Day: January 11, 2019

Escape Room (2019) Review

PlayerOne1 Comment
Despite the poster, there is a surprising lack of jigsaw puzzles in this movie. Or skeletons, actually.

So this morning, I took myself to the movies and saw Escape Room, which I’ve been curious about since the trailers were released. I love the idea of escape rooms, I’ve played through The Room and all its sequels multiple times, give me some good ol’ puzzle solving and I am SO there! While I was expecting some scares, I was hoping there wouldn’t be anything too gruesome since it does carry a PG-13 rating. Hopefully there would be more clever atmospheric scares than gory death scenes, and I was right!

(Fun fact: did you know that there were two movies that came out in 2017 also called Escape Room? I didn’t until I was trying to find pictures for this movie! Apparently, those two movies are…not great, though I can’t personally vouch for them.)

THE PLOT

Escape Room starts off in, funnily enough, an escape room! It initially looks like a lavishly decorated living room, and all is calm until Logan Miller drops through the ceiling. He’s limping, beat-up, and in full-on panic mode as he hobbles to a complicated looking number-maze-lock thing on the door. He realizes that he needs four numbers, but as soon as he pulls on the 1, the wall opposite him starts closing in. Great. We’re right there with him as he struggles to look for clues to find the four numbers needed as more and more of the beautiful room gets destroyed and crushed behind him. He finds the four numbers needed, so he thinks, but they don’t work, and we watch as he slowly gets crushed…..

…..and then we flashback to three days prior. Here we meet three of our main characters, Zoey (played by Taylor Russell), Jason (played by Jay Ellis), and of course, Ben (played by Logan Miller). Please note that Ben seems slightly more put together here, as in, he’s not being crushed in an escape room…yet. These three characters are vastly different from each other, and they each receive a mysterious puzzle box from someone they know. The puzzle box leads them to Minos Escape Rooms with the promise of ~fabulous cash prizes~ if they can solve the unsolvable escape room. It is here we meet our other three main cast members: Danny (played by Nik Dodani), Mike (played by Tyler Labine), and Amanda (played by Deborah Ann Woll). After Ben presumably breaks the doorknob in the waiting room, the six unfortunates discover that the waiting room IS the escape room, and the game has begun. The rest of the movie is, you guessed it, an escape room! We learn throughout the rest of the film more about the characters and why they were chosen for this deadly game through eerily specific details in all the rooms, and also, who sent them here in the first place?

There’s a lot of really morbid puzzle-solving. Like, a lot.

it’s like if the Annabelle doll grew up and started working for escape rooms

THE REVIEW

This movie is really, really fun. That feels wrong to say about a “psychological horror-thriller,” but I swear it is fun. In my opinion, the movie does a fascinating job of revealing minor character details throughout without dropping the big twist until the right moment. I love things like this where you feel like you have to pay attention to every detail otherwise you’ll miss something and honestly maybe you should watch it again to really get everything?? I live for stuff like that. It was distressing because of what was happening and exhilarating when something finally went right. I really enjoyed it as a whole, and I think my opinion of the movie got even better the more I thought about it afterwards. Those are my favorite kinds of films-the ones that make you think about them afterwards.

Now it’s time to escape into the next room of this review, (I dunno if I’ll be able to keep up the pun game for every review, fam) so Spoiler Warning now in effect, and I really recommend for this movie that you see it first completely blind to any spoilers or major plot details!

this room? This room right here?? This is the worst room, hands down

THE MUSIC

The music for this film was really unique when I noticed it, and it’s one reason I want to watch it again, because I’m sure there were notable music moments I missed. The score really set the stage for uneasiness and suspense, and it reminded me of the music played in every movie where someone’s trying to hack into a computer under a time limit. You know the one. Notable music moments include the opening song that sets the room we see Ben fall into, the song that plays during the montage of Ben, Jason, and Zoey trying to solve their puzzle boxes, the end credits music, and of course, that AWFUL distorted rendition of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” that plays as a timer in the upside-down Pool Room, pictured above. Bad room. Worst room. Hate it.

Zoey is all that is pure and good in the universe

THE CHARACTERS

Overall, there were a lot of likable characters in Escape Room, which is kind of unfortunate because many of them don’t, well, escape. All the characters were unique, and I appreciated how each of them had different reactions to the stressors in each room, according to their character. Zoey is my absolute favorite, she was a delight to watch the entire film, and I so appreciated her being the absolute brainiac of the group. More genius WOC roles in movies, please!! There was also a great character arc for Ben, which I really, really enjoyed, and there was a lot of heart given to both Mike and Amanda as well. Unfortunately, Danny isn’t around long enough to really be developed, and Jason turns out to be a survivalist asshole with quite a superiority complex. But generally, you felt for all the characters, and you wanted to see them escape, which meant that their death scenes generally hit you just as hard as they hit the survivors. Danny’s death is a shocker for all of them, especially Ben, and the way Amanda’s death hits Zoey is heartbreaking to watch but it puts Zoey into hardcore survivor badass mode, which is pretty great. This does mean, however, that Zoey is determined to bring down the corrupt AF corporation behind Minos Escape Rooms, which cool, but also based off that last scene, NOOOOOOOOO!!

This scene tricks you into thinking everyone will be fine

THE SCENERY

Now when I first saw the trailer for Escape Room, I thought that each room would be designed for one of the characters specifically. That’s not actually the case, but each room is drastically different and incredibly deadly, with character-specific details woven-throughout. They’re all designed in such a way that you could see them being a legitimate escape room in the real world, except they all have some kind of ACTUAL deadly twist, as opposed to actors and fake consequences. The little details were really clever and sometimes kind of heart-wrenching. The fire and closed-off vent crawl triggered Amanda’s PTSD in a really gutting scene and introduction to her character. The antler trophies in the room pictured above each represented one of the well-known reindeer from the “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” song, which was rough for Ben because of his flashback and rough for the audience because that is clearly insinuating that the reindeer have been slaughtered which like, rude, leave Christmas out of this?? My least favorite room is the arctic winter awfulness simply because it was devastating watching them work together to both deal with Danny’s death and try to melt the key needed out of the center of a solid block of ice while they’re sharing ONE coat among them. Ugh. But a very close second is that stupid upside-down pool room. Design-wise it’s great, but overall? Hate it. Hate what happens. Nope.

Oh hey look! There are skeletons in this movie!

THE TWIST

Okay, if you’ve read this far and haven’t seen the movie yet, trust me when I say you really probably wanna see it first before I continue.

For everyone else? Here we go.

Escape Room has actually, a couple twists when you think about it. The initial twist is, of course, the fact that all the dangerous traps are actually real and very deadly. The stakes are REAL high.

The next twist comes in the room outfitted like a hospital. Each character is drawn to a specific bed, set up differently. It turns out, each character spent time at some point in the hospital, and each bed is a perfect recreation of their room. Through discussion, they learn that each of them was the sole survivor of something traumatic that happened to them (we get little flashes about what these events could be throughout the film). Zoey figures out that whoever is running the escape room must want to see who, among them, is the “luckiest of the lucky.”

After a couple more rooms and a couple more deaths, we catch up with Ben, who did indeed survive getting crushed in the lavish living room (so I guess technically he just didn’t get crushed). He hobbles into some sort of warehouse with a large screen that shows each of their pictures, and all of them, save for his, have a large red “X” over top. In his picture, he is labeled the “WINNER.” A bearded British man enters the room to reveal the next twist: this entire thing was set up by a group of bored, rich people who are fascinated by the human will to survive. British Beard proclaims that humans have always loved watching other humans in near-death situations, and they have run these escape rooms multiple times, sort of like an experiment, to try and figure out what it is that makes up the ultimate winner (sidenote: notice how this is also kind of a dig at the audience to the film? After all, aren’t we also paying to watch humans survive in impossible situations for entertainment? Granted, it’s all acting, but still…). It’s a very Hunger Games-esque twist, and British Beard boredly states that he really didn’t think Ben would be the one to make it out, his money was on one of the more fit characters (um, rude?). Ben, absolutely bruised and battered beyond belief at this point, just wants the prize money. All his new friends are dead, and he should probably go to a hospital.

The next twist comes when British Beard says something like “when a horse wins a race, does it get the prize?” and then he tries to choke Ben to death with a wire. Ben is able to get out of the choke hold by taking a piece of wood out of his leg and stabbing British Beard. It still looks like British Beard will be the ultimate victor until…

BAM he gets shot in the back by our next twist: Zoey didn’t die after all! They make sure British Beard can’t follow them and they hobble out into the sunlight.

We ain’t done yet, though, as Zoey is later seen with a group of police officers, headed in to the Minos building to take down the corporation. However, when they bust down the door, it just looks like an abandoned warehouse, with decaying furniture everywhere and graffiti smothering the walls. Zoey, panicked, points out that no, no, this was the lobby! And the vent was right there! And-

She notices that there’s a specific phrase graffiti-ed over the “vent”: “NO WAY OUT” which, she figures out, is an anagram for “WOOTAN YU”, the name of the doctor that’s been splashed all over the movie and, theoretically, the evil mastermind behind all this. Zoey realizes that even THIS is a part of the game!

We STILL AIN’T DONE THOUGH, and we jump ahead to 6 months later, where Zoey and a very cleaned-up Ben are meeting for coffee (they’re sweet and I love them). Ben would very much like to leave everything behind, please, but Zoey refuses. She found headlines explaining away the deaths of all the previous characters, and she’s convinced they would have had headlines, too. They weren’t supposed to win, and they did. Zoey is able to track down what she believes to be the coordinates to Minos headquarters, saying she has plane tickets, let’s go. Ben agrees. GET IT.

STILL. NOT. DONE. We cut to a plane that appears to have lost an engine, but wait, it’s another escape room? The flight attendant and a man on board frantically search for numbers and a key to get into the cockpit, but when they do, the pilots are knocked out, and there’s no way to control the plane, and they crash….

in a SIMULATOR. The flight attendant complains about getting her shoe stuck on something AGAIN, ugh, and the fake plane resets while various people in hazmat suits walk around looking creepy. A silhouette on a screen asks about the survival rate, and a smug guy says “4%. We have their flight info.”

It’s a brilliant setup for a sequel (please, PLEASE give me Zoey punching the living daylights out of this Dr. Wootan Yu, PLEASE!!!) and a creepy reminder that, just like Zoey said, they weren’t supposed to win, and technically? They still haven’t.

(sidenote: does anyone else think the flight attendant looks suspiciously like Zoey’s roommate who goes home for the holidays?? ARE THEY ALL IN ON IT???)

this is a totally normal escape room guys, I swear

“OOF” MOMENT

Honestly, I really didn’t think there was a particularly awkward or cheesy moment in the film. However, I will mention both Danny’s death and Mike’s death in particular, because they’re infuriating and real hard to watch. Plus it absolutely breaks Ben both times and I just…please help him. Get him a blanket and like, a cozy book or something. Also, initially the “NO WAY OUT” twist drove me crazy because?? LET THEM BE HAPPY, PLEASE.

FAVORITE MOMENT

Hands down, I have to give this to Zoey. We assume she dies due to the poison being released in the air, but in a fun moment, two guys in hazmat suits come into the room, talking about cleaning up the bodies, and they see an oxygen mask. When one of them says “pfft an oxygen mask? What would she use that for?” Zoey appears behind him with a pole and yells “TO BREATHE, BITCH!” and absolutely whacks him so she can escape. I LOVE HER.

nah I’m good thanks

SHOULD YOU TAKE YOURSELF TO THIS MOVIE?

This is another one that I think is entirely up to you! If you like escape rooms, crazy puzzles, good characters, fun twists, and a decent thriller, I say go for it! If it’s not your genre, no worries. I’m not super into crazy gory thrillers myself, and we don’t see any gory death scenes (the exception might be Jason, there’s some blood there, and British Beard gets shot a couple of times). I would say there IS a seizure warning for one of the rooms: when Ben and Jason enter the TV static room, the rest of the scene plays out with a whole lot of strobe light and weird camera effects. It’s kind of tough to watch in general, so be warned!

TRAILERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Many of the trailers were similar to Aquaman (Miss Bala, Pet Sematary, Godzilla: King of the Monsters), but they added Happy Death Day 2 U (similar to Pet Sematary, probably won’t see it alone if I do see it) and The Intruder (which I probably just won’t see in general, not really my jam, unless I hear it has some amazing plot thing that wasn’t featured in the jump-scare-y trailer. Sheesh, between this and Pet Sematary, when are people gonna learn to just not move into weird old houses?? STOP IT).

And that’s the end of this review! If you like mystery thrillers with deadly puzzles, good characters, and a whole LOT of twists, I’d say give this one a go! It’s not a groundbreaking movie, per se, but I think it’s enjoyable and interesting, and I keep wondering about the details I probably missed! So if that sounds like something you’d like, I say take yourself to the movies and see Escape Room.

(2019, not either of the 2017 versions. Unless that sounds like something you’d enjoy, of course.)

Aquaman Review

PlayerOneLeave a comment
They knew they could get me to see it by putting sharks on the poster

So last night, I took myself (and my dad) to the movies to see Aquaman, the latest movie released in DC’s so far slightly-less-than-successful attempt at a cinematic universe, depending on who you ask. I realize I’m a few weeks late to this party, but let’s dive right in, shall we? (Pun completely intentional).

THE PLOT

Aight so the movie starts off in a massive storm of some kind and we follow a guy trying to tie his window shutters down so they stop slamming against his house and jump-scaring the audience. He’s torn away from his task, however, upon seeing the body of Nicole Kidman splayed across some rocks down by the water (I mean, wouldn’t we all get distracted?). Kidman plays the Queen of Atlantis named Atlanna because of course that’s her name, and Temuera Morrison plays Tom Curry, her lighthouse keeper savior. The two form a quick bond in a nice montage that feels very much like Splash, with like a little bit of The Little Mermaid in there I guess, but Splash! We jump ahead in time to Atlanna telling a story about Atlantis and a very special trident to her young son (this is an important plot point) before a whole bunch of aquatic stormtroopers shoot up the house and demand Atlanna return to Atlantis. After a fun little fight sequence, Atlanna decides she must return to keep her son and her beau safe. Jump ahead in time again, and we catch up with a navy submarine being overrun by pirates. They are interrupted by none other than Aquaman himself, who ruins their party and saves everyone aboard (except for the pirates, whom he leaves for dead in a decision that will definitely come back to haunt him later). Aquaman (whose actual name is Arthur) is hanging out with his dad, Tom, in a bar when a group of burly biker guys interrupt to ask if they can get a picture with good ol’ fishboy (“fishMAN” Arthur corrects him, lest we forget this is a VERY MANLY MOVIE, OKAY). On their way home, a massive tidal wave knocks into well, everything, including their truck. A mysterious redhead (Mera, played by Amber Heard) shows up to save Tom’s life, and to also demand that Arthur return to Atlantis to challenge his half-brother Orm before he becomes Ocean Master and starts a war with the surface. So um. Yeah. Arthur, bitter about the whole Atlantis thing because he was told they executed his mother, Atlanna, just because he was born, isn’t crazy about it but also doesn’t think he can just stand by while all these humans die. The rest of the movie is a weird mix of an epic quest story line, a family drama story line, and a royal politics story line. Also, fish! Lots of fish. And Jason Momoa as Aquaman is shirtless a lot, which works well to show off the excellent tattoo work all over his chest and arms (it’s gonna make fanart a nightmare, like Maui from Moana all over again).

Mera and Arthur chat with Willem Dafoe (his character had a name but…I mean it’s Willem Dafoe)

THE REVIEW

So in my opinion, overall, Aquaman is a very strange movie. It’s a good time, for sure, but it’s also just a whole lot of things all at once. It’s very pretty to look at it, and the actors overall do a brilliant job, and it serves its purpose well as a superhero flick. In my opinion, I can’t put it on quite the same level as Wonder Woman, but it definitely comes close! As I said, it’s a fun movie, and I appreciate that it never really took itself super seriously. Yes there were intense moments that it did not shy away from, and to even it out there were incredibly dorky and ridiculous moments. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite film ever, but it was fun and I’m glad I saw it. I mean, there were cool sharks being ridden around underwater like toothy horses. Also, Julie Andrews cameo!! So with my general overall feelings of the film out of the way, let’s dive deeper (pun still intended) into different elements of the movie, which means Spoiler Warning ahead if you haven’t seen the film yet and want to without having any major details given away!

Mera and Arthur descend to the Kingdom of the Trench in a truly nightmare-esque sequence

THE MUSIC

I am a major movie music nerd, so one thing I will always discuss is the music. The movie overall had a very fun, superhero-esque score. Very epic, very “let’s go knock over buildings and save people.” The usual. Notable music moments for me include the initial pirate introduction in the beginning (they have a very cool villain theme) followed by when Arthur interrupts them (Arthur gets an electric guitar theme in the midst of the orchestra, which is a fun, quirky addition and kind of sums up his character before he even says anything), the chase scene when Mera and Arthur are escaping Atlantis, when Mera absolutely waterbends a bunch of wine in Sicily into spears, and the moment pictured above when they descend into the Kingdom of the Trench (visually it’s a terrifying scene, and the strange music does not help but damn is it cool). For non-orchestral music, two songs that stuck out to me were the cute song played when Mera and Arthur eat flowers in Sicily (I wish I was kidding) and the first end credits song, which I’ll discuss a little more later.

These characters look like they belong in two entirely separate films

THE COMBAT

Because it is, of course, a superhero movie, there’s a lot of combat. It’s relatively enjoyable to watch, the exceptions being the pirates first invading the submarine in the beginning (that’s just sad and uncomfortable, especially with all the mass shootings in the news the past few years) and the massive CGI fight at the end because…it’s just real hard to follow tbh. BUT generally the one-on-one fights are incredibly fun to watch because they’re beautifully staged! Plus the underwater fights are extra fun because they had to add in the lack of like, gravity rules and also air. Notable fight scenes include the one above where Atlanna absolutely decimates a group of aquatic stormtroopers, Arthur vs. Orm Round 1 and 2, and the beautifully shot and edited fight in Sicily.

this is basically the entirety of the movie, just throw in a couple sharks

THE CHARACTERS

Ehhhhhhh…they’re okay. Honestly there was no particular character I got super attached to. Naturally, Arthur is basically a big dork, and you could tell Jason Momoa was just having a lot of fun with the part, so that meant his character was pretty likable. Willem Dafoe’s character got like one instance of development when he stood up to Orm and got thrown into a prison cell, I guess? Hard to tell, he doesn’t stay there long and it’s like super easy for Mera to break into for some reason. Both Mera and Atlanna are likable because yay females! But what bugged me is that they had little-to-no personality traits. Atlanna? She’s a queen. That’s…that’s about it. Oh, wait, she’s also a mother, so she loves both her sons. Also she somehow fought her way through the Trench and lived there for 20 years, even though it’s completely glossed over how she did it. Mera and Arthur barely made it through and she’s just like “yeah I fought through just like you did, how? Not important. Know what is important? The TRIDENT.” Mera takes on the roll of the princess stuck in an arranged marriage to a jerk prince she doesn’t love and also she can waterbend with the best of ’em. I’ll delve more into the forced romance that I guess is also supposed to serve as character development even though it doesn’t in a little bit. This is something that always bugs me in superhero flicks-the women are hardly ever full characters. They’re there because they typically have to participate in a romance plot, sometimes they get kidnapped, sometimes they fight because they’re badasses, but that isn’t a character trait. We got flashbacks of Arthur learning to fight-what about Mera and Atlanna? Why do they know how to fight if they’re forced to wear pretty dresses and watch their betrothed fight from the safety of the royal box? Now, I would believe they are more fleshed out in the comics. But for the sake of this movie, they largely serve as decorations. They can fight, sure, but they almost seem unbreakable because of it. We see both Arthur and Orm weakened and broken after a tough fight, and it helps to humanize them, but Mera and Atlanna are simply perfect at fighting. The worst we see happen to Mera is a little bruise on her cheek that serves as a plot device to get Arthur to be all “YOU COULD HAVE DIED AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY FAULT” (i.e., development for him, nothing for her). They can’t get beat up because they have to keep looking pretty.

THIS IS A VERY MANLY SUPERHERO MOVIE OKAY IT ONLY LOOKS LIKE BARBIE MERMAIDIA OKAY

THE SCENERY

Damn this movie is pretty. I saw it in 3D which normally I’m kind of “meh” about, but I thoroughly enjoyed it for this movie! It was fun to feel like you were swimming through Atlantis with them. All the underwater scenes were absolutely gorgeous, and also the um..the hidden Earth’s core oasis place was very pretty. In 3D, the little butterflies flitting about everywhere were quite lovely. In contrast, the descent into the Trench was absolutely gruesome and perfectly creepy. Also, in the little Atlantis history lesson segment, above-ground Atlantis was so pretty! It’s just gorgeous and neon and there are FISH!!! EVERYWHERE!!!!!

this dress is so impractical but so ridiculously pretty I want 12

THE COSTUMES

To go along with the gorgeous scenery, the costumes are gorgeous as well. All of them are extremely sea-creature inspired, which I appreciated, but I also wish there were more costumes like Mera’s jellyfish dress there. They had a whole ocean to work with and most of the costumes are just like…unitards covered in scales. I mean they’re pretty and I know, I know, ~it’s from the comics~, but if they can whip out one jellyfish dress for one scene, I think they could have whipped out some like, manta ray capes and lionfish armor (Black Manta’s costume does not count because…I mean that’s a bug helmet, that’s not a sea creature. That’s..that’s like a giant fly). I’m just saying. Also…again, I realize they’re pulling from the comics, fine, but can someone please explain to me why Atlanna’s scale-suit has a cool decorated turtleneck thing while Mera’s is like, super low-cut? Like, REALLY. And why is she wearing heels with that outfit? I can’t imagine that’s super practical underwater. Probably just as practical as they are above water. Whatever.

is this a superhero movie or National Treasure 4?? No one knows
#couplegoals

THE ROMANCE

Okay so I am a huge romantic, I freely admit it. And sometimes superhero movie romance is the best! Tony and Pepper? Iconic. Steve and Peggy? Cute and also I’m crying. That ridiculous upside-down rain kiss in Spider-man? Magnificent. Nakia and T’challa? Absolutely amazing. This movie claimed to have two romantic plots, but we all know who the real couple is…It’s Atlanna and Tom, there is no contest. I mean, they had a super cute Splash-esque montage in the beginning, and also, I am SO glad they got to reunite at the end. I mean find you a man who will go down to the docks at sunrise every DAY for 20 years because he refuses to believe you’re dead and he always held out hope. Also, the height difference is adorable. In contrast, Arthur and Mera felt extremely forced. Again, I realize they’re a thing ~in the comics~ so they had to do something, but it’s hard when it seems like Mera’s only reason for having feelings is because Arthur is NOT Orm. And like they have a little bit of banter and he ate flowers with her? (Again. I wish I was kidding). Now, granted, that epic underwater spinny kiss they have, while maybe inappropriately timed (hello??? BATTLE?????), was pretty great. I’m glad they got something because the rest of their moments were just…meh. “ohhh no they got scared and suddenly grabbed hands!!” “ohhhh no she slipped and fell in his arms aND Now tHEir FacEs aRE reALly clOSE!!!” Here’s hoping we get some real development for them in the next movie…

As I said earlier, the end credits song is really kind of unique? The only way I can see it making sense is if it’s about Atlanna and Tom’s relationship, which is really interesting! The song is clearly a love song, and it’s really sweet, and definitely not your typical superhero-movie-end-credits-epic-song (that comes after this one). It’s another reminder that love is the most powerful force of all, although sometimes it helps if you can communicate with sharks (Aquaman is actually a Disney Princess).

On a separate note, I really appreciate how both this movie and Wonder Woman focused on the power of love? I mean one of the last lines in this film is Arthur saying how his parents’ love “saved the world.” They never shied away from how important Atlanna and Tom’s relationship was. Which leads to a theory I have…Mera says that, roughly, marriage alliances are not forged out of love, it’s for political reasons (typical). She says it like “I’m getting married to him, of course I don’t love him.” (it’s the one moment for her I thought could really give her some interesting character stuff…I mean obviously she doesn’t love Orm, so to some degree, love could be all new to her and Arthur is like her first crush). Atlanna initially finds Tom after escaping an arranged marriage herself-what if, having known about the whole trident prophecy thing, she wanted to escape to find a human, have a kid, all while knowing that kid could unite both worlds and save everyone. She planned it all along. I’m sure she didn’t plan on actually having feelings for Tom, but I mean, her plan did work. Plus she got a sweet, devoted husband.

“OOF” MOMENT

In this segment, I will discuss a rather awkward, weird, or just kind of “oof” moment from the film. Aquaman could potentially have quite a few, and while I’m torn between a number of cheesy dialogue scenes, the eating flowers scene, and the…interesting last shot of the film that involves Jason Momoa jumping out of the water in slow motion while saying “I AM AQUAMAN” *cue guitar solo*, I’m awarding it to the introduction to Orm and Arthur’s first fight, when Arthur says “prepare him for the Ring of Fire!”

…I’m sorry, the what?

Close runner-up is when Orm says he wants to be “Ocean Master” with a straight face.

FAVORITE MOMENT

There were lots of little moments I liked, many of them in the beginning montage with Atlanna and Tom. However, I think my favorite moment is when Arthur and Mera are walking around Sicily before everything goes to hell and Black Manta shows up. There’s a cute moment when Arthur gives Mera a coin to throw in a fountain, and Mera in turn gives it to a little girl nearby. The little girl makes a wish and throws the coin, and Mera quietly does some waterbending effects that makes dolphins and sea turtles jump and dance out of the water. The little girl goes ballistic and I relate!!! If I had Mera’s powers, I’d be doing stuff like that all the time. Close runner-up is the scene with Julie Andrews as a giant sea monster. What a queen. Another close runner-up is the scene with young Arthur being bullied at the aquarium and then a shark straight-up tries to break the glass to protect him.

SHOULD YOU TAKE YOURSELF TO THIS MOVIE?

Overall, this is a very fun, pretty movie. There are a lot of really great moments as much as there were moments and details that frustrated me. I wanted to like Mera more, I did, they just didn’t give me anything to work with. But again, Jason Momoa absolutely steals the show as he’s meant to, and it’s nice to see him having so much fun. Plus, FISH!!! EVERYWHERE!!!! If you like superhero movies, I definitely recommend this one. If you’re not a superhero person, I think you can definitely skip it. There’s nothing in it that makes me think everyone should see it (unlike, say, Black Panther), but it’s good. Plus, if you like fish, you’ll probably like this movie. There are a lot of them!!

TRAILERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:

Of the trailers shown before this movie, the ones I’m definitely going to see are Glass (I really enjoyed Split and most of Unbreakable, so I’m looking forward to this one), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (listen, if you ignore Batman and Ninjago, the first movie is still a beautifully heartfelt film about a father and son reconnecting and it’s just a fun time??), and of course, Avengers: Endgame (hope I can see through my tears). On my maybe list are Miss Bala (I mean, it basically looks like your typical big-guy action movie but centered around a woman of color, which I am all for supporting. Plus, Gina Rodriguez! I just hope the story’s good because this one looks REAL violent), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (I say reluctantly because I was not a fan of Kong: Skull Island and I haven’t seen the other Godzilla movie apparently in this universe…but this one has gigantic animal friends in it. And Millie Bobby Brown and Sally Hawkins), and Pet Sematary (this one I will probably only see if I can drag someone with me, hell no am I seeing this one alone, that trailer is creepy. I did like the reveal of the title in the trailer though, that was well done).

That’s all for this review! If you like superhero flicks or you just want a good time with a lot of fish and shirtless Jason Momoa, I say you should take yourself to the movies and see Aquaman.