Tag: Jason Momoa

Aquaman, A Textbook Case of A Hero’s Journey …

null 11By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

* Spoiler Alert

‘Tis the season to enjoy being Aquaman. Jason Momoa is clearly having fun in the role, and his charm sells this latest DC Extended Universe product. Zack Snyder has executive producer credit and James Wan is directing. This Fast and Furious director sticks to what he knows best and translates the screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall into glorious sequences straight out of Lord of the Rings, Clash of the Titans (no surprise here, when considering David’s past work), Blade Runner and Indiana Jones.

Of the latter, it was too short and I wished for more. The visual treat of the underwater sequences is certainly overwhelming and lives up to recreating Neo Atlantis perfectly. I hoped for a more classically nuanced work (in reference to Plato’s Timaeus) and while not out of place, the archeological moments were not too much of a letdown. Balancing the origin of a superhero story with the big tease of them in the Sahara must have been tough.

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Not a Justice League of Their Own, or Are They?

Justice_League_film_poster.jpgBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The problem with the live action Justice League not living up to its pedigree is that it’s missing its seventh member. We have Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) leading the charge. In the film, he’s dead but everyone knows he’ll come back to at some point. Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and Flash (Ezra Miller) round off the team. In the comics, there were seven founding members. This number is also very symbolic, usually a measure of completeness. Depending on the culture, just what it means will vary.

As a film which hints at a possible add in the future, the wait will be long to see who that will be. In other mediums, either Green Lantern or Martian Manhunter will become a member. But before this can even happen, a set of solo films are in store for the other half of the team. This baggage is unneeded; let’s just assume audiences know them and offer story arcs which can shake up the DC multiverse (conveniently enough, Flashpoint will be the story in Flash’s solo outing even though no date has been set).

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