The biggest film on the planet right now is James Wan’s “Aquaman.” What seemed, on paper at least, to be a silly fish man movie that was supremely campy and garish turned out to be…well, just that. And YMMV on the results, with many (not including me) thinking the film is one of the best superhero films that Warner Bros. has ever released, while others (rightfully so) think the film is a sincere film with a ton of flaws. Either way, it doesn’t matter what you think because Mr. DCEU himself, Zack Snyder, along with his wife (and producing partner) Debbie, gave “Aquaman” the big ol’ thumbs up.
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In a new interview with Collider, Wan was asked a variety of questions about “Aquaman.” Although, sadly, it doesn’t appear that he was asked what he was smoking when he thought the Pitbull song “Ocean to Ocean” should make the final cut. Alas, he was asked if he showed the end result to Snyder, who is sorta the godfather (or used to be, at least) of these DCEU films. Apparently, Snyder was psyched.
“Yeah, I showed Zack my director’s cut pretty much right after I finished it, and he gave me his thumbs up. He was really complimentary about it. He basically gave his blessing to me to go finish the movie, because he knew how huge of an undertaking I had with the visual effects,” said Wan.
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He continued, “What he saw was a lot of blue-screen, a lot of pre-viz and a lot of storyboards. You photograph your storyboards and you cut it into the film and so it was very very rough and crude. But, I think the human element is there that played and I think he and Debbie were very complimentary about it. They gave us their blessing.”
Look, I enjoy poking fun at “Aquaman,” and trust me, I’m sure Jason “My Man!” Momoa can take it, but outside of my own opinions on the film, it actually is pretty surprising that Snyder gave the film his stamp of approval. Snyder is known for many unique stylistic choices he brought to the superhero universe, including a muted color palette, a lack of jokes, unlikable characters, and a slapdash approach to structure and storytelling. Outside of that last descriptor, you can’t really say the same about “Aquaman.” For all its flaws, the film was full of color, charisma, jokes, and exciting set pieces.
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More likely, this is just an instance where Snyder doesn’t want to make waves anymore as he distances himself from the superhero world. Instead of giving Wan a myriad of complaints, maybe he just said that it was good just to be done with it. Obviously, that’s purely speculation and a bit of cynical thinking.
Anyway, if the Zack Snyder Seal of Approval means anything to you, “Aquaman” is in theaters worldwide right now.