Thursday, January 03, 2019

Making a splash with Aquaman at Shangri-La Plaza’s Red Carpet


After months of renovation resulting in various foreign language film festivals heading to other cinemas (that sadly didn’t have the same vibe and feel), the Shang Cineplex has rebranded into the Red Carpet, the Shangri-La Plaza mall’s updated cinema/café/events area.

The Red Carpet’s bold, vibrant red marquee greeted guests during the cinema’s grand launch that featured a special advanced screening of Aquaman.


My first impressions of the cinema’s exterior is that it is more elegant with warm, light wood panel walls and marbled, stone floors that made the reds in the carpet stand out more. It actually felt more like the lobby of a highbrow arts/cultural center rather than a cinema complex.


Inside, gone are the carpets with the vibrant, dated pattern as they are now replaced with those featuring a marble like pattern in more subdued, earthy color scheme. The comfortable seats, ample leg room, and stadium type seating retain the intimacy of a shared viewing experience. Overall, the exterior and interior of the cinemas gave the Red Carpet a more luxurious and timeless feel.

Aquaman


About the film Aquaman, directed by James Wan, all I can say is that I had fun watching it although I haven’t read much of the character’s comics nor am I updated with the more recent DCEU offerings. One of my gripes in the movie though were the trips that Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Mera (Amber Heard) took in various parts of the world that felt too The Da Vinci Code for me. I was brought back to the early days of the resurgence of superhero films when I saw Willem Dafoe as Arthur’s mentor Vulko although my first thought was "Green Goblin" actually. One of the biggest delights of the movie is whenever Nicole Kidman's Atlanna was onscreen. I never knew that she was part of the cast.

As a longtime comicbook reader, a big question is whether the film is enough for me to dive into Aquaman comics. The answer is not really. I don’t find myself scrambling to comicbook shops and seek the further adventures of Arthur Curry via the latest Aquaman issue or whatever trades in print. Surprisingly, it is actually the history of Atlantis in the DC Universe that interests me more. Good thing that Aquaman: The Atlantis Chronicles by Peter David and Esteban Maroto is finally collected 27 years after the limited series came out in 1990. This epic tale, spanning decades, recalls the history of Atlantis, its rise and fall, and culminates with the birth of Aquaman. This collection is available physically in hardcover format but is priced rather steeply.


It is highly unlikely though that Warner Brothers will make a prequel film expounding on the history of Atlantis. So I should be content with this comic satisfying my craving for more Atlantis lore. But the mid-credits scene involving antagonist Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) strongly hints of an upcoming sequel which is very likely now considering the box-office success of the film.

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