It's hard to place how I feel about Black Panther. On the one hand, easily one of the best Marvel MCU movies. Stands on its own without the crutch of the MCU. Both thoughtful and swashbuckling. The sense of majesty from the on-screen realisation of Wakanda is terrific, giving the place a distinct character that's not been achieved before for me ever since I've become desensitized to all these so-called exotic sci-fi locations.
On the other hand, I can't help but feel a tinge of regret that they didn't go the whole way with the seeds of the villain, Erik Killmonger's characterisation. One of the great things with this show is that all characters have an understandable motive. Killmonger has a motivation that is utterly relatable. Unfortunately, the nuances of this motivation are all told, and not shown.
The main cast's acting is top notch but I'm not so sure with some of the rest. The guy who plays M'baku is not completely convincing, and Forest Whitaker is hard to take seriously as the court sage / protocol guy. The movie also has a major issue with the predictability of its plot. The feeling of inevitability takes some of the emotional investment away from the third act, although it does close off very well (the first post-credits scene should have been the epilogue).
Despite all this, I'd still see it as a 9/10 flick that could be placed alongside Dark Knight, Watchmen and Logan as one of the greats in comic book adaptations.
