Aquaman

My experience with DC's attempt to rival Marvel has not been the best. To call it 'mixed' would be too kind as the studio has released after released varying displays of lacklustre entertainment, and even with its most favourable edition in the shape of Wonder Woman, the film still collapsed in the final act. Joker seems to be its own entity and with the studio maybe realising its joint universe was never meant to be, 2018 gave us the spin-off Aquaman.

Acting as a Thor equivalent but with more of a brutish surfer look, Jason Momoa's turn in Justice League brought some much needed humour even if it couldn't save the film. Several years later, Aquaman, who can breathe underwater and communicate with fish, is living a quiet life by the coast but his peaceful time in hiding is threatened with news that his Atlantian half-brother (Patrick Wilson) is waging war on regular air breathing humans and wants to clear out any contenders for the thrown along the way.

Just as the series has been to this point, Aquaman is an effects-driven superhero action flick but is boosted by horror director James Wan in the driving seat and a charismatic Momoa to keep the predictable story rolling nicely. Action has been the selling point of these films and DC have usually managed to garble it one way or the other but Wan surprisingly nails this, and combined with strong visuals and Rupert Gregson-Williams' soundtack, Aquaman made for a highly entertaining watch all things considered.

Patrick Wilson, who has worked with the director before, even makes for a worthy villain which is more than what some Marvel films have managed to do. Meanwhile, the supporting cast of Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe and Nicole Kidman play their parts well in the smaller roles but this really is Momoa's film who couldn't look more comfortable.

Aquaman finally sees DC running at a level on par with Marvel in what is an easy recommend for fans of the genre. Granted this isn't high art but Wan manages to bring enough to the table while balancing studio demands. I'm sure there are plans for a sequel but if this stayed as one-off I'd be satisfied.