Blows Black Panther out of the water!

Rating: 9/10 (24 December 2018)

When it comes to movies about superhero kings, forget Wakanda. Atlantis is the place to be. Aquaman has a richly-realized superhero fantasy world build from the ground up and full of life.
It's the story of Arthur Curry, a child of two worlds who must make peace between them when his evil half-brother seeks war. Long derided by folks unfamiliar with the comics as "the guy whose superpower is talking to fish", this movie should show the non-fans what comic fans have always known: that Aquaman is a certified badass.
Comparisons with Black Panther are inevitable: both are movies about superheroes who are the hereditary kings of hidden, super-advanced societies. But Aquaman is superior to Black Panther in every way. Atlantis, unlike Wakanda, is a true "lost world", a place hidden from outsiders by isolation, not politics. And Arthur Curry is a much more engaging hero than T'Challa. Whereas Black Panther and his sister are confident to the point of being insufferably smug and unshakably convinced of their own moral superiority, The Aquaman (like The Batman, he is no longer referred to as just Aquaman, he's THE Aquaman, now!) is conflicted and full of doubts. For all of his manly swagger, he knows it takes more to be a king than just inheriting a title, and his story is about his journey to become king. His story also tells us that there is more to him that just a title. As his mother says, "King fights for their country. You fight for everyone." Take, that, T'Challa!.
The special effects are top-notch. Atlantis is not merely rendered as a place, we get tantalizing glimpses of its ecosystem, with Atlanteans using trained sharks, whales, hippocampi (giant seahorses) and even Mosasaurs (which is not the only thing about this movie that will invoke Jurassic Park). There's also a sea monster that talks with the voice of Julie Andrews (I'm not making this up.).
As per any superhero origin story, this film introduces major members of the hero's Rogues' Gallery. In this case, Orm, the Ocean Master who is Aquaman's evil half-brother, and Black Manta, DC Comics' first major black supervillain.
Aside from a quick reference to Arthur's role in defeating Steppenwolf in Justice League, there are no other references to the overall continuity of the DCEU, which is the only thing that keeps me from giving this a 10/10 rating. Since it takes place after the formation of the League, it would have been a nice touch to mention that Arthur and Mera were getting a little financial help from Bruce Wayne while trekking across Africa and the Mediterranean, instead of wondering how they got from the middle of the Sahara to Sicily. It also precludes that the Altanteans' greatest weakness in the comics - they can only survive out of the water for brief periods of time before risking death from dehydration - doesn't apply to Atlanteans of royal blood, like Arthur and Mera.
But small issues aside, Aquaman proves that Wonder Woman wasn't a fluke, and that Warner Brothers can produce superhero films on a par with the best of what Marvel can offer.