An Aquaman Review: From the perspective of the modern cephalopod.
(Full disclosure #1: I have very little to no background knowledge of Aquaman, and as it is around 9:30 pm, I am not up to my usual research standards to fill in some gaps of people’s histories and names and so forth.)
(Full disclosure #2: The last time this cephalopod wrote a critique of a movie or book was when she was in college, a looooong time ago.)
As a marine invertebrate, I am always pleased when there is marine representation in mainstream media. Today I went to see Aquaman with my cephalopod niece and nephew and their immediate family. Here are some of my thoughts regarding the film.
1. The characterization of land dwelling organisms, particularly humans:
In general, the humanoid citizens of Atlantis have a negative view of land dwellers. They bring up some very valid points, regarding the pollution, littering, and wholesale destruction of marine habitats. As a long time marine resident among land dwellers, I can fully see their point, but I also appreciate that an attempt was made to show that the average land dweller is not an evil corporate criminal up to no good, they are just average beings trying to make the best of their surroundings.
2. Equal representation of marine organisms:
Here, for the most part, the film failed this cephalopod’s expectations. I suppose I should not be surprised at the abundance of representation of both bony and cartilaginous fish, and the larger of the marine mammals. I did appreciate that there was both shark and ray representation, as well as both toothed and baleen whales.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that crustaceans were well represented, and this pleased me greatly. As far as other marine invertebrates, however, the movie falls very short. Beyond the overabundance of bioluminescent jellies, and jelly-like water ships, as well as the aforementioned crustaceans, there really were no other obvious invertebrate characters highlighted within the film.
As the discerning octopus that I am, I did notice the (INCREDIBLY AWESOME AND TALENTED) octopus drummer prior to the arena battle, the squid using ink as a diversionary tactic during the large end battle, and the appearance of tentacles on the base of the dais where the King’s Trident was kept.
There were several different conflicts that centered around Aquaman: 1. Aquaman’s dismissal of Atlantis after learning that they sent his mother off to her death, and his resulting reluctance to assist the Atlantians during the war. 2. The pirate who Aquaman created into an enemy when he refused to save the pirate’s father 3. The conflict with Aquaman’s half brother who is determined to see war between the Atlantians and the land dwellers.
4.Characterization and Growth:
I appreciate that most of the romantic interest stuff was kept to Aquaman’s parents, I had held out some hope that the film wouldn’t make the princess into a romantic interest, but I do appreciate that it was in no way a major story line, and simply hinted at, which I greatly appreciate. I also appreciate that the princess was more than capable of caring for herself! (Author’s note: I need a new word for appreciate) The film also gave both characters moments to grow, so the princess could see the beauty of the land dwellers and their children, and Aquaman realized that he was responsible for the creation of one of his enemies.
In general, the film could have been a little shorter. As beautiful as the computer animation was, we probably didn’t need all of the sweeping pans of marine landscape. (did I really just say that?) Admittedly, I am most CERTAINLY biased, and fully recognize that my next critique is based strongly in that bias: invertebrates in general were under-represented and under used. The jellies that were present were basically used only as lights, and did not seem to make any use of the stinging cells on their tentacles as a potential weapon.
There were absolutely no gastropods to be found, at least that I could see, and there are some pretty awesome gastropods in the ocean that could have been used. Also there was no coral, sponge, or sea star representation, at least that this octopus remembers. The few cephalopod references were minimal and sadly many opportunities were lost here. Cephalopods are known for their intelligence, amazing ability to camouflage themselves, as well as the incredible strength of their arms and suckers. None of these traits were explored, which, in this not so humble cephalopod’s opinion, is a shame.
Despite my general invertebrate gripes, I enjoyed the film and recommend it for viewing.
I hope you have found this review to be informative, or, at the very least, entertaining. Please feel free to share your thoughts below!
gracieabrams
origamiaround
baratheonpilled
turnnoffyourmind
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