I'm a Marvel fan and I think the movies have all ranged from above average to excellent with one exception, Dr Strange (2016) I simply didn't "Get it".

Now with Black Panther the hype train was overwhelming, you couldn't turn any direction without having it shoved down your throat. From it being an amazing film to it being the first black led superhero movie, it was everywhere and therefore I expected something pretty special.

For a start, it's not. In fact I'm not sure what I dislike more, this or Dr Strange. It's genuinely close. This is a mindless cgi-fest with a lackluster story and hardly feels like a Marvel movie at all.

Secondly, can people pull their butts out of their heads for five minutes and get off this revolutionary ground breaking movie because of the leads ethnicity?

Blade (1998) is Marvel, African American lead and 3 movies (Plus a tv show)

Spawn (1997) (My favorite superhero) feature movie, African American lead

Cat Woman (2004) (Not even including the original Batman series) Halle Berry African American lead

Steel (1997), African American lead

And if we can touch upon comedy superhero movies we also have Blankman (1994) and Meteor Man (1993)

Do I need to continue? Because I can, this isn't groundbreaking the whole thing was a publicity stunt and people ate it up with a spoon while the creators laughed all the way to the bank.

Black Panther is a poor addition to the Marvel cinematic universe, it simply isn't very good but people are looking past that for all the wrong reasons. Take the blinkers off people.

The Good:

Andy Serkis

The suits do look great

The Bad:

Simply not engaging

Feels very disconnected from the Marvel universe

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

This movie isn't propaganda it's an agenda, one that feels forced is dishonest and simply doesn't need to be.

2024 Rewatch Update

So after watching the film again I've increased the rating from a 3 to a 4. It's not awful, I never believed it was awful I just considered it bad. Since the initial review I can also say the number of mediocre Marvel movies as increased as well, such as Eternals (2021) yeesh that was terrible and dare I say the sequel to this which was vastly inferior and I simply couldn't stand it.

After a rewatch I stand by everything I said, I think it's a weak link in the MCU but I do get what they were trying to do. I wish they'd tried that little bit harder, focused on a few things that actually matter over things that simply don't.