AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Jox on 26 Dec 2018, 12:36

:!: 8)
WARNING - STROBE LIGHTS: All customers, especially those who are particularly sensitive to flickering strobe light sources, are advised that some scenes in this film: “AQUAMAN”, contain strobe light effects. Those who may be affected should take appropriate action.

https://www.odeon.co.uk/films/aquaman/17942/
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Nathan on 26 Dec 2018, 14:20

Finally got around to seeing this at the weekend! The cinema was absolutely packed, I got the last seat. I haven't seen many of the other DC movies aside from the Bale Batman's so I can't really judge based on comparison to other DC films, which people seem to compare quite a lot.

The film itself is very entertaining and never boring. It's pretty much what you'd expect story wise and character arc wise but the whole thing is just a spectacle and that's what it is meant to be. Fast, funny and a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Dolph is good in this film, this is probably one of his most convincing performances. He probably has one of the most straight-laced characters of the film. The only thing I would say is that it is relatively character heavy in terms of the number of people in it, Dolph is 5th billed and gets at least as much screentime as Creed II, however you could have easily combined Dolph and Willem Dafoe's roles imo.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Jox on 26 Dec 2018, 14:39

Nathan wrote:however you could have easily combined Dolph and Willem Dafoe's roles imo.

Yeah. My guess is Orm is also, if not more of, an important character in the comics so they kinda of had to have him in.

From what I read or heard in an interview with James Wan, he treated it as if it was his only chance to make an AQUAMAN movie and unsure he would succeed to warrant sequels so he wanted to throw in everything he could (and it explains how or why the film is such a crazy patchwork but hurts the storytelling / narration).
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Nathan on 26 Dec 2018, 16:39

Yeah Orm is massively central to the plot. I didn't know that, I reckon Warner will want to do a sequel anyway after they see the numbers. I hope they bring Dolph back for that.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Jox on 27 Dec 2018, 03:31

Box Office: ‘Aquaman’ International Gross Tops ‘Man of Steel’ & ‘Wonder Woman’
https://heroichollywood.com/aquaman-man ... -overseas/


Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Aquaman” to Hit a High Watermark of Half a Billion Dollars at the Global Box Office (press release)
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... .-Pictures’-“Aquaman”-Hit-High-Watermark


'Aquaman' Tops $100 Million At Domestic Box Office On Christmas
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes ... christmas/
By the end of the first week of January 2019, Aquaman will probably be the third-highest grossing movie of the DCEU library, behind only Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman. I expect it to eventually reach north of $900 million and probably hit $1 billion, off the continued strength of massive foreign totals plus strong holds on both the domestic and international fronts.

At this rate, the lowest-end outcome for Aquaman -- if it suffered sudden, inexplicably large weekly declines and fizzled domestically in the coming weeks -- would still see it finish its run north of $750+ million, meaning even the worst-case performance leaves it as the third-highest grossing DCEU release. More likely it will ride a wave of popularity toward $1 billion and the crown as the DCEU's best performer to date.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby dude hallenbeck on 27 Dec 2018, 06:28

I'm just going to copy my Letterboxd review, I really hope it's not too wordy for you guys, please ask me to edit down if it is.

Aquaman isn't quite able to reach the lofty heights that Man of Steel, Batman v Superman (Director's cut duh) and Wonder Woman occupy, when it's good it's within a frog's hair of them, but when it's bad and it does get bad it gets worse than anything people shit on Suicide Squad over.

When it's at its best, it's the DCEU we where promised by Zack Snyder, a grand epic fantasy tale, leaning heavily on Arthurian legend, Campbellian monomyth of great journeys of self discovery stepping out of the mundane and into a greater world, of finding your inherent good and the power within yourself to become who you're meant to be. And not forgetting the existing emphasis on parenthood, the religious reverence to motherhood and it's absolute power to be a source of good, spiritual guidance and deep down inside a source of protection.

When it's at it's worst however, it's the Geoff Johns perversion of the series. Cringe inducing cheese, lame credit stingers, epic music swirls that suddenly stop to service a horrid joke Marvel style, off putting awful pop music transitions that make you long for Suicide Squad's track list, bad self serving continuity where you get a direct visual reference to the oil rig in Man of Steel and then minutes later a news montage where Dr Shin gets laughed off television because "Atlantis isn't real hurr durr" in a world where two major American cities where levelled by an alien invasion and ancient eldritch horrors 3 years apart. Once again, I can 100% guarantee you there's key footage on the cutting room floor. Also for some reason he's got a fetish for sidelining black characters, but that's neither here nor there.

But thankfully it's James Wan's immense talent, and an amazing cast that help drag this over the line to the win column. When it's concerned with being a high fantasy epic adventure, there's a spectacle here to behold unlike any other, every bit as vivid as Avatar, with some amazing action sequences, a smorgasbord of anything you could ask, trials by combat, Lovecraftian horror, long take parkour chases, and big massive battles.

Jason Momoa is a star. This guy could end up taking Dwayne Johnson's spot as the next Arnold Schwarzenegger if he plays his cards right, his charisma and swagger is so natural and the man's a creative force with a hunger to strive towards greatness, whereas Dwayne has gotten stale and complacent. Amber Heard makes for a great warrior queen and I'd love to see her team with Gal Gadot and Amy Adams on a ladies adventure in Wonder Woman 3. Patrick Wilson is a fantastic antagonist, playing Orm like Season 1/Book 1 Jaime Lannister. Willem Dafoe finally gets to play a kindly mentor who both remains kind and doesn't get executed by the Russian mob, which is nice. Nichole Kidman is Jason's runner up for MVP, she's amazing in this film. Temuera Morrison is having lots of fun. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has all the potential in the world to be a mega star, but is shortchanged here despite an excellent intro scene. Last but not least is Mr Dolph Lundgren who once again executes a brilliant face turn in the space of a month.

There's still a ton left unsaid about this movie, and I'll definitely try to catch it in theatres again before it leaves, but thankfully it's a solid win for a fanbase that a very dear friend of mine describes perfectly, a fanbase permanently manning the fucking Alamo.. in hell.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Jox on 28 Dec 2018, 01:03

Nice review!
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby savagesketch on 28 Dec 2018, 07:21

Here's Entertainment Weekly's review...

https://ew.com/movie-reviews/2018/12/11/aquaman-ew-review/

Not the best review, but I do like their slight words of praise: The best that can be said about this epic misfire is that you get to see a pink-haired Dolph Lundgren riding a giant seahorse and an octopus playing the bongos.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby TEMIRLAN on 29 Dec 2018, 13:07

is the domestic box office going well for this one?
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Jox on 29 Dec 2018, 16:11

$137,235,000 in one week domestically, I'd say it's doing well! :wink:
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekly/ch ... =51&p=.htm

'Aquaman' Ready to Float to Top of Box Office Again
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4470&p=.htm
To begin with, WB's Aquaman has already enjoyed a strong start to its domestic run, not to mention having already grossed nearly $600 million worldwide. Last weekend the film generated $67.4 million over its opening three days and on Tuesday delivered the sixth largest Christmas Day of all-time, beating Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Additionally, the film received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, on par with Man of Steel and behind Wonder Woman's "A" CinemaScore, which is the best CinemaScore among the films in the DC Extended Universe. The tricky part is in deciphering what this means for this weekend.

To look at all the previous films released in the DC Extended Universe, the average second weekend drop is -51% with Wonder Woman's -37% second weekend dip being the best of the lot. For those wondering, films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe average a -50% drop with Thor's -39% second weekend dip being the best of the now 20-film franchise. We mention this because we're currently expecting Aquaman to dip around -26% for a second weekend nearing $50 million. This could be a rather aggressive forecast and if it holds the film would be looking at a domestic cume over $185 million by the end of the weekend.


EDIT:
#Aquaman Dropped Just 47% On Its Second Friday (Ridiculously Small For A Modern Comic Book Movie) To Bring Its Cume To $154M Domestic and $666M Worldwide
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmende ... james-wan/



Rupert Gregson-Williams:
I’m going to arrange for a few extra cues to be released from the #Aquaman score sometime soon. There’s a couple of scenes plenty of people have asked for specifically that we couldn’t fit on the OST
@creepypuppet and I met through 2018, sometimes once a week. He always wanted me to tap into the 80s synth thing, which I embraced ! Dusting off those cool old machines meant #aquaman was a lot of fun to score.




James Wan:
The inscription on Atlan’s trident is Atlantean. Yes, we created Atlantean alphabets for the film. And on the trident it says: PAUL & MORT. The creators of #Aquaman

Image



Vern's review
http://outlawvern.com/2018/12/28/aquaman/
Let me tell you something else. Dolph motherfuckin Lundgren is in AQUAMAN. He plays Mera’s father King Nereus, and it’s a much bigger role than I expected. He rides in on an armored sea horse, and it’s not a joke. It’s awesome. That’s your test right there. If you don’t have the joy in your heart to appreciate that, I’m not sure AQUAMAN is gonna work on you.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Jox on 30 Dec 2018, 18:14

Jox wrote:‘Aquaman’ Soundtrack Details
http://filmmusicreporter.com/2018/12/13 ... k-details/

Image

The full details of the soundtrack album for the comic book movie Aquaman have been revealed. The album features the film’s original music composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams (Wonder Woman, Hacksaw Ridge, The Legend of Tarzan, Bee Movie, Over the Hedge). Also included is the original song Everything I Need performed by Skylar Grey who also co-wrote the track with Elliott Taylor, a new song by Pitbull feat. Rhea, as well as a track by composer Joseph Bishara (The Conjuring, Insidious). The soundtrack will be released tomorrow, December 14 by WaterTower Music. Check back on this page for the download link. Aquaman is directed by James Wan and stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Ludi Lin and Temuera Morrison. The movie, which the origin story of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry, is already playing in select markets and will be released in theaters nationwide on December 21 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Visit the official movie website for updates.

Here’s the album track list:

1. Everything I Need (Film Version) – Skylar Grey (3:16)
2. Arthur (4:40)
3. Kingdom of Atlantis (3:26)
4. It Wasn’t Meant to Be (3:22)
5. Atlantean Soldiers (3:35)
6. What Does That Even Mean? (3:23)
7. The Legend of Atlan (1:57)
8. Swimming Lessons (3:03)
9. The Black Manta (2:49)
10. What Could Be Greater Than a King? (5:23)
11. Permission to Come Aboard (2:16)
12. Suited and Booted (4:25)
13. Between Land and Sea (2:55)
14. He Commands the Sea (3:34)
15. Map in a Bottle (2:15)
16. The Ring of Fire (4:57)
17. Reunited (1:31)
18. Everything I Need – Skylar Grey (3:20)
19. Ocean to Ocean (feat. Rhea) – Pitbull (2:25)
20. Trench Engaged (From Kingdom Of The Trench) – Joseph Bishara (2:29)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquaman-Origin ... 07L4DKCNR/
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/aquam ... 1445500675

EDIT:
Label:
http://watertowermusic.com/releases/rel ... le=aquaman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thM5gL ... 7mzCAv8bwN

Amazon CD purchase link:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07JJPV9PH/

Press release: Aquaman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Now Available
Features New Songs from Skylar Grey and Pitbull Feat. Rhea
Features Original Score by Emmy-Nominated Composer Rupert Gregson-Williams

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... Soundtrack
To bring the film’s themes to life musically, Aquaman director James Wan turned to composer Rupert Gregson-Williams, who says, “Writing the themes for the different characters was awesome. Arthur Curry has such a strong character—he’s a real rock star—so I felt he deserved a big melody. He gets to rock out for certain intense moments too. Orm is Atlantean, and the score I wrote for Atlantis is in big contrast to the score for the surface world, epic and glorious. Black Manta inspired a more industrial, electronic feel. And, of course, there’s romance—two in fact. Atlantis and the entire world James created is truly amazing, giving me such a rich opportunity.”

“James Wan has given me such a rare opportunity and I am so unbelievably grateful,” explains Skylar Grey. “James, score composer Rupert Gregson-Williams, as well as every person behind the scenes on this project has been a dream to work with...a team of extremely respectful and professional people who I’m now honored to call friends. ‘Everything I Need,’ written by myself and my fiancé, Elliott Taylor, was inspired by the forbidden love story that is threaded throughout the movie, and we are very passionate about this song.”

“The ocean, the sea and any body of water, to me, is true freedom,” said Armando Christian Perez (Pitbull), who was inspired by the film’s settings and themes, and especially by Aquaman’s struggle between his two worlds—the surface and the sea. “The ocean has always been the border from where my parents came from Cuba and the United States, which gives us freedom. That’s why I respect water. Bottom line: water gives us freedom.”
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby bomaz on 30 Dec 2018, 19:32

Second weekend around 51 millions buck, for a 748 millions worldwide. So it's already a success, and it might have legs to reach 300 in the US and 900 worldwide. Given the good response about Dolph's part and his 2 successes, I strongly hope he'll have interesting business in the coming months.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby Tom on 30 Dec 2018, 19:50

I suspect a sequel is inevitable and would more than likely feature Dolph. That's at least one potential project to look forward too.
I'd love to see him in a John Wick film as a villain too. Reunite with Keanu. If Wick 3 is successful, there will be an eye on more sequels. They've cast action guys like Daniel Bernhardt and Mark Dacascos, so the Dolphanaissance may just catch the directors attention too.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby GeneralMcFaiL on 31 Dec 2018, 03:42

At this point with the success of Creed II/Aquaman I think he's going to have some good options going forward. He needs to choose projects wisely now as I'm sure he'll be getting more offers than usual and they can't all be winners.
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Re: AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

Postby savagesketch on 31 Dec 2018, 06:15

GeneralMcFaiL wrote:At this point with the success of Creed II/Aquaman I think he's going to have some good options going forward. He needs to choose projects wisely now as I'm sure he'll be getting more offers than usual and they can't all be winners.


I agree completely. Though these bigger budget releases aimed for theaters take more time to materialize and develop. The cheaper, lower-rent productions come together quickly and have short shooting schedules. Plus the lure of a quick paycheck is hard to pass up for anyone. Hopefully, we'll see him take part in some high-profile projects, though he's also got bills to pay like us all. Regardless, these next couple years should be interesting.
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