Water load of fun.

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2019)

Okay, I definitely could have done without the octopus playing the drums, but Aquaman isn't the dud that many claim it to be. It's certainly better than many of DC's dark and dreary superhero movies, a visually impressive treat for the eyes (and I'm not just talking about Amber Heard in her green skintight costume!) and, ignoring a few contrived plot details, a hugely entertaining romp.
Director James Wan has created a DC movie that, for once, looks and feels like a comic-book come to life, with jaw-dropping production design and dazzling neon coloured imagery that is breathtakingly beautiful. The story is clichÃ©d baddies versus goodies nonsense, but I think that's the point: this is intended to be brainless fun without all the emotional intensity and gloominess that made Nolan's Batman films such a bore. It's got Willem Dafoe riding a shark, for Christ's sake - it's not meant to be taken seriously.
Jason Momoa plays Arthur, son of a lighthouse keeper (Temuera Morrison) and the Queen of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman). When he grows up, Arthur is convinced by stunning redhead Atlantean Mera (Heard) to claim his rightful place as king of Atlantis in order to prevent a battle between the sea folk and the land dwellers. Unfortunately, his half brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) is intent on war...
At almost two and a half hours long, this could have easily run out of steam, but Wan keeps things moving at a lick, introducing more and more bonkers action, building to a climactic war between an army of talking crustaceans and the shark-riding Atlanteans, with Momoa joining in the fun atop a massive monster from the depths. Oh, and Nicole Kidman spends twenty years in Jurassic Park at the centre of the Earth! It's all so gloriously daft, and so stunningly rendered that I couldn't help but enjoy myself.
The film does overstep the mark occasionally, with some the humour falling flat, and I struggle to believe that a) Aquaman and Mera would bring a seemingly insignificant bottle with them to Sicily, and b) the statue designed to hold the bottle is conveniently still standing intact in the same place after thousands of years, but these are minor niggles in a movie that hits more than it misses.
7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for scorching redhead Heard.