Emotion, Character development, and Stunning Visuals all while avoiding the Cliches of recent Marvel films.

Rating: 10/10 (6 May 2018)

This film seems to have done something that many Marvel films have been lacking in recent years, it conveyed real emotion.
There wasn't the regular reliance on quick witted jokes when fight scenes were becoming boring which have become commonplace in Thor, Dr Strange, and Avengers. Instead each fight scene was important for the development of the plot and the character arcs often showing us the struggles characters had choosing their loyalties between country, humanity or their loved ones.
This movie avoided, for the most part, the cliche of the all powerful object which if the enemy get their hands on it will bring about the destruction of the universe as we know it. In Black Panther the story trying to be told is of the dangers of isolationism and the conflicts and caveats to blind loyalty to your country not the normal story told in Marvel films of fighting against the threat of the destruction of the universe. There a thread of ideas weaved throughout this film, illusions to the injustices of colonialism and slavery, and the many injustices that persist in our world today like the ever widening wealth inequality on earth and across the USA. This change of tone may have thrown some regular Marvel enthusiasts off slightly but it is vitally important. I believe that the inability to see these messages or the rejection of the truth in them is something that has driven many bad reviews on this site.
The director and writer managed to build multiple interesting characters all with developed characteristics and understandable reasoning behind their actions. Our main antagonist for example had an important relatable world view and his motivations were not so different from many of the hero's of Marvel and DC.
I am thoroughly shocked at the amount of negative reviews on this site and have noticed that the only criticisms they have been able to conjure could be applied to any comic book based film from the last 10 years. It seems they've been placed here to slander the film when there is little evidence that any of these 'critics' have actually taken the time to watch this film.
I need not mention the great things this film has done for the empowerment of poc and women. As a white man I may be the wrong person to represent what Hollywood's acceptance that a film like this needed to be made means to the world. With a nearly all black cast and strong female characters in positions we wouldn't normally see them in technology and war we're finally seeing some progress. I'm happy to see that Hollywood is changing its ways and I hope this isn't just an isolated example.
Along with Winter Soldier, Guardians and Wonder Woman I rate this as one of Marvels greatest successes, I hope they continue to make movies like this in the future and less of the over reliance of Bathos that we've seen in recent years in Dr Strange and Avengers.