The best MCU movie yet

Rating: 8/10 (5 March 2018)

I was extremely impressed by Black Panther, and felt that it went beyond superficial action hero movie themes and quality. The technical aspects were excellent, with beautiful visuals, a great score, and good action. What really set Black Panther apart from other MCU movies was the consistency and the depth of themes discussed. The character arcs of T'Challa and Killmonger were both very well done, and all of the complex explanation of how Wakanda and the Black Panther came to exist were coherent and relatively clear. Many themes were well explored, such as African culture, isolationism, and ancestry. I didn't think the conflict development was anything special (felt like a simplified version of The Dark Knight Rises), and the climax was good, not great. Excellent ending and post-credit scenes do a great job of clearly showing how the story ties into the MCU without weighing down the movie by forcing references. All in all, a great movie, and one that's likely to be one of my favorites of 2018.