#15: Black Panther

I'm not going to say I had zero expectations, but I knew better to expect something earth-shattering from Marvel, and yet...that is exactly what I got. Something earth shattering, and new. And for the first time watching a Marvel movie... I was genuinely concerned about what was going to happen.

Also, maybe it's because I'm familiar with the work of the directors, but it feels like Marvel is bringing in directors with a style and letting them be themselves, between this and Ragnarok.

So many things Shuri, Okoye, and Killmonger did got a huge reaction, and I think those three people were really the ones who are going to stick out to people. M'Baku was cool too, I wish we had seen more of him and the tribe who left.

People have called the action scenes a bit poorly shot - I mostly disagree, in fact, I think the car chase through the city was the most impressive action sequence I've ever seen from the MCU.

Spoilers are beneath the cut.




The ending fight with T'Challa and Killmonger on the train tracks was underwhelming, but I don't like most Marvel movie endings (With the sole exception of Iron Man 3 of all things).

The third act after T'Challa is defeated gets a little dull to me, until M'Baku pops back in and the action starts flowing again.

"Just bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors who jumped overboard. They knew death was better than being in chains." Is probably the greatest line in any MCU movie.

Wow, I am so glad Michael B. Jordan showed what he can do with a good superhero movie after a certain one in 2015, and that Lupita Nyong'o is in a role where her dignity doesn't come from suffering in some way.