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Aquaman: King Of Atlantis DVD Review

“Aquaman: King Of Atlantis” offers up a different kind of Aquaman.

Created by Victor Courtright and Marly Halpern-Graser and directed by Keith Pakiz, the 3 part animated HBOMax miniseries (totaling 136 minutes) “Aquaman: King Of Atlantis” begins with Aquaman becoming King in place of former ruler Ocean Master. Aquaman has yet to earn the Kingdom’s respect but he hopes to. Throughout the 3 parts, Aquaman faces off against villains Mortikov and the ever meddlesome Ocean Master, investigates Outpost 4, has his Trident stolen, encounters Primordius (no spoilers as to what that is) and encounters dangerous crystals. 

Rather than spinning off the theatrical DC movie, “Aquaman: King Of Atlantis” (which is produced by James Wan) goes a completely different route as this quirky animated series is more akin to “Adventure Time” or “ThunderCats Roar” (which Victor Courtright and Marly Halpern-Graser were both involved in). Some viewers may be charmed by the frantic pacing, the sight gags, the wacky adventures, and the bright and colorful animation while others (like myself) may find the series to be largely underwhelming. Taking franchises and characters down different paths is a good way to keep material fresh, but this series makes the mistake of disrespecting characters which has always bothered me. Aquaman has often been a punchline, but those days should be long gone (especially after the enormous success of the theatrical film). The disrespect of Aquaman and making Ocean Master a comic failure is a puzzling creative choice and one that hurts the series. Yes, this is a comedic animated series, but it hurts the brand when you make the characters jokes.

Comedy is subjective so your opinion on the comedy present here will vary. Personally speaking, there wasn’t much to laugh about here. There’s dopey pop culture references (including a fish paraphrasing a “Midnight Cowboy” line) and cartoonish bits like citizens praising Ocean Master despite him endangering them. 

The highlight of the series was by far Mera (voiced by Gillian Jacobs) and Vulko (Thomas Lennon) whose characters were generally well written. Cooper Andrews does a decent job channeling Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, but the depiction of the character annoyed me. Same goes with Ocean Master (Dana Snyder).

Video/Audio:

Presentation: Widescreen. How does it look? The animation deserves better than a mere standard definition release but alas there isn’t a Blu-ray release.

Audio Track: Dolby Digital 5.1. How does it sound? This is a lively 5.1 track.

No extras have been included.

June 21, 2022 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Animated Series, Aquaman, Aquaman: King Of Atlantis DVD Review, DC, HBOMax, James Wan, Mera, Ocean Master