Step Into the Spotlight.

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2018)

We all know that the MCU, more now than before, has been incredibly inclined towards humour, and in some of their installments have gotten it wrong; e.g. Age of Ultron and Ragnarok, however they've also gotten it right in other films such as Ant-Man and Homecoming. Black Panther, I'm so happy to say, falls firmly in the latter. The humour in this film is so well placed that I can't understand how MCU fails then, to consistently get it right, but I imagine it's all poised on who the director is. With that said, Black Panther is NOT perfect, it is very flawed, mainly due to one very major aspect.
One thing Black Panther just got wrong, was Black Panther himself, and though it may be understandable is to how they made that mistake, as an MCU/comics/film fan, I can't ignore that fact/issue.
Truthfully (and I hope you can try to appreciate this perspective), for these African cultures, unknown to the planet, to be put on the world stage in a positive light through such an established franchise on such a big scale for the very first time, is a moment both "black" and "white" America and the rest of the world can't fully imagine. Be African, in Africa and watch isiXhosa, a language spoken by millions in South Africa (a country, not an area) on global display, and then the Motlatsi, Sefate, Khotso and Morena (seSotho for King) apparel and heritage being put on the map, then watch Black Panther; it was sentimental, however, that was both a good thing, and a bad thing.
Marvel Studios and Ryan Coogler didn't get the balance right. They focused way too much on portraying a culture and used the Black Panther as it's driving force, and thus neglected fleshing out Black Panther. So, Black Panther was illustrated during a celebration that wasn't necessarily part of the Black Panther arc. That was a major problem. Africa deserves to be recognized by the world, and doing it through Black Panther was right because of it's magnitude and inspiration, however was done wrong, because of the equilibrium.
All that aside however, I absolutely loved the cast; notably Lupita Nyong'o and Angela Bassett,and specifically, Letitia Wright, Michael B. Jordan and Andy Serkis; they were just too amazing.
The visuals were stunning, however the pacing was off from time to time. The score was pretty good, and the story was more than satisfactory while the script was crisp.
Again, Black Panther is not perfect. Pacing, balancing and neglect issues, with an amazing cast that delivered on a solid script with stunning visuals made Black Panther a very enjoyable watch, with a side of; it could've easily been better. 7/10.