Ever since he was first introduced in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” fans have been waiting anxiously to see a solo film about the Wakandan warrior known as the Black Panther. Now, two years later, the moment has finally arrived. “Black Panther” is the 18th film in the Marvel cinematic universe and is the last film before the massive team-up film, “Avengers: Infinity War.” The film starts Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, and Martin Freeman. It is directed by Ryan Coogler, who also directed two other films, “Creed” and “Fruitvale Station.” So, how was the film? Let’s talk about it.

Without spoiling much of the story, “Black Panther” picks up after the events of “Captain America: Civil War” and follows T’Challa, who is now king of his homeland, Wakanda. While also bearing the identity of the Black Panther, he must now learn how to handle the responsibilities of both warrior and king.

In terms of what worked for me, the look and environment of Wakanda is very unique and stylish. It is beautiful to look at and reminded me a little bit of “Blade Runner” in terms of the environment. They did a really good job in terms of creating a great and rich world for the character of Black Panther. Also, the performances from both the main and supporting cast were all great and solid. Chadwick Boseman brings, in my opinion, one of the best performances in the MCU so far. He brings lots of character and personality to T’Challa that makes him feel different from other Marvel superheroes. Michael B. Jordan also delivered a solid performance. When the film gets dramatic, he shines performance-wise. Also, the soundtrack was, in my opinion, the best part of this entire film. The songs and the sounds really help bring the action and environments to life. The other thing that I really liked was the lack of humor. With the more recent MCU movies, they seemed to rely more on the humor to drive their stories forward. With this one, it doesn’t use humor as much as the others and feels more grounded as a result.

In terms of what didn’t work for me, the story structure and formula is exactly the same as it’s always been for these movies. It’s understandable to have a consistent tone in a shared universe and a film franchise. But to make your film different and unique from the rest, the way you tell your story has to be different too. I’m not saying that the story itself isn’t different; it’s the structure of telling the story that has always been the same for me. Another thing that didn’t work for me was the main villain. As I already said, Michael B. Jordan’s performance was solid. But, his character is, quite honestly, pretty bland and weak. His backstory was super predictable and didn’t really add much to the main story. Basically, the performance worked while the character did not.

“Black Panther” is just another Marvel movie. It’s not bad but it also is not great either. The performances were solid, the soundtrack was amazing, and the world itself is fun and beautiful to look at. Unfortunately, it suffers from repetitive story structure and the lack of an appealing villain character. Go check it out if you can.

“Black Panther” Overall Score: 8.5/10 = 85%

Letter Grade: B