#captain murk

Ludi Lin as Captain Murk

Last night, my brother, sister, niece, and I saw Aquaman, the latest in the controversial DCEU (or World of DC as it's supposedly been relabeled). I thought it was good. Not great like Wonder Woman, but certainly better put together than some of their other works, and this is coming from somebody who actually thinks the likes of Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League are relatively okay. Plot wise: A week after the events of Justice League, Arthur Curry (AKA Prince Orrin AKA Aquaman) is forced to face his Atlantean heritage as its true heir after his younger half-brother Orm Marius (AKA Ocean Master) attempts to unite the Seven Tribes of Atlantis in order to declare war on the surface world. Joined by Princess Mera of Xebel, Arthur sets off in search of the Trident of Neptune whilst dealing with various perils such as Orm's elite commandos led by Captain Murk, the vengeful pirate David Hyde (AKA Black Manta), the ravenous fish-monsters known as the Trench, the monstrous guardian of the Trident the Karathen, and finally, Orm himself. I wanna get the cons out of the way since, I really only had a few gripes with this movie, though, some of them are pretty big. Warning, some spoilers. 1. It crammed in way too much stuff. They could've saved Black Manta for a sequel and have the end credit scene be of David building his armor and telling Aquaman he'd better be ready, because he's gonna bring the hurt. 2. Arthur’s fight with the Karathen is a little too short and felt kinda rushed despite how much the latter was built up. 3. WHERE THE HELL WERE THE OTHER JUSTICE LEAGUE MEMBERS!? Seriously, after a bunch of wreckage and garbage washes up on shores all over the world, you'd think it would catch the attention of Bruce, Clark, Diana, Barry, or Victor. 4. On the TV, one of the newscasters shoots down the Dr. Shin's theory of Atlantis and calls him crazy... despite the fact there have been attacks made by one of the New Gods, an interdimensional pair of siblings, Kryptonians, and the fact the Justice League (aside from Batman) consists of a Kryptonian raised by a Kansas family, a young man who can run from New York City to Japan in the amount of time it takes me to fart, a cybernetically enhanced former quarterback, and an Amazonian demigoddess. Yet SOMEHOW, Atlantis is too farfetched? 5. Mera's gripes with the surface world are never fleshed out unlike Orm's. 6. Speaking of Mera, where the Hell is Hila? (Unless they're setting her up for a sequel.) Now for the pros. 1. Topo cameo 2. Ocean Master has an expressive mask like in the comics. 3. Black Manta's design. 4. The action sequences, especially the final battle, just on the grounds of how insane they could get. 5. Mera's powers were accurately portrayed. 6. Willem DaFoe as Vulko. 7. The relationship between Arthur and Thomas was heartwarming. 8. Likewise, the relationship between Black Manta and his father was heartwarming as well (despite the two being bloodthirsty, murderous pirates). 9. There were some moments that made me tear up. 10. I like how it establishes why only certain Atlanteans need to have water to survive while others are perfectly able to be on land and underwater with no ill effect. 11. Orm wasn't completely evil and even gave Arthur a chance to concede and leave because he didn't want to kill his brother. 12. The Trench are legitimately creepy as Hell (as they should be). 13. It's not afraid to use names like Aquaman, Ocean Master, or Black Manta. 14. The music was fantastic. 15. The fact it uses some obscure characters like Vulko, Murk, and the aforementioned Topo. 16. John Rhys-Davies as a crab-man. 17. Nicole Kidman was fantastic as Atlanna. 18. Julie Andrews (MARY POPPINS HERSELF) as a sea monster that could go toe-to-toe with the likes of Godzilla. 19. The visuals were outstanding. 20. The humor was great (there's even a toilet joke in the film and it still made me laugh my ass off). All-in-all, this was a good entry in the DCEU and I hope Shazam and Wonder Woman 1984 are equally as good. 8.5/10

In conclusion: very gay things going on here

Murk was actually played by Ludi Lin too like HELLO? AN ABSOLUTE WIN I love that for him