Aquaman (2018) - Wan delivers a majorly satisfying, gung ho action-adventure splash

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+ Best Action-Adventure of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Jason Momoa

An early Comic-Con poster for James Wan's Aquaman, crammed with characters, creatures, colors and action, - and with the stretching, muscular body of its title star in front, - feast your eyes on this awesome poster

Aquaman is the 6th movie in the DC Extended Universe, directly following Justice League (2017), and the first standalone film dedicated to the Aquaman superhero character, who has previously appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and in Justice League. It is written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Orphan (2009)) and Will Beall (Gangster Squad (2013)), with Geoff Johns (Smallville (2009-11)) and great Malaysian co-writer/director James Wan (Saw (2004)) contributing story elements, based on the Aquaman comics, created and started by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger in 1941. 

The son of a human lighthouse keeper and Queen Atlanna of the seas, Arthur as a child learns that he is born with amazing abilities related to the ocean and life there. As a distant royal 'bastard', he is despised by his half-brother, King Orm, as he is forced to step up to protect both surface and sea!

Aquaman works on many levels: Jason Momoa (Road to Paloma (2014)) is an inspired choice to lead, and he gets his cinematic major breakthrough here: Arthur is a perfect fit for Momoa's persona; strong as an ox and a lovable, irreverent drifter, who finds his place as the superhero, who is aided with charm and intelligence by Amber Heard (Paranoia (2013)) as his sexy, fiery red-haired partner and romantic interest. The ensemble cast gathered are an exciting mix of one Wan 'veteran', terrific Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring (2013)) as antagonist Orm, major dramatic stars Willem Dafoe (The Walker (2007)) and Nicole Kidman (The Hours (2002)), a fine, rarely seen New-Zealander actor Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors (1994)) and a major break for action veteran Dolph Lundgren (Fat Slags (2004)); voicing creatures Julie Andrews (10 (1979)), John Rhys-Davies (Kim (1984, TV movie)) and Djimon Hounsou (Biker Boyz (2003)) are even enlisted.
The story is as cut of classic, almost Shakespearean fabric; brothers that are opposites, a lost mother, a high-stakes family showdown breaking out. The elaborate layout of the underwater world evokes equal measures of Clash of the Titans (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and Star Wars, as oceanic battles mirror space-set fighting in parts of the film's 3D-envisioned CGI extravaganza. Aquaman exceeds the previous great DC action adventure Wonder Woman (2017) in terms of wow-effect and scale with the trench scenes especially an imaginative knockout.
Wan succeeds in mixing the compelling story with a sense of fun and gleeful embrace of its genre corniness, which it wears as a badge of honor: Lundgren's very casting, (he comes with campy baggage, which is only fitting), Heard's hair and the semi-comical, great masks and outfits as worn by King Orm and the other villain, Black Manta, revel in the colorful escapade that superhero comics can and should be, - radically opposed to the gloomy realism cultivated in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (2005; 2008; 2012), a style that was attempted copied without much luck in Man of Steel (2013).
Rupert Gregson-Williams' (Postman Pat (2014)) score is a crisp, 1980's-riffing, bombastic one, almost as great as his work on Wonder Woman. Kym Barrett (Rumor Has It... (2005)) is behind the film's standout costumes, sure to become Halloween and cosplay hits.
Wan continues his great, enviable oeuvre with the brightest, shiniest action adventure in a long while with Aquaman, a sure-footed piece of prime popcorn fodder.

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 200 mil. $
Box office: 1,066.9 mil. $ and counting
= Already a big hit (has returned 5.33 times its cost by now)
[Aquaman premiered 26 November (London, UK) and runs 143 minutes. An Aquaman film began development in 2004. Shooting took place in Morocco, Australia, Canada and in Italy from May - October 2017. Some sites list 160 mil. $ as the film's cost, which, if true, would be impressive and make the film's success even greater. It opened #1 to a 67.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it has grossed 306.5 mil. $ to date. It is already the most successful Extended Universe title and the first of them to cross the 1 bil. $ mark. It has set a new December record in China, where it surpassed Wonder Woman's end gross within 3 days. The film has yet to open in one major market; Japan on 8 Feb. The film's ending teases a sequel, which we can expect to be announced soon. Wan does not have his next project made public yet (bet it will be Aquaman 2 though.) Momoa returns with a voice performance in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), in See (TV-series) and in the flesh on the big screen possibly in action-adventure Just Cause. Aquaman is fresh at 64 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Aquaman?

The Rum Diary (2011) or, The Puerto Rican Adventure of Mr. Kemp

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+ Best Comeback Movie of the Year (Bruce Robinson and Johnny Depp)

Johnny Depp looks dapper on this poster for Bruce Robinson's The Rum Diary

Paul Kemp is a failed writer, who has taken a job as a journalist on the English-language newspaper in Puerto Rico. One of the island's young rich men offers him something else, but Kemp is more interested in the man's girlfriend...

The Rum Diary features Johnny Depp's (From Hell (2001)) probably best performance since The Libertine (2004), (if we don't count his second run as Cap. Jack Sparrow in the entertaining first sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006).) - He's on fire here! 
The film is the second adaptation of a book by Hunter S. Thompson, following Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), which also starred Depp in the leading gonzo journalist role. Rum Diary is adapted and directed by another wild English director, Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I (1987)), and it's the first film he has directed in 19 years! (Ever since Jennifer 8 (1992)).
At first I was a little disappointed about Robinson's approach to the material, which feels about 90% more sober, straight and downplayed compared to Gilliam's great, wacky film.
But then fairly soon this wildly enjoyable third world adventure took a solid grip in me anyway, especially due to the originality of the story and the excellent actors at play in it: Michael Rispoli (Rob the Mob (2014)) as Kemp's buddy Sala; Giovanni Ribisi (Ted (2012)) is hysterical as an alcoholic; Richard Jenkins (The Kingdom (2007)) is perfect as a disillusioned, wig-bearing editor; Amber Heard (Pineapple Express (2008)) is dreamy; Aaron Eckhart (Any Given Sunday (1999)) is infuriating as a bona fide douche-bag, and Bill Smitrovich (Eagle Eye (2008)) is larger-than-life as another total asshole. - They all make The Rum Diary a very entertaining, good time.

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2011 in films - according to Film Excess
 

Watch the funny trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 23.9 mil. $
= Huge flop
[The Rum Diary came out nearly 2½ years after its production. Robinson has related that he drank while writing the script and also during the shoot, which was done on location in Puerto Rico. The film opened to a weak 5.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 13.1 mil. $ (55 % of the total gross) and was greeted by lukewarm reviews. It stands as one of several very costly flops in Depp's recent track record as a starring actor (Dark Shadows (2012), The Lone Ranger (2013), Transcendence (2014), and Mortdecai (2015) all contribute to the regrettable statistics), but he has still said that he is interested in playing the lead in yet another of his late friend Thompson's novels. Film Excess hopes to see him back in B.O. shape later this year in Barry Levinson's highly anticipated gangster movie Black Mass.]

What do you think of The Rum Diary?
Are you eager to see Depp play Whitey Bulger in Black Mass (2015)?