Black Panther

I avoided this one for a while on the assumption it wouldn't be "for me." As in, it wouldn't resonate with me but then it wasn't supposed to so any criticism would come from misunderstanding the intent. I decided to give it a shot after one reviewer pointed to this movie as an example of how to structure a good action movie -- i.e. the villain has clear, identifiable goals and you understand their motivation and how they try to achieve their goals; the heroes likewise have clear goals and take clear steps to thwart the bad guy; each scene moves this conflict forward and escalates it until the final showdown.

And on that criteria I give it an 8/10, not perfect, but pretty damn good. There's a little too much assumed empathy with the bad guy and understanding his motivations is maybe easier for Americans than British-born Canadians living in Japan. So yeah, that part is maybe not "for me."

The structure also has one odd twist, and maybe I'm being hard on it here because I was told what a masterpiece it was, but the bad guy and arms dealer Klaue team up in one scene for a museum robbery, go their separate ways, then the bad guy rescues Klaue from the good guys only to shoot him. Now hands up if you can spot the extra steps here.

Honestly I think Wakanda is one of those Marvel world-building concepts which, like the Blip, make less and less sense the more you look at them (such as, a technologically advanced society that is also an absolute monarchy where rulership is decided by ritual combat), but if you understand it as a story-telling device then it does the job of setting up the whole "Our country first" versus "Duty to help others" debate. 

My other quibble would be the chase scene in South Korea is just awful, Star Wars prequels bad, bad CGI, actors half-heartedly shouting flat and dull lines while evidently looking at a greenscreen.

Otherwise, yes, mechanically, structurally, this movie works. I complained about Falcon Plus Winter Soldier being overstuffed thematically and watching Black Panther really highlights that kind of problem in the writing.

Obligatory postscript about the death of Chadwick Boseman. Lost a cousin last year to cancer, so really, fuck everything about this horrible disease. I've no idea how they'll continue with the next Black Panther movie "Wakanda Forever", but I bet you any sum of money it opens with a tribute to Boseman. Godspeed.