Buying the last seat in the auditorium, today’s first seat available being at 2:45pm, arriving to the theater see the lobby packed with all black folks of all ages...that’s more powerful than anything in the movie itself.

Jordan’s Killmonger is by far the most intriguing character. An embodiment of Western Imperialism, he’s really the first Marvel villain to state his motivations and express his goals. Probably the most fully realized comic movie villain since Molina’s Doc Ock.

T’Challa is sort of a bummer. I’m not saying anything that hasn’t already been said, but his ho hum demeanor falls flat at times when standing around the magnetic Killmonger or the arresting General, who dominates every scene she’s in with perfection.

A lot has been made about the sets...which I guess are cool? Seems like almost the entire movie was filmed against a green screen. The costumes however are a sight to see. I can’t fathom how someone takes on the task of sketching, designing, and creating so many different aesthetics for so many different tribes and characters. I can’t recall ever being blown away by costumes before ever in a movie.

The climax suffers from what all of these Marvel flicks suffer from - the CGI gets to a point where nothing feels tangible. The rhinos, the train, the Panther/Killmonger fall down the hole...before long it just feels like a really glossy cartoon.

It’s fun if, at least to me, only as fine as the rest of the Marvel movies. Entertaining enough...but likely to leave a footprint that no Marvel movies yet can compare to - the kids who will see a superhero who looks like them, the aspiring film students who will know that you too can make blockbusters. That’s so, so, so vital and way better than any one part of the film.