Film of the Week: Aquaman

Making an Aquaman film feels a bit like the superhero boom arriving in its decadent, late-imperial stage – what’s next, Fireman Sam? There’s still fun to be had here, though: can there be a human alive who doesn’t want to see Dolph Lundgren ride a seahorse? Enjoyable lunacy is the catch of the day, with a fairly rote origin story that takes elements of Lord of the Ringsand Arthurian legend and sends them to Davy Jones’s Locker. Jason Momoa is charismatic and fun, even if Nicole Kidman looks a bit embarrassed as his mum, but the real star is the quasi-Avatar undersea world that comes on like a watery update of Flash Gordon. It’s so ridiculous it’s hard not to admire it, making this an unusually charming comic book movie. Times & trailer