It's not the Godfather of super hero films but it's very very good.

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2018)

Just watched Black Panther... Initial thoughts are that this was a great film. Few things I'd have changed though. Namely I'd have liked to see certain characters survive. But the story while typical of many superhero films was excecuted exceedingly well. Also the final conflict relied very heavily on cg, but I don't think I'd call it a negative as this is a comic based movie. I brought my eldest, Ashlee and she LOVED it. Black Panther and the denziens of Wakanda, while entirely fictional, felt real in a way that made the fantasy of it all come to life in a spectacular way much like Spiderman Homecoming did. One of my favorite moments is seeing the rhino riders. Also the mid credit scene is perfect. I am looking forward to a new era of the MCU with T'Challa heavily in the forfront of it.
My overall rating is 9/10
This was my short spoiler free review from Facebook. But below is my spoiler filled review.
Again SPOILERS ahead
While the overall story is fairly generic the way it is presented makes it feel fresh in a way few MCU movies have been able to capture. Black Panther is a joy from start to finish. Many have complained about details from weak character development to overly relying on special effects. To be honest the biggest thing that this movie suffers from is being overly hyped. The media has been building this movie to to be something nearly unattainable. This movie shot for the stars and while it did not quite make it to that lofty point, Black Panther made it quite far. While this is not the first ever Black super hero stand alone film (the Blade movies come to mind and to a lesser extent Meteor Man) this is the first one to appeal to the masses. It does suffer from a few supporting characters being left wanting. Namely Forrest Whittaker's. During the duel between T'Challa and Killmonger, Forrest intervines and dies for his efforts. While the scene does show Killmongers ruthlessness it does not have a huge emotional impact. I bring it up because T'Challa reacts in such a viseral way. But the character was not built up very well. We see him a few times and most if his screen times acting as a glorified priest / ref which leads me to believe his scenes were cut short for time. Another character side story that suffers is the romance storyline. It's brief and and predicable. Enough said.
Another issue I had was that they killed off Klaw Midway through the film. He is built up as the scourge of Wakanda and that he had escaped justice for 30 years after steeling a bunch Vibranium and killed many Wakandans. Klaw is captured by Black Panther and the CIA but is rescued by Kilmonger. All that only to be killed by his savior in the next screen he is shown in. Yes I understand it sets up his ability to enter Wakanda with Klaws body as his token in. I'm just fond of the character and Andy Serkis' performance was amazing. Klaw could have easily been used again in future films had they had Klaw turned over to the Wakandans crown and it could have accomplished they same outcome..
The highlights are the scenes that take place in South Korea. The casino battle is bedlam in the most fun way possible. A personal favorite is during the final battle sequence. Watching the Black Panther wrestling a charging armored rhino to the ground is a thing of beauty. But the best thing about this film is that from the word go you are engrossed and when it ends you leave wanting more so that when you see that the Black Panther will return in Avengers you sigh in relief. I enjoyed seeing exactly how advanced Wakanda is and hiw the rest if the world views them. The mid credits scene that shows T'Challa and co announcing Wakanda to the UN was a perfect cap off to that. In case you are wondering how advanced they are... Well let's just say they have stuff that will make Stark blush in shame. Also Michael B. Jordan is prefect as Killmonger and really stands out in this film. But the women if this movie is where the heart and soul is really found. Like last year's Wonder Woman it just further proves that women are capable of holding a action film together. Boseman was good as T'Challa but was not the emotional core. See this movie suffered from the Avengers 4 looming in the distance since we all know he survives. But during the films climax you feel genuine fear for the fates of several characters outside of T'Challa.
I love movies and most of all I love superhero movies and this movie was awesome. Go see it!
Sidenote: and this should go with out saying but if you are racist then you most likely will not enjoy yourself.