Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)

On to movie 18 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and after going for the female empowerment angle with Wonder Woman, it's time for the black vote. This proved very successful at the box office and with critics too, but once the novelty of a hero from an African kingdom more technologically advanced than any other on Earth and an almost all-black cast wears off, the plot is strictly off the shelf and the themes - a hero who must prove himself worthy and cast aside self-doubt, and a villain with a semi-justified chip on his shoulder (who, in the style of all unimaginative superhero match-ups, has exactly the same powers as the hero for their final showdown) - so tired they're threadbare. As for the Africa aspect, the kingdom of Wakanda is a mish-mash of anything vaguely African enough to satisfy a Western audience as bona fide, with tribal dancing and rhinos, and the principal cast is actually mostly composed of American and English actors competing for the title of least embarrassing generic accent. It's got the FX and pacy action of course, but that really is a given for the MCU series. Bah.

5/10