December has been an uncharacteristically busy month for superhero films and I as I have seen three in the last three weeks! I am not going to get into a review of ‘Once Upon a Deadpool’ here, but to be fair many of the things I have to say about ‘Aquaman’ and ‘Into the Spiderverse’ actually do apply.
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| Sorry Wade; next time. |
These movies all work because of two things: One, they absolutely present the character as the character was intended; Two, they are in no way ashamed of their comic book roots, understanding exactly what makes such story telling great in the first place. Potential spoilers from here on out.
‘Spiderverse’ leans so far into it’s comic roots, the production actually created new methods of animation to present the visuals on screen like they might appear in four-color newsprint. I was occasionally distracted by this when color wouldn’t always line up with the line work, something that rarely detracts on a printed page, but seems to be more like a blur when it motion.
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| Is that Kirby Crackle? Yes, yes it is. |
That is however my sole complaint about what may be one of the best written superhero movies our current Golden-Age of superhero movies have given us. We meet Miles Morales, a teenager whose cop dad and medical-professional mom kind of set him up to be a person who has to help. The awkwardness of teenage years though often get in his way, and there is that cool Uncle (who may be up to no good…very up to no good) he’d rather hang out with. Add to this the bite from a genetically altered spider, and you have a prime, modern reimagining of the 1960s version of the Peter Parker story. A good movie would just give us that; this GREAT film however is still leaning into that source material.
We see the Kingpin (and the stylized version of the character is both simple and dramatically sinister) wants to reach into another universe to recover love and family lost. In the process, he manages to kill the Spider-Man Miles knows, (voiced with aplomb by Chris Pine; stick around to the end of the credits to hear a sample of his Christmas album, “Spidey-Bells”) and bring several flavors of Spider-Hero into this world. Miles collides with all of them on his hero’s journey, while discovering his own family in a way he had not thought possible.
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| Pictured Center: Guy I can understand. |
All of the character work here is great, as each Spidey has to deal with their own tragedy that led them to the suit. Spider-Woman (popularly called Spider-Gwen in fandom) is given a great role here, but perhaps I most commiserate with the middle-aged Peter Parker from Earth 616. A few too many pizzas, a little too much letting ‘work’ get in the way of his relationship with Mary Jane. He’s the smart-ass Spidey we all knew, but with 25 years of baggage, and as all of the Spider-folk here, he is a perfect distillation of his character, filtered into our modern world.
And I haven’t even talked about Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham yet.
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| We never do really know why his hand is wet. |
We walk out with an incredibly human story where we sympathize and empathize and can see ourselves up on that screen with a Spidey-flavor for all viewers. The live-action Spider-Man films have been all up and down the quality spectrum, with some pretty good ones out there, but I think I have to say ‘Spiderverse’ is the best foray into the Spider-world we have gotten yet.
‘Aquaman’ does the exact opposite and takes a man, making him more than human. And that’s exactly how it should be. The difference in these movies perfectly illustrates to me what the difference was between classic Marvel comics and classic DC comics. Marvel gives you characters who are YOU in extraordinary circumstances. I identify with Peter trying to do the right thing and stay out of trouble with Aunt May. I identify with Bruce Banner unable to control his anger and suffering the terrible consequences thereof. I identify with Tony Stark, his arrogance, and his flaws, as he still has to get it together and do the right thing. DC on the other hand gives us gods, archetypes to which we aspire. Superman as the archetype of hope. Batman as the archetype of justice. Flash as the archetype of kindness. Wonder Woman as the archetype of peace. Aquaman as the archetype of a king.
Marvel heroes to identify with, DC heroes to aspire to; that’s what drives the readers’ preference. Marvel movies figured this out early and have ten years of success. I have felt for years the DCEU mistook those human factors for why the Marvel movies worked and tried to emulate that. Hence, we get a depressed Superman, troubled by his place as a hero. A Batman who has given in to human foible and left behind justice for vengeance, killing indiscriminately. Wonder Woman in BvS, who no longer works for peace, but just roams the world mourning Steve Trevor and WWI.
Thankfully, the movie ‘Wonder Woman’ broke this pattern, and gave us Diana as the archetype again. Luckily, ‘Aquaman’ does the same thing, calling on its source material, and recognizing those old DC comics were the mythology of the modern world.
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| As I understand, this picture will quench anyone's thirst. |
Not everyone will appreciate that about ‘Aquaman.’ The film’s story follows the old Joseph Campbell “hero’s journey” almost slavishly, taking Arthur Curry from the call, to the ordeal, to the black moment, to the descent and resurrection, etc. Anyone who has studied mythology through this lens will find no surprises in this story. For me however, that is exactly how an archetype should be built, and the strength of the movie lies in getting this pattern right.
Along the way, we get some very corny dialogue, and some of the most over-the-top production design you are likely to see. From weaponized sharks to Lovecraftian horrors of the Trenches below the sea, everything is cranked up to eleven.
And that’s EXACTLY the bold, outrageous, mythology-level storytelling I want from DC. Arthur is a boorish man-child who goes through all the trials to become a God-King; the fulfillment of prophecy and destiny; precisely the origin story a King of Atlantis deserves.
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| I would not mind a spin-off. |
Along the way we do get some good updates. Mera is a delight, and the agent of Arthur’s salvation more than once. The villains, Ocean Master and Black Manta, do have a point, allowing us to sympathize a bit with their motivations if not their actions. The re-imagining of the undersea kingdom is stunning, and would have been impossible to render on screen just a few years ago. Each scene that takes place underwater actually feels like you are underwater.
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| I would not mind a spin-off. |
Though I do have to admit there was a moment I hoped a certain character would sing “Shiny” from the ‘Moana’ soundtrack; Tamatoa, is that you?
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| Aquaman Spoiler out of context. |
So in the end we get two movies that are completely different in tone, but each work for this long time comic fan because they both completely understand, accept, and rejoice in their source material. I hope it’s a lesson that Warner Brothers takes to heart, and in the future they continue to give us Deities in capes to whom we can aspire, while Marvel (and apparently now Sony too) shows us how we normal folks can find ways to be super too. ‘Aquaman’ and “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse” hitting all together like this has made up for my lack of a Star Wars movie this holiday season.
And you, Wade. And you.
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