Aquaman - The DC universe's (second?) best

Okay, so I'm guessing few people will have sat down to watch 'Aquaman' without knowing just a little bit about the 'DC Shared Universe' (RIP!).  Once upon a time, the comic giant, DC, had plans for all its most famous superheros to get together to form one giant evil-conquering team (think 'Avengers,' yeah?).  However, for one or twenty or so reasons, that never really worked out for them and 'Aquaman' was a kind of leftover superhero movie that the studio didn't really know what to do with.  It sort of had to be released simply because most of it had been made and the film-makers would lose more money by NOT releasing it.  I'm guessing that they never realised just how many people would actually like it!

Personally, I didn't think it was quite as good as the majority (but then I actually liked 'Man of Steel!'), but certainly not that bad, either.  Even its most negative of critics seems to reluctantly admit that it's like a 'Marvel Phase 1' film (think the first 'Iron Man, Thor' and 'Captain America' films).  I'm not sure whether it's deliberate or not, but there's nothing in 'Aquaman' that really links it into what nearly became DC's 'shared universe.' That works well on account of the universe now - effectively - being dead and also because any 'casual' superhero movie fan doesn't need to know anything from any other source material to enjoy this outing.

Believe it or not, Aquaman's real name is 'Arthur' and he's the rightful heir to the kingdom of Atlantis.  Only he's been hiding out on land for his entire life, so his (real) people aren't too pleased to see him return and potentially just walk into his destined path as ruler of their empire.  But, things aren't that easy, he has a younger brother, Orm (Patrick Wilson), who's currently King and isn't going to let go of the thrown quite so easily. 

If 'Aquaman' has one major thing going for it then it's its star, Jason Momoa.  He's certainly an action hero to watch out for and has the right mix of muscles and light-heartedness that works so well in this genre (think Arnold Schwarzenegger in his day and more recently Dwayne Johnson).  Momoa dispatches the bad-guys with a punch, a smirk and finally a witty put-down and he's very easy to watch and get behind.  He's definitely the high-point of the film.  There's plenty of other well recognised actors alongside him, but none really get enough screen time to be particularly memorable.  Patrick Wilson does his best, but Dolph Lundgren and Nicole Kidman are pretty damn forgettable and, personally, I didn't really feel much chemistry between Momoa and ('mandatory' love interest) Amber Heard.

I also found that the film was a bit 'all over the place.' By that I mean that it felt like it shifted genres a couple of times.  A bulk of the story takes place underwater in the futuristic (and computer generated) kingdom of Atlantis.  This, naturally, has its own look and feel, yet then the movies jumps off into the desert and suddenly it feels like you're watching an Indiana Jones movie or something.

Then you have the villain (or should that be villainS - plural).  Arthur has to - primarily - fight his younger brother for the throne, yet there's another villain also thrown into the mix ('Black Manta') who comes then goes, then comes back - briefly - before totally going all together).  Apparently, (and I found this out through the internet) he's quite a 'fan favourite' and many would have preferred him to be the primary antagonist.  But, seeing as that never happened, I'm guessing the film-makers are going to use him in a sequel.

But, my gripes aside, I still enjoyed the film.  It's the most profitable DC film in those - sort of - linked to its 'shared universe,' but - personally - I preferred 'Wonder Woman.' I'll definitely watch any sequel to this they decide to make, but then I'd also watch any sequel they made to 'Justice League!' So, if you're not totally fed up with superhero movies and can take another one with plenty of CGI action scenes, you should enjoy this, if just for the leading man's performance.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that