I saw Aquaman 2

DC/WB's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan, who cowrote with David Leslie Johnson-Goldrick (et al), is the filmmakers' long-awaited sequel to the 2018 blockbuster. For the follow-up, the Arthurian legend is retooled as a buddy movie, with emphasis on Jason Momoa's titular protagonist, aka Arthur Curry, making amends with his brother, Patrick Wilson's exiled Ocean Master, aka Orm (in a Thor/Loki-fied deal), to combat Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's vengeful Black Manta, aka David Kane. 

The premise is tried-and-true enough to hold one's interest (as it avoids any out-of-the-box hiccups), with the brotherly component making the best use of the formula's angst, rivalry, amusement and redemption, framed by global-warming humbuggery, 20,000 Leagues tech and for cuteness sake, a surrogate, baby Aqualad. 

To fortify the formula further, Black Manta is more ruthless this time out, in particular, when he taps the Black Trident, summoning a hidden, hellish kingdom with the power to flatten all of Atlantis and beyond. In his sleek, head-to-toe armor, Black Manta is nothing short of an aquatic Darth Vader as he carries the ancient world's relentless evil, pressing a significant, story asset, for any heroic fable is only as good as its villain is bad. 

The movie's supporting performers and their characters reinforce the inflating tensions: Dolph Lundgren's King Nereus; Nicole Kidman's Atlanna; Temura Morrison's Tom Curry; John Rhys-Davis' Brine King; Martin Short's Kingfish; Randall Park's Gus Gorman-esque Dr. Stephen Shin; and Amber Heard's Mera, whose role may have been shortened for this sequel, but her regal presence is still felt. 

In fact, the successful ensemble feels more than right to birth Aquaman 3, except that WB execs wish to steer the DC, cinematic franchise in another direction. (Perhaps if The Flash had hit bigger, that would have given more cause to keep a strand of Zack Synder's multiverse in play.) On this basis, it's easy to get sentimental over what may be a so-long chapter, but at the same time, a sense of betrayal can't be denied. To rephrase, it's a tad hard to invest in something, no matter how sublime, if the rug is being pulled from under it (case in point, DC/WB/Max's Swamp Thing, revival series).

Regardless of the studios' plans, Lost Kingdom is now part of hero-cinema history, which by that relegation, means it won't be soon forgotten, anymore than Kick-Ass 2, Sin City: A Dame to Die For, Wrath of the Titans, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor and Conan the Destroyer have been. After all, round-two myths never die; they just get revisited. 

I saw Aquaman...

I like Jason "Game of Thrones" Momoa (found him darn effective in the ill-fated Conan remake), but he always struck me as a trifle...well, unique for DC's Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, even when (at long last) garbed in the traditional orange and green. I mean, when it comes to casting Lobo, will WB go for a brawny, clean-shaven, fair-haired dude? At this stage of the reinvention game, would it be any surprise?

For me to get into the Momoa/Curry vibe, I gotta take the characterization in the context of let's say, "The Man from Atlantis", where for all intents and purposes Patrick Duffy's "Mark Harris" may have been, in fact, Aquaman, Sub-mariner or someone in-between: Depthon, Son of the Ocean, anyone?

Okay, so "Aquaman" isn't quite the long-haul Aquaman we all know in this big-budget instance. Does that mean the film is any less a splash because of it?

I'll say this much, for an official, pseudo knock-off, this brisk James Wan-directed flick serves its purpose, along with its Will Beall/David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick script. The collaborative effort presents the basic story of how Curry was born of human and Atlantean parents, portrayed by Nicole "Batman Forever" Kidman and Temuera "Green Lantern" Morrison. There's no superfluous, preachy, environmental gobbledygook to cloud the premise (praise Atlan!), and to keep things even more nice and simple, the movie dishes a reasonable scenario for Aquaman to tackle: His tyrannical half brother, Orm, aka Ocean Master, played by Patrick "Watchmen" Wilson, wishes to rule Atlantis and then all of Earth; our hero objects.  

Curry's stance, however, comes with some healthy coaching (past and present) from his mentor, Vulko, played by Willem "Spider-man" Dafoe. There's also Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's revenge-driven David Kane (aka David Hyde)/Black Manta to increase the torrential pumping. (BTW: the Black Manta outfit is spot-on, reinforcing the classic character's status as the aquatic Darth Vader...or is Vader the galactic Manta? Either way, it all comes out in the villainous wash...)

The thing is, the melodrama never hits the point of extraordinary. The visuals are pretty enough (in a Christmas time/"Close Encounters" sort of way), though I'd have preferred something more in line with George Pal's "Atlantis: the Lost Continent" (less can be more). And don't get me wrong, after a spell, Momoa's cynical Curry does, in fact, get into the full-blown groove, thanks to his determined, wife-to-be, Mera, played by Amber Heard and (even if he's only on the aggressive sidelines), her dad, Dolph "The Punisher" Lungren's Nereus. Still, for the sake of my initial viewing, the whole purpose and plan seemed a little too little and way too late. (Really, this notion of begging Aquaman to battle an obvious threat felt strained in "Justice League". We know he'll help if the circumstances require it, so why dance around the obvious?)

Though nonessential banter stalls Curry's under-the-sea (and even land-based and Earth's Core) rise, the movie does, in fact, have one consistent attraction: Heard's Mera. Whether or not one has a bug up the kazoo over the Johnny Depp situation (feel free to look it up), the actress is a honey-and-a-half: always has been, always will be. In old Hollywood, she'd have been a preeminent, film-noir vixen and was long ripe for the pickin' for any superhero flick. She's tall, curvy, sparkly, supportive of (if not essential to) Curry's crusade and more than the titular hero, this live-action Mera mirrors her comic-book inspiration.

Alas, beauty alone won't make a picture great. At best, "Aquaman" is a solid Camelot variant. With matters unhinged at WB (i.e., with Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill ousted and "Shazam!'"s required reshoots), one can't help but wonder if "Aquaman" will die on the seaweed vine, thus paving the way for that predicted Justice League reboot. (Then again, "The Flashpoint Paradox" could fix it all, if but bestowed the chance.)

Despite what happens, I still believe that certain characters are meant to march (or swim) onward, and that includes Momoa's aquatic avenger. For many, a sense of sorrowful shame will be felt if his aesthetic wave doesn't rise high enough, but in the end, it's the box office that'll decide if Momoa continues to patrol the seas--and for better or worse, what elements of the DC cinematic universe remain or recede. 

I heard the Troglodytes squawk in Bone Tomahawk...

There's nothing quite as strangely satisfying as a horror western, whether it's an offbeat team-up like "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" or a surreal anthology like "Into the Badlands" (1992). 

Writer/director S. Craig Zahler's latest entry in the crossover sub-genre, "Bone Tomahawk", is much in tune with Wes Craven's "Hills Have Eyes", Jack Ketchum's novel,"Off Season", and Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", with a strong dash of John Ford's "The Searchers" and a hardy sprinkling of John McTiernan/Michael Crichton's "13th Warrior" and Marcus Nispel's "Pathfinder": overall, pretty intense ingredients. 

The adventure is led by the versatile Kurt Russel, who not only made a fine impression as "Tombstone'"s Wyatt Earp, but in such imagi-fare as John Carpenter's "Escape from NY/LA"; "The Thing" and "Big Trouble in Little China" (each, in its own right, a disguised western); and let's not forget Paul W.S. Anderson's "Solider" (a science-fiction retelling of "Shane"). 

Set in the ironically labeled 1890s town of Bright Hope, "Bone Tomahawk" starts with an ominous prologue, wherein two unsavory types, Buddy (horror veteran Sid Haig) and Purvis (David Arquette) slaughter a group of campers, only then to be confronted themselves by an aggressive force. Buddy is killed via an arrow, while Purvis frantically flees, and from this, further odd events unfold.

At first, the circumstances are subdued, in a kind of "From Dusk Till Dawn" mislead, but this helps establish the story's primary characters: the calm, seasoned Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Russell); his deputies Nick (Evan "X-Men" Jonigkeit) and Chicory (Richard "Cabin in the Woods" Jenkins); injured foreman Arthur O’Dwyer (Patrick “Watchmen/Fargo” Wilson); his alluring wife, Samantha (Lili "Banshee" Simmons); the dapper John Brooder (Matthew "Lost" Fox) and the astute "Professor" (Zahn McClarnon: Wilson’s “Fargo” costar), a Native American who's well versed in tribal history. 

When Hunt investigates the campground slaughter, he addresses Arquette at the local saloon and shoots the suspect in the leg when he tries to flee. O’Dwyer’s wife, who possesses doctoring skills, is asked to visit the jail to remove the bullet, as her husband nurses his own wounded leg at home. However, when Samantha stays overnight to watch over the man, it results in her being abducted, along with Nick and the prisoner. 

To stir things up, a local stable boy is found slaughtered the next morning in a most vicious manner. The Professor attributes the grisly handiwork to the Troglodytes: an inbred, cannibalistic clan of tribal rejects who’ve taken residence in the caves far beyond Bright Hope.

Hunt assembles his crew to retrieve the missing persons (hoping they're still alive), with Chicory, Brooder and O’Dwyer (despite his injury) sallying forth. 

For a time, Dwyer’s admirable determination becomes the venture’s concentration, as tries to subdue his pain and curb his frenzied concern. Brooder remains cool and quippy in the meantime, with Chicory adding down-to-earth comic relief whenever he can. As one might expect, Hunt is the most focused among the men, maintaining stabilit, even when his group is confronted with unexpected interference.

Though their trek remains interesting, things finally intensify when they reach the Troglodyte’s turf. The ghostly cave-dwellers waste no time in firing their arrows upon our brave band, intending ultimately to feast upon their flesh.; and to empower their animalistic auras, the Morlock-ish monsters never speak, opting instead for blood-curdling squawks: the apparent result of bone-pipes fixed in their throats.

The film’s final stretch is its most memorable, though not as gruesome as, let’s say, “Jungle Holocaust”, but still reeks of generous sadism and gore. Whether our heroes will actually succeed is hard to predict, but what enfolds is gripping and jarring, culled from a primitive resourcefulness, where the surrounding elements are all one can grasp, and a weapon can be as basic and raw as a refashioned body part.

For what it’s worth, much of “Bone Tomahawk” echoes the slow-burn feel of Ron Howard’s “At the Heart of the Sea”, which also caters to cannibalism (see Dec ’15 post). Zahler's movie also  feels like a Werner Herzog adventure, presenting a quiet but dismal descent. At other times, it smacks of surrealism, like Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Valhalla Rising”, where Mads Mikkelsen's Viking embarks on a similar, strange sojourn.

When all is said and done, what best distinguishes "Bone Tomahawk" is its characters, with each performance, whether supporting or leading, exemplary. For the record, Russell and Wilson fans will be particularly pleased by the actors' deft nuances and extensive screen time.

With more publicity and further word of mouth, “Bone Tomahawk” could have been a major hit. Its existence at least demonstrates that one doesn’t need zooming starships or caped avengers to create otherworldly escape, though the film's pensive pace and dark tone will probably deter some. Still, for those who fancy their adventures tough and quirky, Zahler’s fable will garner praise. I, for one, rank it among 2015’s best, and if you're so inclined to check it out, I'm confident you'll claim the same.