The DC Movies Thread v AQUAMAN

[The Walrus]

I feel old because my first question is: how many times can you reboot a franchise? I guess no one really care in the end anyway, much more fun to get hyped.

They also gets darker and darker it seems.

Batman should be pretty dark imo. I was skeptical as hell based on all the reporting around Pattinson and the constant troubles with the script and producing it etc. but the trailer makes this look awesome imo.

Also - just my two cents - Nolan's Batman was the first time a Batman movie wasn't complete garbage imo so I'm up for another reboot. I liked Batfleck but he hasn't been done justice yet.

Honestly, as someone who was following the production of the film for the past three years, there was never much of any signs that Matt Reeves was having problems with the script or producing the film. The trouble was primarily from back when Affleck was originally attached to write-direct a very different film with the same working title (THE BATMAN) that would've been set in the main DCEU. After Reeves came onboard, it seems like Affleck was unofficially long gone before his announced departure at the start of 2019 (and now he's back again for Flash  ) and Reeves just started over working on the film from scratch without much problems.

Pattinson himself hasn't really been a problem either, though he did briefly piss off a certain group of fans by joking in an interview that he wasn't working out and stuff... which makes sense, as he is notorious for making stuff up on the fly in interviews and later confirmed he was indeed working out and training for the role.

All in all, I've personally had all the faith in the world in this film being good ever since Matt Reeves came onboard the project. As much as I love the Nolan films, I can tell very clearly in the interviews with Matt that he's by far the director with the greatest understanding and appreciation for the whole breadth of the Batman mythos that's been in charge of the franchise. He's a nerd when it comes to Batman and it shows. Plus it helps that despite having all of that knowledge and appreciation for the world of Gotham, Reeves isn't afraid to take chances and do things his own way like Nolan and Burton before him.

That's actually really good to know - all of it. I have been so confused following the DC film universe. I lost track after Affleck dropped out, which was where all the trouble I was referring to came from, and now he's apparently back while Pattinson is also Batman, because they're doing the multiverse thing? So is the Justice League and Man of Steel etc. still canon? I have absolutely no clue what the state of the DC film universe is at this point, especially with Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad, the standalone Joker movie, how Shazam fits into this, Robert Pattinson 'joking' about not working out which made me worry, etc.

I might at some point force myself to watch the whole DC universe just to catch up. I still haven't seen Shazam and Aquaman put me to sleep.

[Zantera]

I love the Nolan trilogy but if there's one complaint I would have it's that Gotham doesn't feel very dark or gothic and it's kinda just -insert generic big concrete city- that looks like New York or Chicago or something else. This is only a trailer but the glimpses we get of the environment feels more 'atmospheric' in that sense. I hope that's something that will be even more clear in the movie.

[Phoenix87x]

Trailer is pretty much what I expected it to be. Diggin the vibe for the most part

If they are going for a grittier version of the riddler, i would be down with that

[King Postwhore]

I love the Nolan trilogy but if there's one complaint I would have it's that Gotham doesn't feel very dark or gothic and it's kinda just -insert generic big concrete city- that looks like New York or Chicago or something else. This is only a trailer but the glimpses we get of the environment feels more 'atmospheric' in that sense. I hope that's something that will be even more clear in the movie.

I do think that trilogy was going for realism.   Like him disguising his voice or how Joker's hair became greasier and less green throughout the movie. The Joker didn't shower.

[Dream Team]

New Wonder Woman trailer out. Much more excited for that than another dingy dreary Batman movie.

[ariich]

I'm very behind on my DC movies, but the new trailers for The Batman and WW84 were pretty great.

[The Walrus]

I just realized we're going to have 3 Harley Quinn movies by the time we get The Batman. 

[lonestar]

Gave WW84 a spin while cooking dinner. They really need to give Patty Jenkins more work at DC, in my opinion she's got a better grasp of the genre than any of the other DC peeps. Another excellent movie from her. Pedro Pascal is a tremendous villain.

[Stadler]

I watched it too; don't know how I feel yet. 

[soupytwist]

I actually thought it was a mess, they tried to jam way to much content into the story and ended up tying it all together with lots of eye rolling plot convenience.  The first film was really good, this was a bit of a misstep.

Dunno if we are doing spoilers yet.....but the whole Steve storyline is seriously messed up.

[Zantera]

I was mildly interested in this because the first one was decent but now i'm more curious because of the terrible reviews and people saying it's a catastrophe on the level of Fantastic Four. Really curious to see how they messed it up considering the first one was solid and you had many of the same people involved (Jenkins) this time again.

[jingle.boy]

It’s $30 to rent at home for us Canucks (theatres are in lockdown, and HBO Max doesn’t exist up here.

My interest in watching it for that prices is sub zero.

[hefdaddy42]

It’s $30 to rent at home for us Canucks (theatres are in lockdown, and HBO Max doesn’t exist up here.

My interest in watching it for that prices is sub zero.

I saw it on HBO Max.  If I had paid $30.00 for it, I would be furious.

I didn't like it very much at all.

[Adami]

Yea, WW84 was.....not very good. I can see why some might really enjoy it, but I just am not one of them. Though the movie definitely had its pros.



SPOILERS AHEAD







So much of this movie is a mixed bag. The opening scene with young Diana was really great. I loved it, but then....it just really served no purpose for the overall movie. I guess the line about not cheating is the moral? But it's a really weak connection. So yea, fantastic opening scene that really had nothing to do with the movie that came after. And then the next scene at the mall.....great scene.....but also has nothing to do with the rest of the movie. The tone of the mall scene is light, fun, 80's, uplifting, etc. But then right after the tone changes immediately to traditional comic book fare and never really gets back to it. It feels like the opening scene is from one movie, the next scene is from a different movie, and then there's the rest of the movie which is its own thing all together.

Everything with Steve and Diana was fantastic. Chris Pine is just great and all their scenes were just well acted between them. Mando was a great actor...but his character just seemed odd. I'm not really sure what he was all about. Initially he starts out like a decent guy who's REALLY screwed himself over. He becomes the wishing stone...........but why? To help others? To simply scam everyone else out of things? I dunno. Just felt really flimsy in the end. So did Barbara's character. She's the typical girl who gets a makeover and is a different person. But what's her motive? We don't see much of how she's treated in the beginning. She seems like an okay person that people are fine with. She wants to be cool but ends up addicted to her strength and then wants to be an apex predator? Huh?

The invisible jet stuff was just....dumb. The learning to fly part is one of the few times that I quickly noticed them trying to emotionally manipulate me with the music. The score was great, but her flying was...dumb...I'm sorry. The amazing score over it doesn't make the writing better or more logical.

Also the golden armor thing was odd. The original person was killed in it....but then they just left the armor? And she was flying but then decided to stop by her house and then go back to the fight? Just felt like she got it out of nowhere. Again, felt dumb.

Overall...........the movie had its good moments. Her renouncing her wish was great. Her stuff with Steve was great. Mando was fun to watch. But the writing was just.........awful. I have no idea what happened. I'm actually a smidge concerned about Patty's Star Wars movie since she's one of the main writer's on this one too.

Overall, I'd give it a C-, and that's kind of generous. Though, as I said, I can see how many people will truly love and enjoy the movie.


Edit: Also.....Steve's return was dumb. I'm sorry. Some guy wished for his lands to be returned and a giant wall around the country appeared out nowhere. The president wants more nukes (dumb guy) and they materialize from nothing. Diana wishes for Steve but the only way he can come back is inside someone else's body? What the hell happened to the original guy during that time? Did he go into a spiritual waiting room? Did he have a family? A job? Kids? Some poor dude's life was stolen from him because Steve was wished for, but couldn't get his own body instead? And at no point did Diana even consider any of this?

[hefdaddy42]

You are, of course, correct in all of your points.

[ZirconBlue]

SPOILERS AHEAD







He becomes the wishing stone...........but why? To help others? To simply scam everyone else out of things?

Because he knows the stone extracts a price.  By becoming the stone, the price of others' wishes are paid to him.  Plus, he sometimes tricks others into wishing things for him, as well, so he gets free wishes.

So did Barbara's character. She's the typical girl who gets a makeover and is a different person. But what's her motive? We don't see much of how she's treated in the beginning. She seems like an okay person that people are fine with.

 


People are not fine with her.  They act like she's not even there.  When she drops her stuff no one helps her, other than Diana, and no one remembers she exists.  Even the woman that recently hired her already had already forgotten her. 

She wants to be cool but ends up addicted to her strength and then wants to be an apex predator? Huh?

She wishes to be "like Diana", but didn't know Diana had powers at the time.  She just wanted people to like and respect her.  Her changes in personality and motivation are part of the price she paid for her wish.  We saw her with wild cat stuff at the office, so the Cheetah thing didn't come out of nowhere.

[Adami]

I'll give you the wishing stone stuff. For sure. Though I still maintain that he was massively underdeveloped and had the potential to be way more interesting.


But the rest...no. It's really weak on the writer's part. At most, she's just Jim Carrey from Batman Forever, which isn't a good thing.

[pg1067]

Yea, WW84 was.....not very good.

I agree with just about all of this -- particularly the bit about the first two scenes having nothing to do with each other or the rest of the movie (although the crime being committed in the mall scene does relate to the rest).

Mando was a great actor...but his character just seemed odd. I'm not really sure what he was all about.

Mando?  I think you're talking about Max Lord?


Also, the very last scene was pretty cool (albeit monumentally cheesy).

[Adami]

Yea. Max Lord. I actually really like Pedro Pascal and liked him in this movie. I just wish they gave him a better written character.


And yea, the ending is odd. The intention, I felt, was fantastic. Gal Gadot played it great too. But the sheer lack of logic behind any of it was just too much for me. I know, I know...comic book movie, therefore logic never matters at all, but to me this one was a bit too much. He's on TV and particles touch people or something....and then he's in the particles and even the the camera is off, everyone can hear Gal somehow? I dunno. I just think the very good idea god lost in a horrible execution.

[pg1067]

And yea, the ending is odd. The intention, I felt, was fantastic. Gal Gadot played it great too. But the sheer lack of logic behind any of it was just too much for me. I know, I know...comic book movie, therefore logic never matters at all, but to me this one was a bit too much. He's on TV and particles touch people or something....and then he's in the particles and even the the camera is off, everyone can hear Gal somehow? I dunno. I just think the very good idea god lost in a horrible execution.

I meant the very, very last scene (the one that only vaguely relates to the plot of the movie).  I agree about the absurdity of the notion that a broadcast that metaphorically "touches" people being used as a substitute for the otherwise necessary physical touching.

[lonestar]

In my defense of enjoying the movie, I should state I was watching it on a tablet while cooking Xmas dinner. Maybe if I paid deeper attention I'd be let down 

[Adami]

And yea, the ending is odd. The intention, I felt, was fantastic. Gal Gadot played it great too. But the sheer lack of logic behind any of it was just too much for me. I know, I know...comic book movie, therefore logic never matters at all, but to me this one was a bit too much. He's on TV and particles touch people or something....and then he's in the particles and even the the camera is off, everyone can hear Gal somehow? I dunno. I just think the very good idea god lost in a horrible execution.

I meant the very, very last scene (the one that only vaguely relates to the plot of the movie).  I agree about the absurdity of the notion that a broadcast that metaphorically "touches" people being used as a substitute for the otherwise necessary physical touching.

Ohhhh yea. I mean.....I didn't like that scene either haha. It's so odd. The intention of that scene is great, and I really like the entire idea of of it. But I felt like it just....didn't make much sense and I didn't get the thought behind it. It COULD have been great, but just missed the mark for me. Maybe I've been spoiled by the CW shows that seeing old school actors coming back to the DC universe doesn't WOW me the way it might have otherwise. Especially since that same actress was already in the CW shows recently.

[hefdaddy42]

Mando was a great actor...but his character just seemed odd. I'm not really sure what he was all about.

Mando?  I think you're talking about Max Lord?

He was talking about Maxwell Lord, but called him Mando, because the same actor plays Mando (The Mandalorian).

[Zantera]

I watched it last night and I don't know if it's TERRIBLE but the superhero movies it reminded me the most of were the Schumacher Batman movies and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which is a bit unfortunate. It felt like a script that needed another 2 or 3 re-writes and neither villain really felt developed. Kristen Wiig was essentially Jim Carrey-Riddler / Jamie Foxx-Electro again except she wasn't really THAT sad and pathetic initially, just seemed like your average introvert. The Max Lord character was... weird. It didn't feel like there was any bond between him and his son at all until the ending when there needed to be one. Just kinda underdeveloped. The way they brought back Chris Pine was also weird. I guess his spirit possessed someone else kinda? What happened to that guy? I was just thinking in half of those scenes "Maybe this guy has someone looking for him right now".

[Kotowboy]

^ That doesn't sound good AT ALL 

[Zantera]

^ That doesn't sound good AT ALL 

It's not a good movie at all but it's hard to say where to put this among the bad ones. Something like Batman and Robin you can still watch and laugh at just how wrong everything is and how much everyone is hamming it up. WW84 felt more like TASM2 where the script and structure is just all over the place and the individual pieces barely work.

It's weird because the opening was pretty good and I thought the 'lesson' of "don't take shortcuts" would come back, and I guess it sort of did with wishing for things but the wishes having a bad effect, but it just didn't feel very well thought out. Like they had this idea for a statement but halfway through they gave up on following through on that idea. The mall scene was pretty fun and almost felt like a homage to the Raimi Spider-Man films but it also felt out of place because no other action scene after that one had that 'fun 80s action' feel.

[pg1067]

Kristen Wiig was essentially Jim Carrey-Riddler / Jamie Foxx-Electro again except she wasn't really THAT sad and pathetic initially, just seemed like your average introvert.

I won't blame Kristen Wiig for WW84, but I can't remember not being disappointed at something she did (other than The Martian).  Other than the origin of Kristen Wiig's change, the two story lines seemed so random.  It was as if two different people came up with ideas and someone said, "I like them both!  Let's put them in the same movie!"  Cheetah from the 70s Super Friends cartoon was better.

[Zantera]

Kristen Wiig was essentially Jim Carrey-Riddler / Jamie Foxx-Electro again except she wasn't really THAT sad and pathetic initially, just seemed like your average introvert.

I won't blame Kristen Wiig for WW84, but I can't remember not being disappointed at something she did (other than The Martian).  Other than the origin of Kristen Wiig's change, the two story lines seemed so random.  It was as if two different people came up with ideas and someone said, "I like them both!  Let's put them in the same movie!"  Cheetah from the 70s Super Friends cartoon was better.

I feel bad for her because she's pretty good but then she ends up in underwhelming (or bad) stuff like this and Ghost Busters. Neither is her fault ofc, but there's a good WW movie with her as Cheetah to be made but then you watch this film and it's just a mess. It's a shame.

[lonestar]

Started on Titans, from a post of Joe's wife recommending it. So far it's solid television.

[King Postwhore]

She's become an influencer I see.

[Adami]

Started on Titans, from a post of Joe's wife recommending it. So far it's solid television.

I've totally lost track of who's seen what, but have you seen Doom Patrol? If not, that might be one of the best comic book shows I've ever seen.

[King Postwhore]

Started on Titans, from a post of Joe's wife recommending it. So far it's solid television.

I've totally lost track of who's seen what, but have you seen Doom Patrol? If not, that might be one of the best comic book shows I've ever seen.

Just started to watch that myself. There is 1 episode with Doom Patrol in Season 1 of Titans. 

[Adami]

Started on Titans, from a post of Joe's wife recommending it. So far it's solid television.

I've totally lost track of who's seen what, but have you seen Doom Patrol? If not, that might be one of the best comic book shows I've ever seen.

Just started to watch that myself. There is 1 episode with Doom Patrol in Season 1 of Titans.

Yea, I read about that, but I never saw Titans. I did read, however, that they are officially in different universes, so the Doom Patrol from Titans....though very similar....is technically not the same as from their own show. Weird stuff.

[King Postwhore]

Hot damn.  I did not know that. Interesting.

[lonestar]

I do think I watched one episode of Doom Patrol, and wasn't turned off, just forgot about it.