non spoiler review of black panther

Rating: Null/10 (15 February 2018)

Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler)
We first saw the African superhero 'Black Panther' in Captain America: Civil War and now we see him on his home turf and find out about the origins and history of the royal hero. The film itself is very afrocentric with a great and mostly black cast including Czhadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyong'o and Angela Bassett as well as a a host of lesser known young talent. I was surprised to feel shades of a James Bond style adventure for the first act before it moved to something else but I did enjoy that while it lasted.
One of the many things I like about this film is the tone as it deals with some pretty relevant and serious racial subject matter with respect and class. Also, where as many of the more recent Marvel films have gone for a more slapstick and one-liners approach, this film uses a more natural humour that does not take you out of the film but enhances it. It has a strong script that fleshes out a lot of the characters and makes their motivations believable and clear even when in unbelievable settings. At no stage are anyone's actions leaving you scratching your head and it is the strength of the script, characters and acting that helps one overlook the films few shortcomings.
Where the film falters is in the action sequences and cgi. A lot of the special effects look unfinished or as if they might've been done ten or more years ago. The wardrobe design is excellent but some of the vehicle design could have been better. The worst offender for me though was the combat sequences which were often dark, overly edited and shaky. I was surprised at this because the director's boxing work on his film Creed (2015) was some of the best I have seen but here it was a mess. However the belief in the characters and what they are fighting for can still make you invested in these scenes despite their unpleasant presentation.
All in all, I think this was a home-run for Marvel, yet again doing a great job with one of their lesser known comic book properties. I expect this film to do big business world wide and should please most as it feels like a real film, with real characters and stakes and not just disposable popcorn entertainment. It is a shame some of the special effects feel so rushed but I guess deadlines have to be met to keep the MCU juggernaut moving along and quality control will suffer here and there.
7-7.5/10