Aquaman

This epic, visually stunning origin-story is the newest addition to the DC Justice League series. On the coast of Maine in 1985, lonely lighthouse keeper Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison) finds wounded Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) washed up on the beach (she is fleeing from an arranged marriage). Before long, the pair fall deeply in love and have an interspecies son. A few years later, when Atlanna realizes that both her husband and beloved son are in mortal danger unless she returns to Atlantis, she promises to come back to them--someday. Meanwhile, under the relentless tutelage of Grand Vizier Vulko (Willem Dafoe), thickly-bearded, heavily tattooed Arthur (Jason Momoa) grows up to be a world-famous man-fish, who can breathe underwater and rescues nuclear submariners from marauding pirates. One day, Princess Mera (Amber Heard) appears, who is betrothed to Arthur’s younger half-brother, maniacal King Orm (Patrick Wilson). The latter desires to become Sea Master, conquering not only the submerged realms but also surface dwellers, and only Arthur as Aquaman can defeat him and restore peace to the underwater universe. Based on the DC Comics hero created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger in 1941, director James Wan’s Aquaman delivers spectacular CGI set pieces, including a fantasy in which Orm’s army rides armored sharks, and another with a giant octopus playing drums. Whirling Aquaman’s fabled trident, shirtless Momoa is awe-inspiring. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the production segments 'Going Deep Into the World of Aquaman' (20 min.), 'Becoming Aquaman' (13 min.), and 'Scene Study Breakdowns' (10 min.), and the behind-the-scenes featurettes 'James Wan: World Builder' (8 min.), 'The Dark Depths of Black Manta' (7 min.), 'Creating Undersea Creatures' (7 min.), 'Kingdom of the Seven Seas' (7 min.), 'Heroines of Atlantis' (6 min.), 'Villainous Training' (6 min.), 'Aqua-Tech' (6 min.), 'Atlantis Warfare' (5 min.), and 'A Match Made in Atlantis' (3 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fun superhero flick.] (S. Granger)