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?

Wrath of the Titans (2012) or, Trash of the Titans

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+ Worst Movie of the Year

Things look dark, dramatic and dangerous on this poster for Jonathan Liebesman's Wrath of the Titans, which showcases the film's CGI prowess

Perseus must fight again, because people have lost faith in the gods, and therefore the imprisoned Titan Kronos and other monsters of the underworld break free.

Wrath of the Titans is the sequel to Louis Leterrier's good Clash of the Titans (2010), (which was a remake of Desmond Davis' 1981 same-titled adventure). It is written by Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson (The Conjuring 2 (2016)), with Greg Berlanti (Arrow (2012-17)) contributing story elements, and directed by South-African Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles (2011)).
No one performs well in this enormously dispirited, charmless, thin followup, a strictly for-the-dollars construction, helmed by a wholly incapable director.
The mythic adventure action is made with 3D in mind, which also doesn't make it win when watched in a living room, (I - like most of the rest of the world - have yet to try watching a 3D title in 3D at home, which I don't expect can be too great of an experience anyway.) Wrath of the Titans does have some impressive CGI-rendered shots of destruction seen from a distance, which are neat to look at and which make up the film's only real attraction.
It also has some big stars, though none of them really improve matters: Sexy Toby Kebbell (Fantastic Four (2015)) is in it, - but is for some reason hidden away behind a ridiculous amount of glued on hair. Liam Neeson (Chloe (2009)) and Ralph Fiennes (In Bruges (2008)) return, and their scenes together made me think of their momentous co-starring in Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Schindler's List (1993), and let it be said here once and for all that the remembrance doesn't do Wrath of the Titans any favors.

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 150 mil. $

Box office: 305.2 mil. $

= Flop

[Wrath of the Titans premiered March 28 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and runs 99 minutes. Filming took place from March 2011 - ? in Wales and England, including in London, and in Spain. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit The Hunger Games, to a 33.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#4) and grossed a disappointing 83.6 mil. $ (27.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 22.2 mil. $ (7.3 %) and Mexico with 17.8 mil. $ (5.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film 2/4 stars, translating to one notch better than this review. Plans for another sequel were scrapped due to the poor performance of the film. Wrath of the Titans is rotten at 26 % with a 4.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Wrath of the Titans?