Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis is a hilarious, lighthearted take on superhero tropes and relaunches the King of the Seven Seas as a main player.
Aquaman’s venture into badassness started years ago. But it wasn’t until recently that this more dangerous King of the Seven Seas has been popularized in comics. The DCEU’s Aquaman (played by Jason Momoa) has finally made laymen see how powerful the Atlantean king can be. And his live-action movie will only solidify this in December 2018’s Aquaman.
However, in the world of LEGO, they’re still holding on to the more lovable Super Friends cheesy version of the character. And why not? LEGO, as a property, has always been lighthearted fun. The most recent LEGO/DC venture shows the old incarnation of Aquaman can still be admired and not be one-dimensional. With a humorous script and a compelling arc, Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis takes fans back to our hero’s fun roots.
The film starts with Aquaman as an adored king. But if there’s one thing he loves more than his people, it’s being part of the Justice League. Answering an alert call, our hero heads to the surface to assist his friends. This first mission becomes botched when everyone underestimates anti-hero Lobo.
The team licks its wounds and visits Atlantis. As honored guests, Aquaman gives everyone a tour of his home (a very humorous exposition scene). Soon, the underwater king discovers his own brother, Ocean Master, has plotted with Red Lantern Atrocitus to take over all of Atlantis. As Aquaman is removed from power and torn down, he must find the confidence and will to take back the throne and save his kingdom and the surface world.
The animated film plays on multiple tropes for the character. From his classic homage-inducing Super Friends era communication waves to the team not taking him seriously, we, as an audience feel sympathy for this underdog of a hero. Because the character is extremely likable from the start (he’s proud, but not arrogant), we want him to pick himself back up and succeed.
The overall design of the movie is pretty standard computer animation. Though this may seem like a negative, the story benefits from just the right amount of visual flare. There isn’t too much of it to distract audiences, especially if you’re dealing with children—of which this movie is geared towards.
The rest of the characters are consistent with their established personalities in the DC universe. They’re given just the right amount of screen time and never overtake our main protagonist. With that said, it would’ve been great to see Lobo just a bit more. The character’s jump from callousness to overly sentimental (in his own way) is hilarious and well-translated to something appropriate for a younger demographic.
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Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis combines the humor of LEGO’s spirit with the epic storytelling of DC Comics. Though the main character is seeing a huge renaissance in live-action, there’s still room for the classic, endearing version of the King of the Seven Seas.
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis will be available on Digital and on Blu-ray July 31, 2018.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided us with a free copy of the Blu-ray we reviewed in this blog post. The opinions we share are our own.
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