Okay so after having time to sleep on it I can now post my thoughts on the film......I absolutely freakin loved it!!
The action scenes, the fight scenes, the CGI was all on point. I thought Mamoa did an amazing job as Aquaman, that role is his now much like Gadot with Wonder Woman or Downey Jr after Iron Man 1. The world building was fantastic, Atlantis looked like it was ripped from the pages, its a loud beautiful movie that deserves to be seen on IMAX. I'm a little shocked that it was cut out of the running for the Oscars for best VFX but what ever. I can however, understand why some critics didn't enjoy it, if you only like independent films like Eight Grade or Disobedience (both excellent films) and don't care for superhero films then this isn't the film for you. However, if you like superhero films or reading superhero comic books then this is the film for you.
I'm so happy this film is doing well with audiences, with critics and at the box office. I think because of the success of this film we will finally get that Flash film and the DCEU is not going to re-boot anytime soon. I'm curious how the rest of the board will enjoy it!
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Glad you enjoyed it, you took a lot of ribbing for supporting that film here over the past while, good for you for sticking to your guns. In the end, you were right, it's been hugely successful already.
A friend of mine describes it as the death of the dark, more sinister or jaded DCEU we've known and the rebirth of what the tone will be going forward. Comparing it to the re work Thor 3 did for the character, a more light hearted 80's action packed adventure.
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
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Thanks GL, I hope you enjoy it when/if you watch it, and I hope one day we get that proper GL film! I recognize I'm a DC fanboy, but I also really like most of the MCU films as well (15/20 are good-great while 5/20 are bad-average IMO). At the end of the day I want both universes to co-exist like they have in comic books for almost 100 years. Shazam certainly looks like it will be more in line with this tone than MOS and that makes sense to me. I will always love the dark/gritty films from DC like V for Vendetta, Watchmen, BvS and I still think they can be successful. However, this film feels very James Waan and I think the best way forward for DCEU should be director driven. If James Waan wants to give us a crazy fantasy adventure film thats lighter in tone then do it, and if someone wanted to give us a dark/gritty Green Arrow film (think his 80s run and not Arrow) then they should be given that freedom. Don't limit yourself to just one style, and then this blending of styles will make Justice League 2 that much more interesting to viewers much like Avengers.
I thought Aquaman was good, solid yet unspectacular. The water effects were great and the action was over the top! There was maybe a bit too much action if anything. Near the end it would go from action scene to action scene to yet another action scene! There was barely any time to rest. They would have like two minutes of dialogue and then jump right into the next action set piece.
The audio was also poor, I could barely hear what was said during these scenes. Maybe there was a problem with the theaters audio, but I've never had a problem before; so pretty sure it was the movie. I didn't connect with the characters like in Black Panther for example (the closest comparison I can think of). The acting was really good, I liked Wilson as Ocean Master, just wish they gave him more to work with. Some of the deaging CGI didn't work for me, Defoe in particular.
The storyline was straight-forward, pretty much what you'd expect. I liked Black Manta as he has always been one of my favourite DC villains, but wish they gave him more to work with.
Spoiler!
The credit sequence was disappointing, where was the Legion of Doom? I thought they would pick him up?
.
Also like in Transformers, how exactly does the world not acknowledge the existence of Atlantis? That's laughable to me. There are giant sea monsters and other crazy crap going on yet humanity is unaware of the existence of Atlantis... How's that even possible?
In terms of rankings I'd go.
1. MOS
2. WW
3. Aquaman
4. Batman vs Superman
5. Justice League
6. Suicide Squad
Last edited by trackercowe; 12-21-2018 at 11:14 AM.
Also like in Transformers, how exactly does the world not acknowledge the existence of Atlantis? That's laughable to me. There are giant sea monsters and other crazy crap going on yet humanity is unaware of the existence of Atlantis... How's that even possible?
Haven't seen it yet, but we've only visited very few parts of the deep ocean floor. We have digital maps of most of the ocean's floor, but at very low resolution (only able to see objects several KMs long).
In fact, we much higher resolution maps of the surface of Mars than we do the ocean floor. We've only mapped a fraction of a percent of the ocean floor that would reveal any kind of structure:
I think WB wasn't confident enough in the universe when the movie was shot to go forward with JL2 so they did't want to build up this LOD if it was never going to happen. I totally agree with you however, I wanted LOD so bad, or even Amanda Waller show up and have Black Manta in SS2 would be pretty cool. Hopefully the success of this film gives WB more confidence and we get a JL2 with the Legion of Doom. Have Grodd be the main villain in the Flash solo and then I think everyone is there except Sinestro. Luthor, Joker, Manta, Cheetah, Deathstroke thats a cool line up for JL2
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I think WB wasn't confident enough in the universe when the movie was shot to go forward with JL2 so they did't want to build up this LOD if it was never going to happen. I totally agree with you however, I wanted LOD so bad, or even Amanda Waller show up and have Black Manta in SS2 would be pretty cool. Hopefully the success of this film gives WB more confidence and we get a JL2 with the Legion of Doom. Have Grodd be the main villain in the Flash solo and then I think everyone is there except Sinestro. Luthor, Joker, Manta, Cheetah, Deathstroke thats a cool line up for JL2
That's what I thought too, DCU is still on shaky ground and they're not going to take a directive until they see the box office results of Aquaman and Shazam. If both succeed they'll probably continue on with the current direction. Too bad though as I thought Aquaman didn't do a whole lot in helping build the universe. There was barely even a mention of other characters or past/future happenings within the DCU.
The Triumph and Heartbreak Behind 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'
Quote:
Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy and more look back at what happened 25 years ago when the film opened to disappointing numbers but went on to become one of the Dark Knight's most critically acclaimed movies.
On Dec. 25, 1993, it truly was Christmas with the Joker.
That day marked the theatrical release of Warner Bros.’ Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, an animated film with the voice talent and art deco design of the Batman: The Animated Series. It overcame a rushed production, a nearly non-existent marketing campaign and it's director losing her job title midway through to become what's now considered one of The Dark Knight's finest film entries.
That's what I thought too, DCU is still on shaky ground and they're not going to take a directive until they see the box office results of Aquaman and Shazam. If both succeed they'll probably continue on with the current direction. Too bad though as I thought Aquaman didn't do a whole lot in helping build the universe. There was barely even a mention of other characters or past/future happenings within the DCU.
I think that there is a lot of chaos still happening with the DC movie, with Batman and Superman needing another reboot because of departures, I would think that any Batman, Superman or JL movie are years away and they'll probably focus around Wonder Woman and Aquaman and probably Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn and Joker movies to gauge appetite.
I really don't want to see a Flash movie because I outright disliked the Flash in the last movie and I don't think I could stand two hours of that portrayal as the primary focus of the movie.
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I thought Aquaman was good, solid yet unspectacular. The water effects were great and the action was over the top! There was maybe a bit too much action if anything. Near the end it would go from action scene to action scene to yet another action scene! There was barely any time to rest. They would have like two minutes of dialogue and then jump right into the next action set piece.
The audio was also poor, I could barely hear what was said during these scenes. Maybe there was a problem with the theaters audio, but I've never had a problem before; so pretty sure it was the movie. I didn't connect with the characters like in Black Panther for example (the closest comparison I can think of). The acting was really good, I liked Wilson as Ocean Master, just wish they gave him more to work with. Some of the deaging CGI didn't work for me, Defoe in particular.
The storyline was straight-forward, pretty much what you'd expect. I liked Black Manta as he has always been one of my favourite DC villains, but wish they gave him more to work with.
Spoiler!
The credit sequence was disappointing, where was the Legion of Doom? I thought they would pick him up?
.
Also like in Transformers, how exactly does the world not acknowledge the existence of Atlantis? That's laughable to me. There are giant sea monsters and other crazy crap going on yet humanity is unaware of the existence of Atlantis... How's that even possible?
In terms of rankings I'd go.
1. MOS
2. WW
3. Aquaman
4. Batman vs Superman
5. Justice League
6. Suicide Squad
Actually curious about this, because I find action sequences to be mostly tedious in these movies. Guardians has a good balance. I've never really read comics, do they have a similar proportion of action to the movies, or do they focus more on story?
Actually curious about this, because I find action sequences to be mostly tedious in these movies. Guardians has a good balance. I've never really read comics, do they have a similar proportion of action to the movies, or do they focus more on story?
There's such a wide variety of tone and substance in comics that it's hard to really answer this. Superhero comics from the Big Two publishers do tend to focus on a lot of action and punching a lot of the time. But there's always character development and story progression and stuff sprinkled in.
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There's such a wide variety of tone and substance in comics that it's hard to really answer this. Superhero comics from the Big Two publishers do tend to focus on a lot of action and punching a lot of the time. But there's always character development and story progression and stuff sprinkled in.
The other thing in a comic is 4 pages of fight sequences can be flipped through quickly to get back to the plot and characters so you get to choose how long a flight sequence takes.
Oops. Optimus prime. There’s a yellow bumblebee version too.
Just saw aquaman. First half wasn’t bad. Second half was pure DC. Just a jumbled mess. It was like they forgot the plot to their own movie.
That's interesting, most of the reviews I've read have said the opposite, hated the beginning but loved the end.
With a huge weekend it's now made $480M world wide and should reach $500 today and $700 by New Year's day. Will it top BvS and be the highest grossing film of the DCEU?? Safe to say we should be hearing about a sequel soon.
More than triple what Mary Poppins and Bumblebee made.
However, it is, by a wide margin, the lowest domestic opening weekend of any of the DCEU films. Justice League had an almost $94 million opening weekend and all the rest were over $100 million.
Right now, over 85% of its gross has come from overseas, which is ridiculously high. A big part of that is because it opened two weeks ago in China, so it will be interesting to see what that mix is when its run is over.
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Turn up the good, turn down the suck!
