Aquaman: Rage Of Atlantis – Limited Edition Green Lantern LEGO Minifigure (Blu-ray Review)
Aquaman, the former butt of every superhero joke is no longer a laughing matter. With a reinvention of his look and character in the 2000s, he’s been brought to the live action fold a badass and played by the most manly of men Jason Momoa. With his solo feature outing due for release in December, its time to start building that awareness with the kiddos and such. And thus, he’s the new focal point of the latest LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes movie. This straight to video feature arrives on Blu-ray on July 31st. You can also pick up a limited edition version of the film that includes not an Aquaman LEGO figure but that of the Jessica Cruz iteration of Green Lantern who is also in the film. Pre-order below to entertain the kiddos (And maybe yourself) when it becomes available July 31st.
Film 
Aquaman, the King of Atlantis, must make some difficult decisions to ensure the future of his ocean realm. Under attack from Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns, he realizes he must relinquish his sovereignty and go on a journey to regain his confidence before returning to his rightful throne.
The latest LEGO DC Super Hero movie works as a nice introduction to Aquaman and his underwater kingdom. Characters like Mera and the Ocean Master are brought into the fold. This story honestly feels like underwater reverse Thor in a sorta way. Sneakily, this movie also gives some spotlight time to the character of Lobo. You’ll want to note, that DC has reportedly been working on a movie for that obscure character, so putting him in front of the kids is a good way to build awareness.
While Aquaman and his world is the prime selling point, they pad him with the other more popular members of the Justice League like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman while continuing to show us they want us to keep remembering Cyborg. Interestingly enough, the iteration of Green Lantern used in this film is Jessica Cruz. She’s also given her own subplot in the film as she adventures by herself. One has to wonder if this is a slow build toward her being a part of the Green Lanter Corp movie that keeps moving back.
Overall, this is solid enough like the other films. There are funny classic Aquaman jokes at his expense, but they are actually well thought out and not tired (He reports immediately to the call of duty to a place with “Lake” in its name, only to arrive and find its a desert). But, this is way more suited for the younger ones than it is for the adults. However, as an adult, I do find myself enjoying watching these with my kids (They do throw me some deep tracks jokes here an there). Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis is also incredibly short, running at 1 hour 16 minutes. These have been a fun ongoing series for kids and if you’ve been keeping up to speed so far, send them on their way toward Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis.
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Layers: BD-25
Clarity/Detail: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis features the standard looking LEGO video presentation. It doesn’t quite burst off the screen, but its the next best thing. Some of the colors here really provide a nice glow to the image and it has an impressive array of different shadings and tints. The image is sharp enough but has a hair bit of softness to it. Details are strong in both a basic and impressive sense sticking to the details on textures and the “drawn” details on the characters/pieces.
Depth: Spacing is pretty good with the character and objects moving and floating through the frame with good confidence and smoothly with no real issues on distortions.
Black Levels: Blacks are deep and feature some good tints and shade. Polishes, lines and other details come through very well. No crushing witnessed in this image during the review.
Color Reproduction: Colors are pretty fun with no real bleedings but a good vibrant presentation. There is a great primary palette on display making oranges, yellows, greens, blues, reds and purples all have varying degrees of boldness and pop to them.
Flesh Tones: N/A
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, German 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish
Dynamics: As is per usual with these non-theatrical LEGO movies, we’re giving a compressed Dolby Digital track. It does the trick though, as I doubt anyone is truly bummed this isn’t lossless. Its plenty loud with some good intricacies and a balanced mix. Really, this is for kids and they aren’t going to care.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: Some of the engines, water roaring, blasts and explosions as well as the score tug on the subwoofer decently throughout.
Surround Sound Presentation: This is a mostly front-heavy mix, with fun moments coming from the rear that isn’t score or helping motion pretty scarce. Motion is quite accurate through as well as the volume placement.
Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.
Extras
Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis – Limited Edition comes with the DVD edition, digital copy and a Jessica Cruz Green Lantern LEGO Minifigure. The disc contains no bonus features.
Summary
Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis is a fun, solid LEGO adventure that works well in introducing Aquaman (And Lobo) and his world through a trip with the familiar Justice League friends. The Blu-ray has your standard terrific video presentation along with a better than average Dolby Digital track. This version came with a LEGO figure, which is cool, but keep in mind if you don’t pick this one up, there are no other extras. If you’re kids are into LEGO or the DC characters, wait for a nice cheap price and grab it up.
