Overhyped but far from bad

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2018)

This has been touted as a fantastic film by numerous critics, but I found it to be a pretty average Marvel movie. That is not to say it is bad, because there are many things that it does right. The soundtrack is easily the most interesting of any film in the MCU, as it uses a combination of typical superhero/action movie score, African tribal music, and modern hip-hop that blends very well together. Also, the acting and characters are done very well, with three standout performances. Lupita N'yongo is great, Andy Serkis is exuberant, and Michael B. Jordan portrays one of the most interesting villains in the MCU. His character has a lot of depth and he provides a great foil with a potent motivation that is presented as pretty obvious social commentary. But even though it is on-the-nose, I did appreciate that the film actually attempted to get political. However, it is not without flaws. The first half drags a bit with a mix of dialogue-heavy scenes and generic action scenes. In fact, the action scenes throughout the film, save for the car chase and a fight between Kilmonger and Black Panther, are very bland. The filmmakers tried to recreate the same style of action that worked so well in The Winter Soldier, but they fell flat with some poor lighting, lack of grit, and CGI overload (particularly at the end). Overall, the movie is presented in a very generic way, with many of the same beats you would expect from every other superhero movie in the cinematography and editing. Despite these issues, I thought the positives outweighed the flaws and that the movie was an entertaining experience. I'd give it a strong 6/10.