Ryan Coogler’s BLACK PANTHER delivers a pretty solid, involving and entertaining chapter in the all-conquering and ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (which a lot of people expected to start imploding a few years ago but only seems to have gotten stronger on the backs of some of the company’s second and third-tier and lesser-known characters). There was a lot about BLACK PANTHER that I loved – it looks beautiful and often recalls the days of the big African adventure epics, the costume design is stunning and we get a great villain (Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger) with some clear motivations that we can empathize with. Throw in a great soundtrack, some touches of humor that don’t make you groan, and some strong and nicely-realized female characters who also get to kick major butt, and you have a movie whose positives more than compensate for its odd moments of silliness and CGI-induced confusion. A blockbuster with both a heart and a brain.
