Which film did you like better - Aquaman or Wonder Woman

[Lightning Rider]

I can understand people liking Aquaman better than I did. But I am in shock that people like Aquaman better than Wonder Woman

Diana is such a more fleshed out character than Arthur was. She starts out a somewhat sheltered but persistent warrior, then becomes both curious and distraught when confronting "man's world" through a series of experiences that impact her, and at last is tempted to abandon humanity before making the realization that

Arthur on the other hand gets no such treatment. He's reluctant and hates Atlantis and doesn't show fitness to rule a culture he doesn't know other than because he is the firstborn son. By the end he seems perfectly content being king, but the rest wasn't shown to change much so we don't really get any connective tissue showing us how he got there. Mera telling him "you're the bridge between land and sea!" and a badly written conversation about judging a place before you visit it is far from enough to indicate a dramatic change of heart.

As for the supporting cast, it's again no contest. Wonder Woman has great chemistry with Steve Trevor and his uniquely charming companions, and her relationships with her fellow Amazons are just long enough to make them feel like real people. By contrast, Arthur's father is barely an influence, and aside from a corny romance with Mera, he learns how to swim and then gets taught a spearing lesson by Vulko in two badly acted flashbacks. We also never see any ordinary Atlanteans do anything other than cheer or fight as soldiers. Themyscira felt like a real place. Arthur isn't grounded in anything. Mera hardly is either, for that matter. There isn't time spent on the relationships between Mera and her father/Atlantis or Arthur and anyone else.

Not to suggest Wonder Woman was perfect. It drags a little bit in the middle, the third act gets hokey in certain points, and while Ares is great, he only gets to shine at the end of the film. But even there, Wonder Woman's villains aren't just maniacal Nazis and the god of war, but the question of evil in the hearts of men and whether they deserve her help.

As for filmmakiing elements, both have great cinematography, but Wonder Woman's writing is far better. The story has stronger themes, better dialogue, and has a less overstuffed structure. New elements and myths and legends and explosions aren't constantly interrupting the pace of the film. hese may seem llike overly academic critiques, but they affect the actual feel of a movie. Wonder Woman felt like it had heart, like there were stakes, like friendships were forged and individuals evolved through their hardship. Aquaman didn't feel like that. It was a lot of cool fighting strung together by weak exposition following a predictable plot.

People are free to like what they want and this is just one more man's opinion, but I can't imagine calling Aquaman a better movie.

[Flash Gordon]

There were no maniacal Nazis in WW since it was WW1, but besides that the villains lacked any depth at all. That was my major problem with the film. The Germans and Dr. Posion are cackling psychos...which is fine, I guess, but it is what it is.

Ares showing up in a giant CGI muddled 3rd act completely deflated the films message.

Again, Wonder Woman was a solid action flick with a lot of good stuff going for it. Gal Gadot is wonderful. Aquaman had interesting villains (I would have liked a bit more depth shown to Ocean Master, but the film couldn't be 4 hours) and a lead character who learns from his mistakes and becomes a better man through selfless action. It felt like a superhero joint, an honest big ole super heroic joint.

[kjn]

There were no maniacal Nazis in WW since it was WW1, but besides that the villains lacked any depth at all. That was my major problem with the film. The Germans and Dr. Posion are cackling psychos...which is fine, I guess, but it is what it is.

Ares showing up in a giant CGI muddled 3rd act completely deflated the films message.

Most superhero films have rather mediocre or one-dimensional villains, but I'd say that it hurt Wonder Woman less than in most other cases. It's the case for two different reasons.

The first is that Wonder Woman is not only an origin story, but a coming-of-age story. As such, the primary conflict for the character is not external but internal—they have to let go of their childhood and their old ideas to embrace adulthood. The second is that the main antagonist in the movie isn't Doctor Psycho, Ludendorff, or even Ares. It is war itself, the callous killing of thousands of people. As such, it's no surprise that Diana's anger is also directed at general Haig as well.

So the third act for me isn't primarily the physical battle between Ares and Diana, but a battle for Diana's soul: will she be able to integrate her naïve belief in the good of mankind with her experiences in Man's World, or will she become a corrupted avenging angel?

[Flash Gordon]

Most superhero films have rather mediocre or one-dimensional villains, but I'd say that it hurt Wonder Woman less than in most other cases. It's the case for two different reasons.

The first is that Wonder Woman is not only an origin story, but a coming-of-age story. As such, the primary conflict for the character is not external but internal—they have to let go of their childhood and their old ideas to embrace adulthood. The second is that the main antagonist in the movie isn't Doctor Psycho, Ludendorff, or even Ares. It is war itself, the callous killing of thousands of people. As such, it's no surprise that Diana's anger is also directed at general Haig as well.

So the third act for me isn't primarily the physical battle between Ares and Diana, but a battle for Diana's soul: will she be able to integrate her naïve belief in the good of mankind with her experiences in Man's World, or will she become a corrupted avenging angel?

I'd agree it hurt Wonder Woman less than others too, especially because it is one of the better superhero flicks of the past decade.

I don't think the 3rd act worked at all, sadly. At least not for me. I was super onboard with the film up through the death of Ludendorff where I really thought the film was going to reach new heights- Ludendorff is just a man, contrary to everything Diana thought. There is no great evil, just bad people. Now it's time to try and stop that plane because all that matters is helping out those she can.

But then CGI Ares showed up and blew the whole movie apart.

I also prefer Aquaman because it's not just another origin flick. It takes a guy who sorta helps people when it's convenient for him, who's repeatedly rejected the call to action, and we see the development of him into a heroic force who rises to action and selflessly gets in the way of his brother's military might. Orm also isn't just a bad guy, he has genuine reasons to be the way he is and feel how he does, but he's leading an assault that will kill millions (on both sides) and needs to be stopped. This ends the film with Aquaman having the option to try a more diplomatic solution.

[Jim Kelly]

The message of WONDER WOMAN is that there's no villain that's causing the suffering of man. Man is causing his own suffering. So if there was a big bad that could be defeated and end the suffering, then the message of the movie would be undercut. Diana has to realize that the enemy is humanity itself and yet the only answer is to love humanity regardless.

The big moment at the end of the movie is Steve's sacrifice, it's not defeating the villains. And yet for Steve to make his sacrifice, the villains have to play out their parts. And Wonder Woman has to be put in a position where she has no chance to save Steve.

I don't think the mechanics are perfect for how that happens, but it's a difficult thing to pull off. There were a lot of people in the audience who were moved to tears by Steve's sacrifice, so I think the scene was effective enough.

[Shockingjustice]

I'd agree it hurt Wonder Woman less than others too, especially because it is one of the better superhero flicks of the past decade.

I don't think the 3rd act worked at all, sadly. At least not for me. I was super onboard with the film up through the death of Ludendorff where I really thought the film was going to reach new heights- Ludendorff is just a man, contrary to everything Diana thought. There is no great evil, just bad people. Now it's time to try and stop that plane because all that matters is helping out those she can.

But then CGI Ares showed up and blew the whole movie apart.

I also prefer Aquaman because it's not just another origin flick. It takes a guy who sorta helps people when it's convenient for him, who's repeatedly rejected the call to action, and we see the development of him into a heroic force who rises to action and selflessly gets in the way of his brother's military might. Orm also isn't just a bad guy, he has genuine reasons to be the way he is and feel how he does, but he's leading an assault that will kill millions (on both sides) and needs to be stopped. This ends the film with Aquaman having the option to try a more diplomatic solution.

Orm killed a king and forced his daughter to fight for him. He's a bad guy.

Also it seems like for some people on this thread, they just really don't care for WW at all.

[Avi]

I loved Wonder Woman until the third act. The second Ares showed up the spell was utterly broken for me. His CGI presence didn't fit into the vibe at all. I'm still reeling just thinking about it.

Aquaman might have dragged in between but it was solid all around. So this one goes to Aquaman.

[Flash Gordon]

Orm killed a king and forced his daughter to fight for him. He's a bad guy.

Also it seems like for some people on this thread, they just really don't care for WW at all.

I literally said in both my posts how much I like WW, I just think it has problems and AQUAMAN is the superior film.

Also people in power do all sorts of bad stuff in the name of their nation. Orm isn't just a "bad guy" it's more complicated than that.

[LordAllMIghty]

I like them both the same but for different reasons

[Lightning Rider]

There were no maniacal Nazis in WW since it was WW1, but besides that the villains lacked any depth at all. That was my major problem with the film. The Germans and Dr. Posion are cackling psychos...which is fine, I guess, but it is what it is.

Ares showing up in a giant CGI muddled 3rd act completely deflated the films message.

Again, Wonder Woman was a solid action flick with a lot of good stuff going for it. Gal Gadot is wonderful. Aquaman had interesting villains (I would have liked a bit more depth shown to Ocean Master, but the film couldn't be 4 hours) and a lead character who learns from his mistakes and becomes a better man through selfless action. It felt like a superhero joint, an honest big ole super heroic joint.

I don't really get your criticism of Wonder Woman's 3rd act. If it felt like it didn't fit because it was too CGI, it's because the rest of the film was so good that it didn't rely on that kind of spectacle. Aquaman's last scene was right in line with the rest of the movie, which was hallow action and bad dialogue and no stakes. Aquaman didn't have a fraction of the heart and character work that Wonder Woman did. I don't see any metric by which you can call it a superior film.

[Gaastra]

I thought aquaman was a fun harmless film but to me wonder woman was the better film. It just felt like it had more heart to me. Not that aquaman was a bad movie. I enjoyed watching it. But if i had to choose between the two wonder woman would win.

[Gurz]

May be i like my boy Arthur too much to be objective. I enjoyed Aquaman more.

[dreyga2000]

I can understand people liking Aquaman better than I did. But I am in shock that people like Aquaman better than Wonder Woman

Yeah, I'm shocked too. I didn't think it was that good. What am I missing???

[Osiris-Rex]

I liked them both a lot but I liked Wonder Woman more. Wonder Woman seemed to concentrate more on character than spectacle. I even got to know people like Charlie and Sameer.
But even with Orm and Black Manta I don't really know them all that well.

[Jim Kelly]

I like both movies, but in different ways, so it's hard to answer the question. By this time in its run, I think I had seen WONDER WOMAN five times and I've only seen AQUAMAN three times thusfar, but then ticket prices are much higher now than they were just a year ago.