The Once and Future Aquaman

The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has officially ditched the dark tones and stylings of Zack Snyder and gone full-on Marvel in the brightly colored, beautifully realized and surprisingly fun ‘Aquaman,’ the sixth installment of the DCEU following ‘Man of Steel,’ ‘Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,’ ‘Suicide Squad,’ ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Justice League.’  It was clear that, given the underwhelming box office performances of four of the five previous installments (‘Wonder Woman’ being the only clear “hit” among them that met industry expectations), the DCEU is in dire need of a drastic make-over.  ‘Aquaman’ has the look and feel of a release from the MCU and we can hardly blame DC/Warner Brothers from changing course and copying Marvel’s formula for success.  If you can’t beat them, join them, right?

 

Aquaman first appeared in last year’s ‘Justice League,’ which was a flawed and uneven effort largely due to its troubled development and director switch from Snyder to Joss Whedon while the movie was still being shot, not to mention a lackluster plot and uninspired supervillain in Steppenwolf.  Still, it whetted our appetite for the son of Atlantis to make his first solo appearance.  Genre veteran James Wan, well known for his low budget but commercially successful horror movies, gets a second shot at directing a big-budget blockbuster feature (his first being ‘Fast and Furious 7’) and didn't disappoint, because ‘Aquaman’ is the DC movie we’ve all been waiting for.

 

Believe it or not, I enjoyed ‘Aquaman’ even more than ‘Wonder Woman’ for some reason.  Don’t get me wrong, WW is a solid movie in its own right and Gal Gadot is, well, “hubba hubba!” eye-popping hot, but it also has its boringly slow moments.  ‘Aquaman’ managed to be the first DCEU movie that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end despite its two hours, twenty minutes running time because there's never a dull moment, packed with melodrama, betrayal, power struggles and epic undersea battles. It even took a page right out of 'The Bourne Ultimatum' with its thrilling chase scene over the roof-tops of Sicily.  Never mind that it’s basically the “Sword-in-the-Stone” Arthurian legend (it's no coincidence that Aquaman’s human name is “Arthur” Curry) retold with lots of colorful CG bioluminescent eye candy.  It is THAT good.

Grade: A