Solid 7 - enjoyed it but it's not as good as the critics say!

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2018)

First off, really enjoyed it and so did my little boy (12). There were some great characters fleshed out really well with a great cast, plenty of standard comic book action and some funny banter/quips between characters which never felt out of place (T'Challa and his sisters banter is really enjoyable).
Even though there's a lot of technology on show the films never feels too "techie" and, at it's heart, it keeps grounded and true to it's tribal kingdom roots. The main arc T'Challa character arc of taking on the Black Panther/King mantel, the tribes and storyline around that is really well done.
Outside that there are some regulation car chases, shoot-outs, fights, etc which are pretty standard Marvel fare and nothing great. They look good (obviously) but are a little OTT and distracting from the well acted, grounded plotlines. There's also the annoyance of the overacting, ham-master himself Andy Serkis.
All-in-all, it's a very solid comic book movie with some great sections (see above re: grounded, realistic story bits) and some decent standard Marvel schlock. Better than most Marvel movies it's fare to say, and yes it does have a great cast too!
Definitely worth watching but not, as some have said, a 97% hit or as good as the critics are trying to have you believe (I assume that's more a case of pushing it's first black superhero thing - Blade might not have been the first but it wasn't that long ago, was it!?!?)