Malaysian-born James Wan created ‘Aquaman’ scenes
LOS ANGELES: Malaysianborn Chinese-Australian director James Wan has been credited with saving the DC Comics franchise with his creation of underwater “Star Wars” in Aquaman.
Aquaman, by Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics, debuted in China two weeks ahead of its American release and raked in a 650 million yuan at the box office (RM397 million).
The film also received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. After 152,000 votes, the film’s rating on Douban.com stood at an outstanding 8.1/10. The film is a huge boost for the DC Comic Extended Universe, after both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League failed to live up to expectations.
Many have praised the film as the underwater cousin of Star Wars and The Lord of Rings. However, the film bears distinctive trademarks from Wan’s Chinese heritage, and seemingly borrows elements from China’s ancient classic novel “Journey to the West.”
Admitted Wan: “I am of Chinese descent, so I have heard many Chinese stories as I grew up. I have always liked ‘Journey to the West’ and The Monkey King Sun Wukong and was influenced by these Chinese elements when I was filming.”
Aquaman, first created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, debuted in More Fun Comics # 73 ( November 1941). The current iteration of the character, played by Jason Momoa, first appeared in Justice League last year, amongst a crowded selection of fellow superheroes. In this movie, Momoa gets the chance to add unique depth to the role. His long hair, muscles, tattoos and leather pants are pure rock and roll, but Momoa seamlessly blends such aesthetics with a sense of responsibility, courage and humour.
Born in Hawaii, surrounded by the sea, Jason Momoa has a deep love for the oceans. He even studied marine biology at Iowa University.
“I used to think about doing something for marine biology and creatures in the future,” Momoa laughed when making his comments.
However, filming underwater was a challenge even for Momoa. “Underwater shooting is indeed a challenge,” James Wan admitted. “It’s hard to shoot and it’s hard to make it happen. I also feel for these actors who were working very hard in such an environment.”
For Momoa, the biggest challenge was to “try and not get hurt every day!”
He received high-intensity stunt training for four and a half months, and learnt an array of skills including judo, jiu-jitsu and Chinese martial arts.
According to him, he performed more stunts and actions for Aquaman than for his entire career.
His co-star, Amber Heard, also had a lot of action scenes to shoot. “We had to do a lot of training. This film required us to work very hard, physically and mentally,” she added.