A beautiful and exciting film

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2018)

Black Panther was all about the supporting cast. Everyone was interesting, everyone had a story or something they could do and they often saved the hero when he didn't plan things through properly. This humanized the characters in some way for me. There's also the very relatable villain, a jealous, unfairly-treated character with a burning temper. He's not a good person and he's not wholly bad. Andy Serkis too makes a great, nasty villain who i not in the film nearly enough.
The section of the film that worked best for me was when it felt like a James Bond film, a sequence near that start that is thrilling and well-choreographed and brings us action and technology in a wholly exciting way.
Costume design is fantastic throughout and some set-design really stands out, with the look of the Wakandan city as a whole slightly uninteresting and seemingly full of tower blocks you imagine might contain business, yet no one knows this place exists. Likewise the futuristic planes they fly around in are similarly uninspired. But the costumes and street-level views more than make up for this.
I recommend this film to anyone who like their action tempered with interesting characters, pretty design and high stakes.