The rocky road of DCEU films has traversed highs and lows, from the zeitgeist-capturing Wonder Woman to the absolute mess of Justice League. It’s a Marvel-rivalling gambit that, at its worst, is morosely serious in how it goes about presenting its outlandish superhero world without the depth to back it up.
The latest instalment seems to recognise and avoid that danger by being utterly, eternally ludicrous and over-the-top. But most importantly, where it counts anyway, it’s crucially self-aware of that fact and has a fun time plunging us into the depths and carrying us to great heights of entertainingly ridiculous spectacle.
We first met Arthur Curry AKA the Aquaman (Jason Momoa) teaming up with the Justice League. But how did he come to be imbued with the powers of the ocean? The film sets up his origin story quite well as we discover in the film’s opening minutes that his mother was Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), Queen of the ancient underwater Kingdom of Atlantis, who washed up on the “surface world” and met and fell in love with lighthouse keeper Thomas (Temeura Morrison).
Together they had a child that, to her mind, bridges the divide between the underwater and surface worlds, proving they can be one. However, it’s a view not greatly shared by many of her own people; when she wilfully returns to Atlantis for the sake of her son’s survival, they carry out a swift sentence of justice that would affect her husband and son’s destiny forever.
In the present day, Aquaman is approached by Mera (Amber Heard), a warrior princess of Nereus (Dolph Lundgren), who tries to convince him that he must claim his rightful place as King of Atlantis. This is in order to thwart his ruthless and cunning half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) from seizing power as Ocean Master that would lead to a full-scale attack on the surface world, someone who considers Aquaman to be a “half-breed” not worthy of the throne.
Credit must go to director James Wan (a filmmaker who has gone from horror franchises like Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring to blockbusters like Fast & Furious 7) for really going for it by delivering an eye-popping, bonkers visual style that seems to make every effort to be the opposite of drab.
It’s fuelled by a marriage between the comic book page and Greek mythology; sometimes that gets the better of it in the shape of characters going on extended monologues that explain legends in the finest detail, though at others that feeds into the idea of stories retold through the ages.
The film is a treat to behold whenever it dives into the ocean as Wan embraces the absurdity at every turn (look out for the giant neon-lit octopus playing the drums), wearing the inherent goofiness as a badge of honour rather than anything to shy away from. And,perhaps most importantly, the cast seems completely on-board for having as much fun with those OTT concepts as they want the audience to have.
Momoa brings alight-hearted charisma, which carries the film whenever it leans too heavy into one-liner humour that doesn’t always land as hoped, while bringing a welcome sense of bruising physicality to the action scenes that are otherwise so reliant on CGI.
An impressive cast of more seasoned actors all lend as much weight to it as possible, from Kidman’s caring, strong-willed portrayal of Aquaman’s mother to Willem Dafoe as his Atlantean trainer Vulko and particularly Wilson, who lends formidable threat to the potentially bland villain Orm.
For a film that had the potential to get so tangled up in both its place within an overall comic book movie universe and the mythology that sets the foundation of its tale, it’s surprisingly streamlined and enjoyably accessible. It’s a refreshingly carefree,unchallenging romp that invites you to let the tidal wave of rambunctious comic book movie sensibilities wash over you.
