Aquaman

The DC Universe films have been mostly disappointing, occasionally rising to adequacy (or even, with “Wonder Woman”, quite reasonable), but mostly sitting firmly in the lesser end of the franchise inevitables. However, this eccentric piece that probably wouldn’t have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for the fact DC wanted to prove they could keep making movies after “Justice League” plopped out onto the table with a “why are we making it again” air has a couple of goofy pleasures in it. Jason Momoa as the lead is part of it – I couldn’t with good conscience call him a good actor, but he’s a nice presence (like Arnold Schwarzanegger or The Rock), a good hearted musclebound doofus who, if he never seems particularly committed to anything like a dramatic character arc, still manages to make the brutish lead more or less likeable. The other major star is some truly insane production design choices (this is a film where an octopus playing war drums is merely the starting point of some of the nuttier choices).

The plot is a bit clunky, particularly in the early-going (all that guff about destiny and kingdoms which nobody particularly gives a flying monkeys about) but once Momoa and Amber Heard as his redheaded sea-princess-companion are off traipsing around the world in search of a mystical thingamabob, they turn out to have decent chemistry and play off each other with fun. And there’s a nice mix of locations and places and creatures including some definitely scary monsters here and there (plus one giant seacreature voiced by Julie Andrews because … well, why not). And the final battle, against the odds, turns out to not just be another case of CGI vs CGI while the leads bellow the themes of the movie at one another, but instead proves to be a bunch of “and also, THIS!” as we get a giant army of increasingly ridiculous sea creatures in battle. And yes, it’s all very loud and bombastic but somehow, possibly due to the fact that Momoa is just plain pretty likable, it never feels too self important, and instead feels like a nicely pleasant diversion. Yes, it’s probably a tad overlong, but it’s a December-January release and people go to movies for Airconditioning, and this provides a good excuse for the aircon.