Aquaman (2018) **

It's a cliché because it's true: the Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) movies are better than the DC Comics movies. Some may say it's the characters themselves, that guys like Batman and Superman are just too time-worn and hokey, but I don't buy it. One of my favorite characters from the MCU is Captain America. It doesn't get much more old-school and hokey than Cap, but the current film incarnation, as played by Chris Evans, is a complex man, with nuanced loyalties, and he's the moral center of the Avengers films. Batman, a DC character, should be even more complex and compelling, but I find that his screenwriters strain to push his dubious, repressed-rage storyline. They did hit a home run casting Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight,” and “Wonderwoman” was fairly entertaining,but DC remains the “poor man's” version of a comic movie universe.

“Aquaman” does nothing to change that dynamic. Jason Momoa has already appeared as Aquaman in “Batman vs. Superman” and “Justice League,” but this is his chance to take center stage in his own origin story. We learn how Arthur Curry was born of the union of a surface-swelling man and Princess Atlanna from the secret, underwater world of Atlantis. Yep, despite all the sea-faring and undersea exploring on the part of surface-dwelling humans, a massive society of underwater humanoids has managed to remain hidden into the modern day. Now their leader, King Orm (Patrick Wilson), has had enough of living in the watery shadows. He has hatched a plot to unite the seven underwater kingdoms to wage war on the surface.

Arthur, meanwhile, is somewhat aware of his Atlantean heritage. He grew up motherless, with stories from his lighthouse-keeping father, and with occasional visits from an Atlantan royal advisor named Vulko (Willem Dafoe.) Vulko taught Arthur about his aquatic powers, and now the adult Arthur spends his time fighting injustices at sea, where he makes an enemy of a pirate named Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Princess Mera (Amber Heard) sneaks out of Atlantis to recruit Arthur to come challenge Orm for the crown and prevent the war.

One thing I really loved about the series “Game of Thrones” is that it showed the inherent instability of a hereditary monarchy. Most films and movies like to romanticize the whole “one true king” idea. “Game of Thrones” showed what happens when you give one person absolute power. If you luck up, and they aren't corrupted by that power, and they rule wisely and justly, it's unlikely that a country will keep getting that lucky generation after generation. Eventually you get a despot, and meanwhile you've got relatives thinking they have a claim to the throne, starting wars and such. We shouldn't have needed GoT to remind us of this. It's in all the history books, but for some reason, Hollywood loves to go back to the idea of One who is destined to rule. “Aquaman” goes all in on monarchy. Ultimately, it's about who has the “right” to rule Atlantis, Arthur or Orm, and it has to be decided by single combat. Never once does the film question that dogma.

If you can get past the obsession with monarchy and suspend your disbelief over the idea of a hidden, undersea society, then you have to deal with the lame dialog and weak acting. Jason Momoa is very charismatic, but not quite enough to carry the entire movie on his wide shoulders. Amber Heard looks swell, but she can't act her way out of a wet paper sack. She looks like an Oscar contender, however, next to the wooden Patrick Wilson, whose stiff acting is the perfect match for his one-dimensional character. “Aquaman” manages to make even good actors like Willem Dafoe and Nicole Kidman look bad.

The one thing “Aquaman” has going for it is visual effects. The battle scenes and sea monsters look great (as does Amber Heard's cleavage). It's an okay movie to watch while working out, but once the blood starts flowing to your brain instead of your quads, you will want to turn it off.

2 stars out of 5