Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
May. 28th, 2025 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI liked it.
+ I enjoyed Arthur and Orm. Their interactions were great. The prison breakout was fun. I liked the little conversation in the forest where Orm realises Arthur really didn't want the throne and they bicker about how Arthur defeated him. The forest scenes in general were great. I liked Arthur letting him go at the end and them making peace.
+ I loved Mera and Arthur saving each other. Arthur saving Mera during the Atlantis attack, Mera showing up to save Arthur from being crushed on the island and then again from Manta in Necrus. The last save was my favourite.
+ The way that end confrontation played out - Orm saving Mera by grabbing the Trident, Orm subsequently being taken over by the Trident, possessed Orm vs Arthur, Arthur bringing Orm back in part via feelings - was great.
+ I liked the scene with the cockroach. Orm actually being open enough that he did eat it. Arthur being enthusiastic and trying to instigate a new food when Orm actually liked it. I thought it was going to a place where Arthur would laugh at him and go 'ha tricked you, made you eat something gross' so I'm glad it didn't.
+ I liked Arthur revealing Atlantis to the world. The shot of the ship rising up was great. Needed more reaction shots of the reveal/arrival, cause that's the best part!
+ The representatives of the sea kingdoms being Arthur, Nereus and the Brine King annoyed the hell out of me. Honestly I hated it. Why was Mera, Queen of Atlantis, not there? You know what would have had a lot more weight? If Karshon, who had been Arthur's biggest opponent/antagonist on the human world, had been there by his side.
+ Orm running so weird on land and having to be taught how to really run was great.
+ T.O.P.O was great. I appreciate that despite all the completely uncalled for disdain he did his job well and then helped save Arthur and Orm at the end.
+ I liked the Fishermen's mounts. Very creepy looking.
+ In general the look of the movie was good. I liked that it was colourful. It felt vibrant and alive. I liked the costumes.
+ The fight/action scenes were pretty good mostly. I liked the prison break out, the attack on Atlantis, the trident fight, Stingray vs Arthur/Orm. The pirate fight was meh.
+ There was this underlining understanding in the movie about how much Arthur genuinely does not like being King. He enjoys the battle stuff but otherwise finds it a waste of his time. I wondered if the movie was leading to Orm taking over again but (realistically) nope. Only then the movie doesn't go anywhere with it. There was that speech by Orm but really? That was enough? Yes, Arthur does go pass the High Council and does what he thinks is best which I guess is a win for him but also he's still King.
What I think they should have done, and what would have made a lot of sense, was to have Mera become Queen. Not just Arthur's queen (to his King) but superseding him as the main ruler of Atlantis - Queen to him being king. Let him take a step back from the ruling. Put her in charge and leave him to fight the battles that need to be fought. Co-rulers but switching around the primary.
+ We got a lot of scenes of Arthur talking to his dad and interacting with his son in the beginning and it was mostly just the three of them. I found it really weird that minus a few short scenes Mera wasn't ever there and Atlanna was MIA completely. We don't see them as a family and it felt really off. It was a strange choice. I mentally decided that Mera (and Atlanna) were clearly running Atlantis because Arthur didn't care but it would have been nice to have seen more of the five of them as a happy family beyond the quick montage at the end.
+ That said I feel like there was a missed opportunity to delve more into the theme of fathers and sons by showing us more of David and his father (considering Jessie's death is David's entire motivation) and even maybe giving us a little more of Orm and his father, and how that shaped Orm and his relationship with Arthur.
+ It was really unnecessary for David to actually be possessed by Kordax. It ended up rather flattening him as a character. Him being so consumed by the need for revenge that he'd make a deal with a devil and do genuine evil to accomplish his goal is a lot more interesting then him being possessed/manipulated the whole time.
+ I actually forgot that Nereus was Mera's father and honestly there was nothing in this movie to remind me. That's a bit of an issue! There were a couple background moments that easily could have indicated it. Nereus was standing in the room when Mera was recovering from her injury but he could have easily been sitting at her bedside holding her hand and talking with her when Arthur arrived. Why wasn't he running up to the lighthouse with the others when Arthur Jr. was taken and then comforting his daughter?
+ Atlanna choosing to stay behind with the injured Thomas Curry instead of going with everyone to rescue Arthur Jr. annoyed the crap out of me. He was stabilized! There was nothing she needed/could do for him. Her grandson was kidnapped and could be killed, her sons were both going into danger. We know she can fight. It makes no sense to me. At the least they could have had her staying behind to marshal forces/run Atlantis/run interference with the Council, something.
+ Good job on Dr Shin in trying to blow up Manta and trying to save baby Arthur. I also enjoyed him trying to turn himself over to Arthur and Orm earlier in the movie.
+ It's interesting that Arthur Jr. appears to be being raised entire on land with his grandfather taking on a large role of caretaker of him. I'm curious about why they'd have decided to do that. Has he ever been to Atlantis?
+ I'm always here for a female evil second-in-command but while I understand why we don't get to know her as a person I do wish we'd gotten something with regards to her relationship with David and why she is unshakeably loyal even when what he's doing is getting pretty insane.
+ I enjoyed Arthur and Orm. Their interactions were great. The prison breakout was fun. I liked the little conversation in the forest where Orm realises Arthur really didn't want the throne and they bicker about how Arthur defeated him. The forest scenes in general were great. I liked Arthur letting him go at the end and them making peace.
+ I loved Mera and Arthur saving each other. Arthur saving Mera during the Atlantis attack, Mera showing up to save Arthur from being crushed on the island and then again from Manta in Necrus. The last save was my favourite.
+ The way that end confrontation played out - Orm saving Mera by grabbing the Trident, Orm subsequently being taken over by the Trident, possessed Orm vs Arthur, Arthur bringing Orm back in part via feelings - was great.
+ I liked the scene with the cockroach. Orm actually being open enough that he did eat it. Arthur being enthusiastic and trying to instigate a new food when Orm actually liked it. I thought it was going to a place where Arthur would laugh at him and go 'ha tricked you, made you eat something gross' so I'm glad it didn't.
+ I liked Arthur revealing Atlantis to the world. The shot of the ship rising up was great. Needed more reaction shots of the reveal/arrival, cause that's the best part!
+ The representatives of the sea kingdoms being Arthur, Nereus and the Brine King annoyed the hell out of me. Honestly I hated it. Why was Mera, Queen of Atlantis, not there? You know what would have had a lot more weight? If Karshon, who had been Arthur's biggest opponent/antagonist on the human world, had been there by his side.
+ Orm running so weird on land and having to be taught how to really run was great.
+ T.O.P.O was great. I appreciate that despite all the completely uncalled for disdain he did his job well and then helped save Arthur and Orm at the end.
+ I liked the Fishermen's mounts. Very creepy looking.
+ In general the look of the movie was good. I liked that it was colourful. It felt vibrant and alive. I liked the costumes.
+ The fight/action scenes were pretty good mostly. I liked the prison break out, the attack on Atlantis, the trident fight, Stingray vs Arthur/Orm. The pirate fight was meh.
+ There was this underlining understanding in the movie about how much Arthur genuinely does not like being King. He enjoys the battle stuff but otherwise finds it a waste of his time. I wondered if the movie was leading to Orm taking over again but (realistically) nope. Only then the movie doesn't go anywhere with it. There was that speech by Orm but really? That was enough? Yes, Arthur does go pass the High Council and does what he thinks is best which I guess is a win for him but also he's still King.
What I think they should have done, and what would have made a lot of sense, was to have Mera become Queen. Not just Arthur's queen (to his King) but superseding him as the main ruler of Atlantis - Queen to him being king. Let him take a step back from the ruling. Put her in charge and leave him to fight the battles that need to be fought. Co-rulers but switching around the primary.
+ We got a lot of scenes of Arthur talking to his dad and interacting with his son in the beginning and it was mostly just the three of them. I found it really weird that minus a few short scenes Mera wasn't ever there and Atlanna was MIA completely. We don't see them as a family and it felt really off. It was a strange choice. I mentally decided that Mera (and Atlanna) were clearly running Atlantis because Arthur didn't care but it would have been nice to have seen more of the five of them as a happy family beyond the quick montage at the end.
+ That said I feel like there was a missed opportunity to delve more into the theme of fathers and sons by showing us more of David and his father (considering Jessie's death is David's entire motivation) and even maybe giving us a little more of Orm and his father, and how that shaped Orm and his relationship with Arthur.
+ It was really unnecessary for David to actually be possessed by Kordax. It ended up rather flattening him as a character. Him being so consumed by the need for revenge that he'd make a deal with a devil and do genuine evil to accomplish his goal is a lot more interesting then him being possessed/manipulated the whole time.
+ I actually forgot that Nereus was Mera's father and honestly there was nothing in this movie to remind me. That's a bit of an issue! There were a couple background moments that easily could have indicated it. Nereus was standing in the room when Mera was recovering from her injury but he could have easily been sitting at her bedside holding her hand and talking with her when Arthur arrived. Why wasn't he running up to the lighthouse with the others when Arthur Jr. was taken and then comforting his daughter?
+ Atlanna choosing to stay behind with the injured Thomas Curry instead of going with everyone to rescue Arthur Jr. annoyed the crap out of me. He was stabilized! There was nothing she needed/could do for him. Her grandson was kidnapped and could be killed, her sons were both going into danger. We know she can fight. It makes no sense to me. At the least they could have had her staying behind to marshal forces/run Atlantis/run interference with the Council, something.
+ Good job on Dr Shin in trying to blow up Manta and trying to save baby Arthur. I also enjoyed him trying to turn himself over to Arthur and Orm earlier in the movie.
+ It's interesting that Arthur Jr. appears to be being raised entire on land with his grandfather taking on a large role of caretaker of him. I'm curious about why they'd have decided to do that. Has he ever been to Atlantis?
+ I'm always here for a female evil second-in-command but while I understand why we don't get to know her as a person I do wish we'd gotten something with regards to her relationship with David and why she is unshakeably loyal even when what he's doing is getting pretty insane.
