Aquaman
2018
**½
Director: James Wan
Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Ludi Lin, Temuera Morrison, Randall Park
Arthur Curry is the love child of a lighthouse keeper and the late Queen of Atlantis. While the grown-up Arthur would like to mind his own business, it becomes increasingly difficult when his half-brother Orm plans to unite Atlantis and attack the surface world. Aquaman made a brief and somewhat baffling appearance in Justice League, and now he gets his full length origin story. However, I can't say that I understand the character or the universe he inhabits any better. Aquaman appears to be Thor of the DC Extended Universe. He is an all-powerful superhero with a sinister half-brother whose home world is a candy-coloured CGI wonderland. The rule of thumb seems to be that name actors can breathe in the water and on dry land, the common people in Atlantis and on the surface can only do one of the two. The movie is long and silly, but intermittently enjoyable, and Jason Momoa is a good fit for the title role. The character is based on a comic book by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger.
