Trailers can be seductive. They are, after all, still the best advertisement for any kind of film. The trailer for Aquaman was no exception. Even as the early reviews had described those scenes as a series of prospective screensavers, there was no question the underwater scenes were quite a feast for the eyes.
A few days before Christmas—a few days before my MTRCB Deputy card expired—I treated myself to Aquaman.
The story is about a hero whose life is taken from the bottomless wellspring of DC Comics. For those who are not into comics, Aquaman seems to spring from nothing. As a character though, Aquaman has appeared in earlier franchises. Think of 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the 2017 Justice League. In this film simply titled Aquaman, we learn more about the biography of this superhero.
Superheroes always have humanlike qualities or origin. In Aquaman, however, his being half-breed becomes crucial to his development as a real hero. He has a human father, a lightkeeper, who rescues the Queen of Atlantis, Atlanna. They have a son, named Arthur. Like his namesake in the Arthurian literature, Arthur/Aquaman has to prove his worth as a king by pulling from a phantom king—the Trident. But we are swimming fast in our storytelling.
Before Arthur becomes part of the deep sea kingdom, his mother has to leave him and return to Atlantis. There she is punished and, as the story goes, is offered as sacrifice to the monsters of the Trench. On Earth, er…land, Arthur grows up aware of his powers. The reason for this was the regular visit of a mentor, Vulko, from Atlantis. On land, also, Aquaman participates in rescue operations, in events that take place in the sea.
Not exactly a subplot, but a narrative that waylays the viewer is the constant reference to how humans have polluted the seas. It is, of course, a theme that is always—forever—important to how we live in this earth. But in a fantasy with fabulous seascapes deep under the seas, the discussion about flotsam and jetsam can ruin one’s prospect of an adventure. Who would ever think it’s possible to go deep, deep underwater and marvel, and be able to breathe while discovering scenarios that no aquarium-builder can even dare to imagine for his business!
Be that as it may, the Atlanteans are rightfully angry. It doesn’t matter that Aquaman has helped a Russian submarine, as if a nod to the present resuscitation of the Cold War elements. You know, the thought that Russians are out to destroy the United States of America, but here is an American superhero saving them from death.
The story of Aquaman is structured in two universes: the one on land and then underwater. On land, the actions are dull and boring; underwater, the actions are awesome and spellbinding, unless the characters are acting as if they are on land, and that is when the actions become dull and dumb again.
In fact, it’s only when Aquaman fights the many creatures of the deep, including his brother, Orm, that the film generates enough waves of interest.
A love triangle is also necessary to beef up the story. Princess Mera of Atlantis links up with Aquaman/Arthur. There is a scene when, warning of the impending destruction of the land/Earth by the more (it seems) superior forces from the deepest parts of the ocean, Mera appears from the sea. Arthur refuses her entreaties and leaves her standing alone on the pier in that red hair and silly green sea suit. Again, a case of actors not doing anything or for things not happening at all when the battlescenes are not happening.
Aquaman, the film, comes alive only when the Aquaman battles it out underwater. It seems another world, a monumental seascape, with corals and caves and depths that continue to grow deeper and deeper. But these long, extended battles do call attention to the “design” deep down there. In the end, we end up designing the seas and the depths, with the film becoming self-consciously a work of hardworking production designers.
Even Nicole Kidman and Willem Defoe can’t save the seas with their roles. As Mera, Amber Heard is a beautiful face. Nothing in her can make us believe she could do those powerful things. As for Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa is a new face and the fans look like they want to give him a chance. Patrick Wilson, the dramatic actor, is a unique presence in this genre, and that is all we can say of his performance.
The exaggerations—not a thousand but hundreds of thousands always—and the underwater scenes one after another soon lose their magic and appeal. The actors who play the heroes, and villains become just part of the design. Soon, our heart loses any interest in this new story about old heroes and many other referential characters. And yet this kind of film, directed by James Wan and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, thrives on references and cross-references.
If the box-office results are considered, it looks like we will have more adventures under the sea not only with Aquaman but with the other characters in the film.
If Aquaman appears to be a repetitively arduous film, another film demonstrates a different kind of arduousness. The film is titled Three Words to Forever.
The film begins quite well: a series of scenes mediated by online viewing of three generations of kin engage us. The family looks happy and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, if the film starts with happiness and ends with happiness, there will be no problem at all. But the script has to come up with the most difficult conflict for these characters/actors who, it seems, look like they have been briefed to be laidback, relax and enjoy the ride.
But, no, the film soon begins to grow dark even as the landscape persists in being bright and beautiful. Perhaps, there will be a value in dissonance, we tell ourselves. As soon as the happiness of the arrival of a daughter from America eats up the entire screen, one problem after another arises like some monsters from the pink lagoons. The couples have respective problems with each other. The grandfather is stubborn; the grandmother has grown tired of the old man. The parents of the young girl have not talked to each other for a long time. Then the daughter who, it seems, is the only keeper of the bluebird of happiness turns out to be shameless, spoiled brat of a child.
There is only one good soul (as first impression happens) and that is the boyfriend, but he turns out to be a spineless creature, as well.
The proverbial signposts don’t tell where the story is going. I didn’t expect the narrative to go macabre and helpless. But it does. Finally, while the grandfather goes missing without everyone noticing it, the Papa and the Mama and the daughter face off in a very dirty confrontation. The camera is relentless and unforgiving as it trains its eye on the three characters given their respective moments of hysteria. The camera moves back and forth among the three characters who, by the function of a disturbing screenplay, trade invectives and begin blaming each other for what happened to their life. For a family with such deep animosities in their chest and in their heart, we wonder why they even decide to see each other and be with one another.
As a viewer, one feels there is a degrading kind of pentimento here. The writers changed their mind as they were painting the scenes. The confrontation, which could have been made a tad softer given how the film looks, is transformed into a dark, dark, ruthless, and revengeful attack against each other. If we just follow the logic or lack of logic in the tirades, the film should have ended in tragedy. But, as with traffic signs in this country, the rules are not followed in our storytelling, as well.
Toward the end, the young girl played by Kathryn Bernardo with such insufferable characterization, pleads with her fiancé. At that point, we wish the gentle boy, played with such “freshness” to borrow what the releases say, by Tommy Esguerra, would just leave and leave us with a cautionary tale about how lack of reason can make people unhappy. As for the other actors and their performances—and to be fair to them—they would start with compelling dialogues and movements but, later, for some obscure reason, bring them onto spaces where they either ham it up, or suspend their characterization because the storytellers want them to play it cool, lighten the conflict, or just fly out of frame.
I don’t know whether I should take the film seriously but when a production presents a film in cooperation with a cracker company, the work should be able to transcend product placement. What I do know is that, before Three Words to Forever condemned me to really curse any work that has the promise of eternity, there are ads out there in the Internet that can make one laugh, cry and think. Three Words to Forever has the biscuit in the beginning and it is there again in the ending. And we ask ourselves, is this fair to us?