Review of Black Panther (2018) by Davidwashere — 17 Feb 2018

I get that the feeling that the movie is over-hyped and arguably more praised for being groundbreaking than it really should, as well as the gross overreaction some people have saying that negative reviews mean that they are automatically racist, but honestly I thought it is a great film. My usual complaints with the MCU after like the first Avengers movie is that they lack any real voice and instead they are just standard, safe but fun movies that are shot rather blandly. And while Black Panther has the same look as a regular MCU film, Ryan Coogler's voice is heard! He adds a distinct style and layer to the MCU cannon, not just with some subtle social commentary, but also that it just feels like more effort was made for Coogler to have his spin on it than just some generic Hollywood director to be involved. The acting is great all around, with Chadwick Boseman being great as the main lead, Michael B Jordan is great as the antagonist, Killmonger (who is also one of the best main antagonists the MCU have, right up there with Loki and Vulture), and Letita Wright nearly stealing the show as Shuri, which is no easy task with Andy Serkis being gleefully menacing. The story is also well crafted too with themes of old vs. new of traditions, with the previously mentioned subtle social commentary sprinkled in there to give the story more weight to certain audiences. The comedy is great too, as instead of being overloaded with jokes like in Thor Ragnarok and even Spider-Man Homecoming, it's well balanced between the main story (although it does have a cringe worthy reference to "WHAT ARE THOSE?"). The only real complain I have is that the action is hard to follow at times due to quick cuts and the camera not focusing on what is going on, as well as the core soundtrack curated by Kendrick Lamar being underutilized.

This movie is fantastic and I would rank it highly in the MCU cannon.