MovieChat Forums > Aquaman (2018) Discussion > Utter trash

Utter trash

posted 6 years ago by BrunoAntony (1198)
30 replies | jump to latest

The visual design was great but the script was pure garbage.

• The film was way too long, mostly because it jumped to so many locations, sometimes unnecessarily (like the desert).

• The character development was thin, the dialogue was steeped in exposition (you could hear the actors struggling with it) and Jason Momoa’s jokes (I guess they were added to lighten the tone?) were awful.

Also, the music was extremely obtrusive (every scene has a little tune to tell the audience how to feel) and the film completely wasted Willem Dafoe (it’s a shame that he’ll never get to play The Joker).

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Totally agree about the music. I rolled my eyes several times when the music had to cue the audience instead of what was actually happening.
DaFoe's character was the absolute worst which is ironic since he is, hands down, the best actor in the cast.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

Was any of Dafoe’s dialogue NOT exposition about Arthur’s background, the history of Atlantis or the magical trident of Atlan?

The worst moment was when he was training young (bad teenage actor) Arthur on the beach. That dialogue exchange was pure agony to listen to.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

And his spinning water trident trick was painfully obvious as a setup for the winning move at movie's end. This movie was a continuous chain of cliches and tropes.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

OMG the top secret water trident technique that he only used that one time.

You have Mera throwing around huge columns of liquid and all the other fantastical ways that Atlantians manipulate water (like turning it into a plasma beam) ... and Orm is completely mystified by Arthur twirling some water around next to the ocean.

[–] TheMouseShadow (417) 6 years ago

looks dreadful....but then again i had to quit watching marvel after the second avengers.....

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Avengers Age of Ultron was one of Marvel's worst films. There have been more than a few since that are decent enough to be worth watching and even a few excellent ones. You should revisit them.

[–] TheMouseShadow (417) 6 years ago

I know, Ive heard from friends that several of them were great, like guardians and thor and others, ive just been too lazy to sit down and do it. Its like a big school project that youve waited so long to get started on it seems monumental.....

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

They are not "must see" material. They succeed in action, comedy, and a degree of competent film making. I wouldn't go out of your way but neither should you be repelled. The time you sit down for a movie and don't know what to watch is when the time is right.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

This film didn't waste Willem Dafoe. "The Great Wall" wasted Willem Dafoe.

[–] DceuFanticArmy (1111) 6 years ago

Go and watch crap mcu films you mcu fanboys

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TJLamb0518 (3316) 6 years ago

You must be so butt hurt that the two DCEU movies that are success are the ones Zack the Hack, your man-crush, had little or no involvement with.

[–] chilone (17872) 6 years ago

I'm 56 and I don't care which comic company makes these. I thought it was excellent. Why can't you people enjoy DC and Marvel?

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

Because this was a bad film.

[–] chilone (17872) 6 years ago

It really wasn't.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Sure it was. And I want to enjoy DC movies.
I liked WW and enjoyed all the action in MoS. For as bad as Justice League was, at least there were two or three scenes that were really good. Aquaman never got as idiotic as JL nor BvS but neither did it rise up to the level of the rare moments of quality in those train wrecks.
Aquaman was an amalgam of iconic scene ripoffs and big budget visuals all calculated to avoid being "bad" via technicality. The TKO of film making. It was bland plotting. They made Black Manta such a cheap, one dimensional character which was the biggest crime (not to mention the same treatment of virtually everyone else). Then Arthur suddenly transforms into nobility for no reason. The little stupid things are many even though mostly small stuff. Its real crime is mediocrity. The large budget tries to disguise this and it worked on the crowd that loves effects spectacle above all. That crowd is pretty big. I don't fault them for their taste and am glad they liked it. I only wish DC put out something genuinely good instead of sub-average.

[–] chilone (17872) 6 years ago

Well, either I like bad movies, you hate good movies or different people like different things. Regardless, I very much enjoyed it.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

You like bad movies.

[–] chilone (17872) 6 years ago

I can see enlightened discussion is beyond your capabilities so I'll stoop to your level and say you hate good movies. Fell better?

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

From what I understand, I think I very well might hate good movies. So many people praise TDKR, BvS, and The Master as intellectual movies and I revile them. More evidence that I hate good movies is that I don't much care for the classics Casa Blanca nor Lawrence of Arabia. Hugely over rated IMO.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

I can see enlightened discussion is beyond your capabilities

I explained at length in my post why I disliked the film.

Your reply was “I’m 56”.

LOL

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17745) 6 years ago

Same reason people that like Neil Diamond cannot marry people that dislike Neil Diamond.

[–] tbone382001 (218) 6 years ago

I'm right there with ya Chilone. I'll be 56 in June and I also thought it was excellent. Just got done watching it, really enjoyed it!

[–] KevMill (243) 6 years ago

YOU do better, or HUSH!

[–] mitzibishi (1843) 6 years ago

My Man!!!

[–] TMC-4 (20149) 6 years ago

https://lebeauleblog.com/2018/12/16/review-aquaman/

Jason Momoa has played Aquaman twice before. He first appeared in a seconds-long cameo in Zack Snyder’s dreary slugfest, Batman V Superman. Of the many mistakes Snyder made in that movie, he at least got the casting of Aquaman and Wonder Woman right. In Justice League, Momoa finally got some dialogue but he was written as a superpowered broheim rather than the King of the Seas.

Director James Wan has said in interviews that he set out to make Aquaman fun. That goal stands in stark contrast to Snyder’s superhero movies. For the most part, Wan pulls it off. Aquaman mines a lot of familiar material, but it is a competently made entry in the superhero genre that never fails to entertain.

Unlike Batman or Superman, the general public is unlikely to know Aquaman’s backstory. After decades of reinvention in comic books, the character lacks a definitive origin. Geoff Johns, who has written Aquaman comics for DC, synthesizes common elements from several takes on the character. The result is a movie jam-packed with mythology and world-building.

It turns out that Aquaman’s family gives Thor’s a run for it in the dysfunction department. Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison portray Aquaman’s parents. She’s the queen of an underwater kingdom and he is a humble lighthouse keeper. The story of these star-crossed lovers could be a movie of its own. Aquaman’s parents are background characters, but the audience ends up caring a lot more about them than the latest iteration of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Aquaman is raised by his father on the surface when his mother is forced to return to her kingdom to keep him safe. Although he never visits Atlantis, he receives training from Atlantean mentor, Vulko, played by former Green Goblin, Willem Dafoe. Meanwhile, Aquaman’s half-brother grows up in Atlantis preparing for the day when he can lead his armies against the surface world.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 6 years ago

I’m not sure why you posted this.