Aquaman (Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital HD)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Mar 27th, 2019
Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison
Written By: Geoff Johns, James Wan, Will Beall
Directed By: James Wan
Studio: Warner Bros
Buy On Amazon.com
Aquaman was a smash hit, surprisingly and DC seems to be heading on the right track finally with Wonder Woman, this and next Shazam! I didn’t think much of Aquaman when seeing the trailers but the movie is a fun one.
The movie tells the story of Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), whose Mom was Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), the Queen of Atlantis who later fell in love with Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison), a lighthouse keeper. Arthur has the ability to communicate with marine life and is pretty strong fighter as well. Arthur’s younger half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) wants to declare war on the surface worlds, but Mera (Amber Heard) warns The Aquaman to battle his half-brother and become he was meant to be, the true king of the underwater worlds.
For not wanting to see Aquaman in theaters, I was happy that this movie wasn’t a turd like some DC movies have been in the past. I still had some complaints with the movie but at least I had a fun time watching it. I think the reason why I liked it was Jason Momoa is clearly having a ball with this character and doesn’t take things too seriously. I think if they got someone that looked like Aquaman from the comics, I’m not sure it would have worked honestly. By having someone who looks like he can hurt you really bad, looks like a biker rock star and also has a fun personality, I think Jason Momoa hit this one out of the park just because of his approach to the role.
Sure, the movie is a silly and cheesy but what can you do when making a movie about a guy who talks to sea creatures? From the trailers, I thought the CGI was a little bit overused but watching the finished product, I actually thought they did an excellent job with the special effects. Maybe a few scenes that looked a bit much but overall, I was fine with it. The fight scenes were really good I thought, particular the ones involving Black Manta. I thought they did an awesome job with him too. He was always one of my favorites on Superfriends. They updated the look, changed his voice around and didn’t make it too overly cheesy. I thought Jason Momoa and Amber Heard had decent chemistry and played off each other well. You’ll see how they were in the behind the scenes featurettes. Nicole Kidman wasn’t in the movie that much but really enjoyed the scene where’s fighting in the beginning. It was choreographed well and looks badass.
The story itself was okay. It was a bit confusing at times and there were so many different locations throughout the movie. Some of the one-liners didn’t really land but some were funny. Definitely felt like watching an Arnold action blockbuster at certain times in the movie. Not sure we needed the movie to be that long, and the overly-CGI battle at the end with crab people, sharks and other sea creatures was a bit absurd. It’s like they added in some big battle just for the sake of it. I was happy the villain of the movie wasn’t some bad CGI guy or some beam into the sky thing. They kept it simple with his half-brother and Black Manta. Wonder what the villain can be for the sequel? Red Tide? Climate Change?
If you enjoy extras, you’ll be happy with the amount of stuff you get on the Blu-Ray. There’s featurettes on Jason Momoa becoming Aquaman, James Wan, the tech of the Aquaman universe, there’s one on Black Manta, the females of the movie, training for the movie, and a bunch of other stuff. I would say there’s close to an hour of bonus material which is great if you liked the movie. I love watching all these types of featurettes on how they did a lot of the special effects. Even a simple thing like hair was really complicated to do and they had to reprogram their software to make it work. After you watch all the Aquaman bonus material, there’s a quick clip from the upcoming DC movie Shazam. I have a feeling this one might be a good one and one of my favorites in the DC Extended Universe.
Aquaman is silly good fun and will keep most people entertained if you enjoy superhero movies. I think DC is on the right path with making these movies not so damn depressing dark, and making them light and fun again.
Features:
Going Deep Into the World of Aquaman
Becoming Aquaman
James Wan: World Builder
Aqua Tech
Atlantis Warfare
The Dark Depths of Black Manta
Heroines of Atlantis
Villainous Training
Kingdoms of the Seven Seas
Creating Undersea Creatures
A Match Made in Atlantis
Scene Study Breakdowns
“Shazam!” Sneak Peek
Video:
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1, 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English: Dolby Atmos
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish
Bottom Line: A fun and entertaining superhero flick…surprisingly
Running Time: 143 mins
Rating: PG-13
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
