Black Panther (2018)

The reviews for _Black Panther_ are all essentially saying the same thing: This is a great movie because it's so different from anything we've seen before, not just in the MCU but in the superhero genre overall, the villain is fantastic and _Black Panther_ is just a new and totally innovative film. Allow me to disagree (almost) entirely. _Black Panther_ is a great film, not because it breaks the mould, but because Marvel Studios has a successful pattern and _Black Panther_ adheres to it completely. Obviously the importance of a lead who is not just black but actually African is not to be understated, we have the least white cast of any superhero movie to date and they absolutely killed it, all very important socio-political stuff, to be sure. But the bones of _Black Panther_, the plot, the script, the events, the turns, all of that, it's a carbon copy of what's worked 17 times before. It works again, don't get me wrong, _Black Panther_ truly was an experience, both important and fantastic, but to say it re-invented the wheel here, is, to me, an outright lie.

_Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._

Overrated and overhyped. Definitely avoid. Watch on redbox if you must.

This is definitely one of Marvel's best because the story is compelling and the characters are well developed. Black Panther and his friends and family must defend themselves and their homeland of Wakanda from the clutches of Klau (Andy Serkis) and Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Not only is the lead actor great as T'Challa/Black Panther, but the supporting cast does a fine job as well, especially the female actors. T'Challa is surrounded by smart, strong women. Marvel seems to break its villain curse with Klau and especially Killmonger. Killmonger is very well developed and even sympathetic at times, despite his villainy. He sort of reminded me of Tom Hiddleston's Loki. The action scenes and special effects are outstanding. Highly recommended if you enjoy comic book movies.

Really good movie. Good story, lots of fun. This is what DC is missing.

It was with some hesitation that I went to see this movie. I was afraid that it would be burdened with too much political and social preaching. Especially knowing how much the movie is praised amongst certain factions in our society today. Sure enough there were indeed some of that nonsense but luckily it was much less than I feared.

I actually found the movie fairly entertaining. It is far from great, certainly very far from the insane hype surrounding it, but pretty okay. It is more or less a standard issue super hero movie on a big budget. Of course this means a fairly mediocre underlying story beefed up with lots of action and special effects.

The story itself is a traditional revenge story with some black power stuff. Nothing to write home about but it works as a vehicle for the action and special effects which is what makes this movie. There are the usual nonsense and plot holes in it of course. Like Shuri claiming that Vibranium (silly name but never mind) is instable at high speeds yet they have no problem making flying ships and other fast moving stuff with it.

The characters are a wee bit disappointing as far as the main characters are concerned. I felt that the main protagonist has little in terms of charisma. Killmonger, the main bad guy, was downright disappointing. To me he looked like the stereotype of a dumb thug and mostly he behaved like one. Bloody hell could they not have found an actor that looked less…well…stupid!

Personally the character I liked best was actually Klaue which was pretty cool, insane but cool. The female warriors, which were both kick-ass and smart, and Shuri is also fairly high up on my approval list.

Special effects! This is of course where this movie shines. Overall I think the special effects were good. The design of the various gadgets, ships etc were very nice. The rampaging rhinos in the final fight really made me laugh. I should have seen that coming. I definitely liked all the sonic effects. Obviously this movie would have been more or less null if the special effects would not have been a success.

On the whole Black Panther is a quite enjoyable special effects and action movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Some social preaching nonsense but less than I feared, hum ho story, lots of action and lots of special effects.