DC has had a rough go. While the MCU has continued to rack up box office records, enjoy critical acclaim and near-universal audience approval, the DC Extended Universe has mostly gotten mocked (aside from the excellent Wonder Woman) and seen its box office grosses flounder. So it's time for a shift, and it looks like they're trying to strike a balance between epic battles and quippy banter.
Will Aquaman be able to pull that off? The plot focuses on the battle between rivals (Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson) claiming to be rightful heirs to the throne, which we've already seen in Thor and Black Panther. But this time it will be underwater! James Wan has already proven himself a capable horror director with the Conjuring franchise, and has already done his big-time action movie with Furious 7. It's certainly got the right people in front of and behind the camera to pull this off.
But there's a lot riding on this. It will either be another massive disappointment for DC and Warner Bros. or it's a huge hit and proof that they're on the right track. That's a lot of pressure for any one film, but they've been playing catch up for this long, so this is the position they find themselves in.
We'll find out if Aquaman is the big hit of the holiday season when it opens Friday, December 21, 2018.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
