If there's a superhero team franchise, each character must eventually get their own origin spin-off. It's the law. Thus fishy shenanigans with half-Atlantean Arthur Curry, surely named after a reclusive pet shop keeper, but played instead by glowering meat mountain Jason Momoa. He's forced to finally go to the rainbow-coloured underwater kingdom when they have had enough of the pollution of the oceans by the landlubbers and decide to start a war against the world. Thereafter, it's business as usual: fish-out-of-water (except oddly completely in water this time) has to fight to be accepted for what he is, faces trials of bravery, fails, tries again and emerges triumphant. Tacked onto this basic outline, there's also fighting for the throne with his nasty half-brother (lifted straight out of Thor) and looking for his long-lost mother.
Apart from that, the customary millions are pissed up the wall on interminable, over-busy CGI action sequences built on the 'more is more' principle but no aesthetic sense, and it finally comes to a merciful end way later than you would have wished for. About the only things that keep it afloat (sorry) are a full awareness of its own ridiculousness and Momoa, who does a very good line in the superhero as lovable jock doofus, and more of that would have been nice. But that would involve writing dialogue, which is harder work than giving pretty pictures to digital studios.
Of course, the sequel is on its way, and you know with depressing certainty that it will try for even more FX. This is also the law.
5/10
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