Big disappointment - I expected a lot more with all the hype.

Rating: 6/10 (26 February 2018)

Warning: It contains very minor spoilers.
I so wanted this film to be as good as the reviews said it was, I really did. Black Panther is one of my favorite characters from the comics and I couldn't wait to see it's solo film after the great debut of the character in Captain America: Civil War. Boy, was I in for a disappointment!
Where do I start? Well, the storyline was old, totally predictable (I've seen it done before and better), and parts of it didn't make sense, at all. Even though the movie is more than two hours long, the story feels too short. Maybe it's because the writers made it so political, it felt the film was trying too hard to pass a political message the whole time, instead of just trying to tell a good story about a great character. The truth is, when I watch a superhero movie, I don't want to be preached at, I want to see a good story and the hero kick ass. If I want to watch a socially relevant movie, I'll watch Amistad or Selma, not Black Panther.
The visuals of the film were gorgeous - the photography was beautifully done, the sets were awsome and the costumes looked great. But without a good story and strong characters, all that means nothing. Which brings me to the characters: the main character comes out very weak, I didn't care much for him and that's a big problem when we're talking about the hero of the film! I don't think it was Chadwick Boseman's fault, since I liked him in Captain America: Civil War, I think the problem was the screenplay and the way they wrote the character. He did the best he could with what he had, but it just wasn't enough.
Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong'o are just about the best thing in this film, they play two gorgeous and very strong women - two great actresses with a bright future ahead of them (I think I'm a little in love with Lupita Nyong'o, she's simply one of the most beautifull women I've ever seen and with such an amazing talent!). Letitia Wright played the hero's younger sister Shuri, and she's a good actress, but the way they wrote her character made her annoying at times instead of the comic relief she was suposed to be.
As for the villain, well it's simply one of the dullest and most uninteresting villain in movie history. And it didn't help that Michael B. Jordan played him that way too. Totally forgetable. The one good thing in this film villain wise was Andy Serkis - he had a blast playing Klaue and you could see it. Too bad he was criminally underused.
Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett were their usual very good selfs, and Martin Freeman played with a perfect american accent a CIA agent that turned out to be an otherwise completely useless character.
The action sequences were good, although Marvel as given us better before. The CGI is overall good, although some scenes are a bit blured. The direction is sloppy at times, but overall competent.
All in all, it's your average Marvel film: it looks good, it entertains, but it lacks depth and suffers from a major shortage of good story and good characters, so you forget it as soon as you leave the theater. My sugestion? Save your money for Avengers: Infinity War (fingers crossed that it'll be epic!) and wait for this one to come to Netflix.