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Aquaman (2018)

Zamros

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I'm impressed.... this is way more awful than I ever could have expected
 

TM2YC

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I had a thought:

42838324614_1e13992bf1_z.jpg


Well, at least if it's gonna be bad, it's gonna be hilariously bad and not boring and po-faced.

wilhelm scream said:
At least the effects look good this time.

Really? I thought they looked fake as hell, the FX assets themselves and the green-screen backdrops but it's just a trailer, so they have the rest of the year to work on them some more.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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This looks like a collection of deleted scenes from Valerian and the city of a thousand planets. I bet it will be as good as that movie too.....
 

wilhelm scream

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TM2YC said:
I had a thought:

42838324614_1e13992bf1_z.jpg


Well, at least if it's gonna be bad, it's gonna be hilariously bad and not boring and po-faced.

wilhelm scream said:
At least the effects look good this time.

Really? I thought they looked fake as hell, the FX assets themselves and the green-screen backdrops but it's just a trailer, so they have the rest of the year to work on them some more.

I guess the effects of Justice Leauge were so bad, that it's caused me to think other bad visual effects look good.
 

addiesin

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This looks like at least some fun was allowed to leak in.
 

Canon Editor

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Unfortunately, I can’t say for “Aquaman’s” trailer what I said about “Shazam!”’s.  The fishman’s blockbuster seems so wildly over the top and cheap I can’t understand how people can keep their hopes up.  James Wan could serve well, though… things could turn around, hopefully.
 

bionicbob

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While much of CGI looks very video-gamey, I appreciate the injection of primary colours and the fun design.  Riding giant sea horses and sharks -- that is totally awesome sauce for me!

I enjoyed Wan's take on the FF franchise, so if this has the same style and energy, it could be a fun mindless popcorn flick.
 

MusicEd921

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Wow, I can't believe how much hate this is already getting.  Damn!

I think it looks like a lot of fun and I liked the CGI, so I guess I'm just easy to please.
 

Zamros

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musiced921 said:
Wow, I can't believe how much hate this is already getting.  Damn!

I think it looks like a lot of fun and I liked the CGI, so I guess I'm just easy to please.

I should say, I'm actually a fan of Aquaman as a character. I just hate what they've done to him in the DCEU. They seem to just have taken him down the most generic route possible, with this movie.
 

MusicEd921

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Zamros said:
They seem to just have taken him down the most generic route possible, with this movie.

Fair enough, but Snyder went an unconventional route and it didn't work out, so after the controversy over BvS and JL, going the generic almost Marvel type route seems like a good idea though.  We won't really know until we see the movie because even Suicide Squad looked like it would be great and it was horrible IMO.

I think Glass will be something entirely different from the superhero conventions and may be a welcomed and cherished movie if M. Night doesn't Shyamalan it up.
 

bionicbob

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Black Panther was completely generic/formula film making, yet many fans and critics hailed it as a fantastic revolutionary super hero movie (I disagree... I thought it was average/fun/good/safe) and was a box office smash hit.

I agree with Ed, a standard hero's journey arc is probably the best approach for Aquaman considering his mythical and convoluted origins.  The more I rewatch the trailer, the more I see the potential for escapist popcorn fun.
 

Canon Editor

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Frankly, I’m not satisfied with “generic, pop-corn flicks”.  To ask Shyamalan to not “Shyamalan it all up” is like asking Hitchcock to not put his fingerprints all over it.  One may or may not like the personality or style of one particular artist, but to ask him (even if only on a forum board) not to is going against the very idea of what I call “expression in art”… or else, go to the more and more popular route.  
Zack Snyder, who is no impeccable storyteller in my opinion too, has a very distinct style of representation in the art of film.  The popular point many people on discussion forums seem to make is that his style is the fault in his storytelling - mistaking form (style) with content (narrative structure/storytelling).  That is the biggest fault in today’s critiquing of filmmaking: the misunderstanding of style - which is entirely subjective just like cinematography (that too can convey what is on screen to a larger extent, but visually speaking it’s different) with narrative, that may or may not be effective not depending on style.  That is why many people who claim Marvel’s superior form of atorytelling make me angry.  It is bland, generic and without any distinctive element (cinematically speaking, not in its contents. 

Back to “Aquaman”, this is to say that this trailer makes me afraid this film may be that, but other DC films/trailers have been making me think otherwise, as James Wan’s direction.
 

addiesin

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Canon Editor said:
Frankly, I’m not satisfied with “generic, pop-corn flicks”.  To ask Shyamalan to not “Shyamalan it all up” is like asking Hitchcock to not put his fingerprints all over it.  One may or may not like the personality or style of one particular artist, but to ask him (even if only on a forum board) not to is going against the very idea of what I call “expression in art”… or else, go to the more and more popular route.  
Zack Snyder, who is no impeccable storyteller in my opinion too, has a very distinct style of representation in the art of film.  The popular point many people on discussion forums seem to make is that his style is the fault in his storytelling - mistaking form (style) with content (narrative structure/storytelling).  That is the biggest fault in today’s critiquing of filmmaking: the misunderstanding of style - which is entirely subjective just like cinematography (that too can convey what is on screen to a larger extent, but visually speaking it’s different) with narrative, that may or may not be effective not depending on style.  That is why many people who claim Marvel’s superior form of atorytelling make me angry.  It is bland, generic and without any distinctive element (cinematically speaking, not in its contents. 

Back to “Aquaman”, this is to say that this trailer makes me afraid this film may be that, but other DC films/trailers have been making me think otherwise, as James Wan’s direction.

I took the Shyamalan phrase to mean hopefully he makes a film comparable to his early work, like The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable, rather than something comparable to The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender. I don't think there's a comparably "bad" era in Hitchcock's filmography.

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IMO, the popular points used to critique Snyder's films are that he:
1 pays more attention to style than substance 
2 misunderstands "character" in general/needs a writer 

I'm curious why you think others think his aesthetic choices (his style) are a mistake. Going through his work, it's obvious his sense of aesthetics is his greatest strength as a filmmaker, and I personally haven't seen many complaints about Snyder's visuals overall (though there are complaints about specific visual elements, like the amount of heavy grading on the colors in his newer films, or the amount of slow motion in his older films).


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What people generally consider "superior" about Marvel films are:
1 they're consistently fun films (no single Marvel film is a total drag to get through, nor will one make a child cry)
2 they have likeable characters
3 they have proper setup and payoff, the details are not forgotten over time (really, plenty of details are forgotten or let go of, but it feels like they remember the small stuff)

None of these things make them award-winning films, but I don't see what's generic unless you're talking about the fact that they use origin stories for some of the film plots, or some villains are there more as plot devices than as actual characters. Both of these things have been addressed and toned down over time. I'm just not sure what you mean.
 

bionicbob

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Gaith said:

:D  I actually have this on dvd somewhere LOL!  I believe the pilot was actually called Mercy Reef?
At the time, I thought it was entertaining with some interesting potential.... but yeah, the whole call me A.C. thing was annoying both in this pilot and on Smallville.    This was essentially Miller/Gough ripping off their own Smallville, but forgetting to inject the heart that made their show so successful.
Anyway, I think I may have to dig this out and give it a rewatch. :p
 
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