CGI Rhino's and Moar

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2018)

In typical Marvel fashion, this latest movie adaptation of a comic book was as solid as the rest. The casting was good, the acting was good, the story was good, generally speaking this movie was for all intents and purposes, good. Shuri was certainly the most fun character, T'Challa inspires honor, dignity and humility with an "always do right" attitude, M'Baku was just cool, Romanda was stately as a true Queen ought be, and Kill-Monger was a tragic, but despicable villain who carried with him years of misplaced rage -- they were all well portrayed, and quite believable.
And therein lies the problem: It doesn't stand out in any real way, nor does it inspire repeat watchings, or even the need for a sequel. It simply melts into the Marvel Cinematic Universe without making any real or significant impact. It was a fun movie, but despite the hype surrounding it, and despite the overblown political nature, it was, in a very strange way, bland.
That arguably is the biggest problem that the Haus of Maus faces with all of it's major blockbusters now: They have gotten so good at the formula, that they aren't daring, nor are they even trying anymore. They cookie cutter the formula over and over again, change a few things here and there, and call it a new movie. We are essentially living in an age of Pop-Movies, where there is little difference between A and B, other than the physical appearance, and maybe a little bit of dialogue here and there.
After a while though, I started to feel a bit bothered in that a great deal of this movie felt trope-y, in that it had an idea of Africa, without really actually being African. Kind of like how many of us imagined China-Town was after watching Big Trouble in Little China, this started to feel like it was more of an Idea of what Africa was all about, rather than what Africa is all about. Naturally of course that makes sense as Wakanda is an idealized destination, however parts of it felt more like a Disney ride, exploiting the imagery associated with what folks might typically associate with Africa.
Again, it wasn't bad, but it didn't really leave me with much other than being offended at the constant white jokes and jabs, and the turning the children in the end into little more than a stereotype where they said "we can take this apart and sell the pieces", referring to T'Challa's hover-ship that landed in the middle of an Oakland California Basketball Court.
However, I do understand why they made this movie, and the meta-narrative behind it is... a curious thing, if you understand the story.