Amber Heard in the film. Her role had almost fallen into the water. According to Amber, a certain Johnny Depp was the cause. According to Warner Bros, the cause was the lack of chemistry between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard.

I wonder if Aquaman 2 will splash off the screen. Or that it will succumb to the tsunami of negative attention before its release.

Posted using CineTV