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ljones41 · 5 years

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"AQUAMAN" (2018) Review

I realize that over four months had passed since this movie’s release, but . . . better late than never:

"AQUAMAN" (2018) Review Following the failure of "JUSTICE LEAGUE" to storm the box office during the fall of 2017, Warner Brothers Pictures and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) turned to the franchise's sixth installment to carry it and the studio to both financial and especially critical glory. That movie proved to be 2018's "AQUAMAN". The character of the DC Comics superhero, Aquaman aka Arthur Curry has made extensive appearances in both television and movie animations. His biggest role proved to be one of the main characters of the 1973-1986 Saturday morning animated series, "SUPER FRIENDS". The character also made occasional appearances in the live-action WB (later, the CW) series, "SMALLVILLE". The WB had plans for a series about Aquaman, starring Justin Hartley (who later became known as Oliver Queen aka the Green Arrow on "SMALLVILLE"), but nothing came from it. In the end, it took Zack Snyder to bring Aquaman to the fore as a live-action figure, when he cast actor Jason Momoa in the role for the DCEU franchise. "AQUAMAN" would prove to be Momoa's third appearance in the franchise, after a brief cameo in 2016's "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE" and a more prominent role in "JUSTICE LEAGUE", the following year. However, "AQUAMAN" is the first film to feature Momoa as the lead in a DCEU film, but also the first movie that is actually about the "King of the Seven Seas". Directed by James Wan, "AQUAMAN" is a two-fold story that explores the drama behind Arthur Curry's family conflicts. The movie also told how Arthur aka Aquaman went on a quest to prevent his half-brother King Orm Marius from uniting the seven undersea kingdoms in order to inflict war upon the surface world. The story begins in 1985, when a Maine lighthouse keeper named Tom Curry rescues a woman who has washed ashore during a storm. The mysterious woman turns out to be Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis, who had left her ocean world to escape an arranged marriage to another member of Atlantean royalty, Orvax. Both Tom and Atlanna fall in love, marry and conceive a child, whom they name Arthur. Unfortunately, Atlantean soldiers manage to find Atlanna. She decides to leave Tom and Arthur behind and return to Atlantis in order to protect them from Orvax's wrath. Over thirty years later, Arthur has become known as the metahuman vigilante, Aquaman. Months after the Justice League's defeat of Steppenwolf, Aquaman prevents a group of pirates led by the father-son team, Jesse and David Kane, from hijacking a Russian Naval Akula-class submarine. Jesse dies during the confrontation with Aquaman, while David, vows revenge against the hero. Meanwhile, Arthur's half-brother, King Orm of Atlantis attempts to convince King Nereus of Xebel to help him unite Atlantis and the other ocean kingdoms for an attack against the surface world for for harming the Earth's oceans. Orm also hopes to solidify his position as Atlantis' king. Nereus's daughter and Orm's fiancee, Princess Mera, heads to the surface to recruit Arthur in stopping Orm's plans against the surface world and to present himself as the true king of Atlantis. Over a year had passed between the release of "JUSTICE LEAGUE" and "AQUAMAN". I noticed that many film critics and moviegoers seemed willing to heap lavish praise on the 2018 film, following the other movie's poor performance and lack of critical acclaim. I will be honest . . . I did not dislike "JUSTICE LEAGUE". I had mixed feelings about it. I still do. But I must admit that "AQUAMAN" is a better film. To a certain extent. "AQUAMAN" is a curious mixture of a family drama, a political film, an Indiana Jones-style adventure and the usual "save-the-planet" scenario. For me, the best aspect of "AQUAMAN" is the family drama that centered around Queen Atlanna. David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall did an excellent job in conveying the consequences of Atlanna's initial refusal to be dragged into an arranged marriage. Her actions resulted in eventual exile and possible death for her, two sons in conflict with each other, a political vacuum and one of her sons becoming a future costumed hero. The political vacuum left by Atlanna also led to an exciting and action-filled search for a missing magical artifact - the Trident of Atlan, which used to belong to Atlantis' first ruler and had been missing his disappearance. This search would lead Arthur and Mera on a picturesque journey from the Mediterranean region to the depths of the ocean's most elusive worlds, the Kingdom of the Trench. I also liked the fact that Johnson-McGoldrick and Beall's screenplay did not rush in conveying Orm's story arc. They did not rush his efforts to solidify his position on the Atlantean throne or his efforts to convince or coerce the rulers of the other ocean kingdoms to acknowledge and join him in the attack against the surface. And what seemed to be the cherry on the top of this particular story arc is that the two screenwriters managed to utilize Aquaman's other major nemesis - David Kane aka Black Mantis - into Orm's story arc. In doing so, the two screenwriters and director James Wan managed to establish David Kane's own origin story and major conflict against Aquaman for future movies. But what I really liked about "AQUAMAN" is that instead of the outsider or the interloper of a royal court being the main villain, he is the main protagonist. In other words, the main protagonist is the one who shakes up a society and not the villain. I found this refreshing after movies like "THOR" and "BLACK PANTHER". Another aspect of "AQUAMAN" that I enjoyed was the film's visual styles. Bill Brzeski did an excellent job as the film's production designer. I thought he did a competent job in not only re-creating Atlantis and other ocean worlds . . . to an extent. I also enjoyed his designs for those scenes that especially featured Arthur and Mera's adventures in both the Sahara Desert and especially Sicily. Don Burgess' cinematography did a great job in enhancing Brzeski's work. This especially seemed to be the case for his photography of the shooting locations in Australia, Morocco and Italy. I am going to be frank. I am not a big fan of the traditional Aquaman suit . . . at least for Jason Momoa. From a visual perspective, I believe the suit he wore in "JUSTICE LEAGUE" worked better for him. But I must admit that I did enjoy Kym Barrett's designs for the costume worn by Momoa in the Sicily sequence. And I especially enjoyed Ms. Barrett's costumes for the other Atlantean and Xebel characters. Especially those costumes worn by Amber Heard. However, the one aspect of "AQUAMAN" that truly impressed me were the visual effects for the Atlantis scene created by the Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) team led by Jeff White. I mean . . . oh my God! Those visual effects truly blew me away with the sharp colors, beauty and originality, as seen in the images below:

How on earth did the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences fail to nominate White and the ILM team for their work in this film? It is simply criminal that the organization had failed to do this. The performances featured in "AQUAMAN" struck me as either first-rate or solid. I would certainly describe Jason Momoa's portrayal of Arthur Curry aka Aquaman as first-rate. One, the guy has charisma and presence oozing out of his pores. And two, Momoa did a great job in utilizing both his comedic and dramatic skills, when required by the screenplay. However, a part of me wishes there had been more of a balance between comedy and dramatic scenes for the actor. Another first-rate performance came from Amber Heard, who portrayed Princess Mera of Xebel. If I must be honest, I had been impressed by the way she had taken control of her performance in "JUSTICE LEAGUE". Her portrayal of Mera as a strong-willed and commanding personality seemed even stronger in this film. "AQUAMAN" features the second time I have seen Patrick Wilson portray a villain. In this film, he gave a strong and intimidating portrayal of Aquaman's half-brother, King Orm Marius aka Ocean Master. Wilson's character was not as . . . amusing as his character in 2010's "THE A-TEAM", but I must admit that he did a great job in conveying Orm's arrogance and bigotry. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II portrayed the film's other villain, sea pirate-tech specialist David Kane, who will become one of Aquaman's biggest nemesis, Black Mantis. Since he was not the main villain, his presence was not as extensive. But I cannot deny that Abdul-Mateen gave a very intense and memorable performance. I really look forward to seeing him in future DCEU films. "AQUAMAN" also featured strong, yet solid performances from the supporting cast. Those performances include Nicole Kidman, who portrayed Arthur's mother Queen Atlanna; Temeura Morrison as Arthur's father, Tom Curry; Willem Dafoe, who portrayed Arthur's mentor Vulko; Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus of Xebel; Michael Beach as Jesse Kane, pirate leader and father of the future Black Mantis; and Graham MacTavish, who provided the voice for Atlan, the first king of Atlantis. I also wanted to point out Randall Park, who gave a rather funny and entertaining performance as Dr. Stephen Shin, a marine biologist obsessed with finding the lost city of Atlantis. I was surprised to discover that the movie also featured voice performances from the likes of Julie Andrews, Djimon Hounsou and John Rhys-Davies. As much as I enjoyed "AQUAMAN", I had some problems with the film. My biggest problem proved to be director James Wan. I realize that he has managed to establish a positive reputation from the horror flicks he had directed in the past. The problem is that there were times when I found his direction rather clunky. A good example would be the film's opening scene that featured the introduction of Aquaman's parents. It struck me as a bit rushed. Utilizing slow motion scenes can annoy me in any movie. But what I found particularly annoying in "AQUAMAN" was that Wan did not use slow motion in action scenes. Instead, he used it for shots featuring Momoa in various poses . . . as if he was some kind of fashion magazine model. Also, it seemed as if Wan was incapable of going from action to drama to comedy in a seamless way. Perhaps he will be able to flow his scenes a little better as he become more experienced, but I did not sense such a skill in "AQUAMAN". Also, I am a little . . . confused about Queen Atlanna's position in Atlantis society. Was she the ruling monarch when she first met Tom Curry? Was she ever the ruling monarch? Or did Atlantis society forbade women sovereigns and would only allow the royal spouses of a direct female heiress or sovereign to be considered for the throne? The movie never made it clear. According to the movie, one of Orm's major reasons for planning an attack upon the surface world was humanity's pollution of the ocean. Aside from one minor sequence featuring news reports of piles of garbage washing up on many beaches, I feel the movie did not explore the topic of pollution as much as it should have, considering IT WAS one of Orm's reasons to attack humanity. I realize that "AQUAMAN" is at the moment, the DCEU franchise's most successful film. It is the only one that has managed to earn over a billion dollars so far. But do I consider it the best in the franchise? Not really. Between James Wan's uneven direction, some plot points regarding the Queen Atlanna character and the film's use of the pollution topic; it did not quite impress me as I had hoped it would. On the other hand, I found some of Wan's direction rather impressive, especially the action sequences. The visual effects struck me as stunning, the movie featured excellent performances from a cast led by Jason Momoa and I thought screenwriters David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall wrote a first-rate adventure. I am more than satisfied.

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shark-draws-stuff · 6 months

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Wowie zowie, I'm actually using this!

I used to only come on here for Freaktale stuff, but since the aus dead and I've had traumatic experiences with the undertale community I've decided to put the old blog on archive and use this one for my original project!

"The Shark Dynasty"

It is called!

Here's some cover art...

Here's what I got so far

What is the shark dynasty you ask?

The Shark Dynasty is an original project of mine featuring my ocs. This series will focus on my OC Sky's 8 kids visiting him in the rural parts of Ontario for the summer. Something isn’t right with Sky’s property, and throughout the series it’s learned that sky’s land is corrupted by a mysterious dark magic, this magic creates a rips between dimensions as well as earth's timeline, featuring creatures from the past, present and future, while also being a host to supernatural beings.

It is revealed slowly that the kid's father is behind all of these actions.

That's basically what I got so far! I also have two short comics featuring 4 of the characters!

First one featuring Gillian and Ira (I'll introduce them below)

Gillian has a bunch of pet bugs, one of her Feeder roaches got loose into Ira's room

Good stuff yes.

And the second one features twins Alyssa and Katey!

Alyssa listens to music, helps keep her calm, sometimes though she can get a bit intense while listening to her music, especially if brain power plays! Much to Katey's dismay.

I should probably introduce the kids

I I shared this one already, but I updated the Heights of the youngest three!

In case you missed, from left to right

Wolfgang

Wolfgang is the oldest son of sky as well as the oldest of sky's kids. He's shy and mostly keeps to himself due to trust issues and being stuck in his life, unsure of what to do. He's very passionate about prehistoric life and loves talking about it when he feels open to someone he trusts. Wolfgang is troubled by his past of bullying and having parents who never truly understood him or his needs. Wolfgang is asexual.

Ira

Irais the oldest daughter of sky, she is the 2nd oldest of sky's kids. She's laid back and easy to vibe with, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She's very passionate about different types of Comic, Manga and animation. She feels regret because she never paid much attention to her family as a kid and what they had to deal with growing up, despite being part of the same house.

Amar

Amar is the second oldest son of sky, he is the 3rd oldest child. Amar is described as an enthusiastic, energetic individual. However he feels depressed and keeps it hidden well, he feels he has no purpose in the world due to bullying. His interest is gaming, He loves any type of game.

Alyssa and Katey

Alyssa and Katey are the middle daughters of sky, they are conjoined twins. Alyssa is Energetic and kind hearted, she's distracted easily. Katey is calm and observant, she usually observes people closely. The twins trust each other deeply as they've experienced everything together, Katey is usually the voice of reason, but sometimes Alyssa might disagree, they often have short clashes with each other, but these never result in arguments unless under stress. They both go through depression due to their condition and how people have treated them because of it.

Marius

Marius is the second youngest son of sky, he is transgender male who never agreed with the gender he was born with. Marius is energetic and quirky while also being quit if he feels uncomfortable.

Marius struggles to make friends, he has a hard time distinguishing good and bad people. However, if Marius feels close with someone he is the complete opposite, friendly, funny and smart.

Marius Enjoys Crystals and is very spiritual, he's a sucker for astrology.

Gillian

She second youngest child of sky Akula.

She is a transgender female who is uncomfortable with her body and doesn't believe it ever fit her.

Gillian is very passionate about learning new things and would rather solve her problems in a civil way. Because of this, she isn't the best fighter of Sky's kids, but this doesn't mean she isn't capable of it.

Gillian is very desensitized towards her current situation. She often sees the best in people and had a harder time picking up on red flags.

Despite Gillian being knowledgeable in things like science, she is very spiritual and believes that a lot of unexplainable events should remain unexplained. She also enjoys the micro world!

Finn

Finn Is the Youngest Son and Youngest Child Of Sky.

He's described as a typical boy, loves games and enjoys the funny stuff in life.

Finn is very cocky and often gets into situations that can be described as chaotic. Often charging into battle head first rather than observing first.

Despite this he's got a good heart deep down,

Now for their cousins.

These 4 are more like side characters, they have backstory, just haven't really thought of it yet 🤔

From left to right we got

Rory

They're pretty chill, they enjoy the casual stuff in life, but they also experience crazy adrenaline rushes and is often seen doing some more intense things.

They never truly agreed with the gender they were born, they identified as non binary.

Everest

Everest is often described as shy and reserved, however, when she's with her sister Ivany she's the life of the party, she feels closest to her sister and trust her the most

Ivany

Ivany is described as sweet caring and a bit on the timid side, she's pretty close with her sister as they share a bound after Everest opened up to Ivany about bullying she had experienced.

Alexander

Alexander is an average kid, he enjoys playing games and sports, he's got a decent group of friends he hangs out with.

Oh also one more thing about Ivany and Everest

prepare for some weird shit

Ivany and Everest can merge together like Alyssa and Katey while also being able to separate, what? You thought these kids were humans? Nah nah nah, they are something else, though it'll take some time to explain.

Now why is this weird? Well I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but sky conjoined Alyssa and Katey while they were developing, he did the same with Ivany and Everest, though it wasn't successful as they can separate anytime unlike Sky's Twins

The reason Sky did this is because he himself had absorbed his twin when he was created, and he wants to see how others would live out what he could have experienced...

Yeah sky's messed up, at least the twins are okay with the idea, well they are now, when they found out you can imagine how devastated they were when they found out first.

Speaking of Sky

Here's him next to his wife Adhira, and his beast form with and without wings! (Used a reference for them)

Adhira is Energetic, caring and sweet, though she can get defensive if provoked, she is very protective of each of her kids especially!

And now other side characters.

We got

Terry the troodontid, what species? Anyone's guess.

He's an ally of sky's kids as well as sky Himself, he's also an old OC of mine! Used to be a Jurassic park troodon

Edwin aka Legion is a mysterious figure that is sent by sky to keep an eye out on sky's kids.

Ivy Is A Plant Princess, she's laid back and would rather be a normal civilian.

And Richard... he's just Richard, that's all.

And here's death, aka the grim reaper (I used a reference for this one as well, you'll notice I use references for a lot of dinosaur drawings, I wanna practice with em better) one of the kids gets all sad and starts thinking about a permanent solution to a temporary problem, so he appears and sacres the kid into rethinking that.

That's all I got for now, I'll try to keep this updated.

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