I’ve always had a soft spot for superhero stories. Something about having unnatural powers and using them for the greater good has always intrigued me – especially when you link those powers with a bunch of other superheroes so you have this great big awesome team of individuals whose unique powers compliment one another like the pieces of a puzzle.
*happy sigh*
(Disclaimer: I have yet to see Marvel. I know, I know. I’m working on it.)
So it should’t be surprising that I was hooked into the idea of Aquaman the minute my dad mentioned it. An underwater superhero? How much cooler can that get?! Plus, the pictures were amazing. Seriously. Like… how. Take a gander if you don’t believe me:
But did it live up to my expectations, or did it fall flat?
Let’s find out, shall we?
Aquaman by DC Comics
(As a warning, there might maybe be spoilers in here. So beware. I’ll make sure the spoilers are alerted, but just sayin’. ;))
An action-packed adventure that spans the vast, visually breathtaking underwater world of the seven seas, ‘Aquaman’ reveals the origin story of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry and takes him on the journey of his lifetime – one that will not only force him to face who he really is, but to discover if he is worthy of who he was born to be…a king.
Star Rating
4 out of 5 stars
Content
Pros:
Magic–none that I saw – which is PROGRESS, people. XD
Cons:
Sexual–we see a married couple in bed, living together, and kissing. There’s also an unmarried kiss or two thrown in. Inappropriate clothing abounds (shocker). A woman marries two men – one by choice, one forcefully – and has kids with both.
Violence–this is going to be a big one for most parents. Dead bodies are frequent, as is blood (or the blood substitute for other creatures). We see careless murder, or murder in the name of justice. People are crushed and left to drown. There’s multiple fight scenes, and at least one is a full-scale battle with hundreds dying on each side. A father commits suicide so that his son will escape and get vengeance on his death. People are punched and battered and bruised. Honestly, there’s nothing horribly graphic (the Hobbit movies or Lost, for example, are waaay worse), but the concepts are hinted at then left to the imagination.
Drinking/smoking/drugs–yep. Arthur drinks. A lot. His dad, too – they even make a game out of it. No smoking or drugs, that I noticed, though.
Language–another biggie. Arthur does not have a clean mouth, and he definitely curses the most out of our cast, though the villains throw a few around here and there. (WARNING! I’m going to give a list of words (bleeped out). Feel free to skip this part. ;)) Cuss words include “bi**h”, “da*n”, “bas***d”, “a**”, “h*ll”, and “sh*t”. There are repeated uses of almost all of these, especially “bas***d”, as that fact is part of the plot and a sensitive topic. (END WARNING!!) So definitely want to keep an eye on age for the language levels in here.
Neutral:
Humor–plenty of bathroom humor. ‘Nuff said.
Politics–there is the slightest “protect the environment” nudge in here, bordering on being kinda environmentalist. Not going to state my opinion on the subject here, but it’s something parents might want to be aware of. There’s also a comment about an evolution into merfolk and regression into savages.
Spiritual–mention of “gods”. Balancing that out, there’s talks of a “Great Fall”, before which all Atlantian kingdoms were one.
Messages
Pros:
Mercy triumphs over judgement (James 2:13)
A king needs more than power and bloodline – he needs a love for his people most of all (Proverbs 20:28)
Two night-and-day people(s) can become unified (…the whole thing about Gentiles now being brought into God’s family… but also Psalm 133:1)
Pride goes before the fall (SPOILER ALERT!! I just have to point out how excellently this is showcased. Arthur has two big duels with his brother: the first, he loses, ’cause he thought he had it in the bag. The second he wins, ’cause he learned while retrieving the trident that he couldn’t do this. That he didn’t have it in the bag. And that humility is what won him the trident and the crown. SPOILER END!!) (Proverbs 16:18)
When you realize you’re unworthy, you become worthy (kinda the same thing as above, but also 1 Corinthians 15:9 – only when Paul realized he was unworthy to be an apostle did he become an apostle)
Cons:
This is the spot where I get to justify my 4-star rating: there are no bad messages that I noticed. Zip. Zilch. Nada. So even despite the high content levels… the very fact that the messages above are the only ones that came across (and powerfully so) bumps this movie up from a 3-star or lower to a 4, almost 4.5 star rating. Well. Done. DC Comics. *applause* Much better job than on that new Wonder Woman… *coughs*
Morals
Pros:
Courage (this is actually a character arc for Arthur. He can fight with the best of them and faces death with what seems to be courage. But, when faced with his own greatest fears… he cowers. Until the end of his arc. But I’ll let you figure that one out for yourselves. ;))
Justice and mercy (Arthur as he learns with his mor major charcter arc that justice isn’t always the best way to go)
Honesty (Mera)
Caution (Orm)
Recklessness (Arthur – ’cause apparently all heroes need to be reckless these days. XD)
Cons:
Vengeance (Vulko, a villain I’ll leave unnamed)
Arrogance (Arthur – remember that whole “humility” thing we discussed up there at Messages? Yeah, thought so.)
Favorite Quotes
“Sometimes you have to do what’s right, even if your heart aches against it.” (AHHH FINALLY A GOOD MOVIE WHERE THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THIS INSTEAD OF THROW THE WHOLE, “follow your heart” GUNK IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *cannot express how happy she is with this quote*)
“You can’t judge a place before you even see it.”
" ‘What could be greater than a king?’ ‘A hero. A king fights for his nation; you fight for everyone.’ "
Techy Stuff
Not going to say much ’cause I don’t know much about movie making, but I will say that the worldbuilding/sets are FANTASTIC, the characters are TOTALLY AWESOME, and the plot is SPLENDORIFIC – except for one minor thing. This could be just me, but… Black Manta? The villain? He was… bleh. Honestly, I forgot about him until I saw him in a picture while I was snagging those ones at the top. He seems desperate and childish, not to mention that the plot would be totally fine without him, except for that one spot at the beginning (SPOILER ALERT!!) where Arthur’s ruthless justice is showcased as he kills Manta’s dad. (SPOILER END!!) So. Do with that what you will. XD (Also, this is plain preference here, but the soundtrack was a little heavy on the electric guitar side for me. *shrugs*)
First, before you go anywhere, watch this trailer. Because it is AMAZING. XD Secondly, don’t forget! The $20 Amazon giftcard giveaway is ending on Friday night, so make sure you’ve got all your entries in before then.
What was your opinion on Aquaman? Are you looking forward to the sequel? What’s your star rating for this movie?
Until next time,
Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!! ;P
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