It’s here, the all rocking, all squinting all hair flicking amphibious legend that is Aquaman has finally arrived. The DC films have had a rocky track record both critically and commercially, especially in comparison to their Marvel counterparts, and this movie isn’t going to save it. But it is going to make a crap ton of money.

The story is very familiar and simple, a boy born of two worlds, an outcast in both of them, rejects his lineage and one day realises he’s the only hope to save the planet from certain destruction. You get everything you’ll expect from this film, but won’t you probably won’t expect is to have a good time.

Because this is supposed to be an origin film, it’s a bit messy structure wise, since Aquaman was already introduced to audiences in justice league first. This feels more like a sequel, but with no set up, which is what causes it to feel a little bloated and confusing most of the time. They do breeze through his conception and flashback to various “training” scenes throughout the film, but ultimately it leaves more questions than answers.

None of this is Director James Wan’s fault, he had to work with what he was given, and he didn’t disappoint. It feels like he knew that in order to make this film work at all, it needed to be fun, but not suicide squad trying to rip of guardians of the galaxy fun. This is self-aware schlock at its finest, the amount of on the nose dialogue, references and action sequences feel like a big wink to the audience, Wan is aware the material is ridiculous and he runs with it.

In no way is this a well written film, but it is entertaining as hell in a batman and robin kind of way. It’s cheesy enough for people who will watch it ironically, fun enough for kids to sit through and understand, and fans of Mamoa’s portrayal from Justice League get that kicked up to 11 and then some.

Written by Nicolas Champeaux