This review may contain spoilers.
Nick J’s review published on Letterboxd:
It's fun! Chadwick Boseman is a great leading man as T'Challa and the "Lion King"-like story of his desire to properly succeed his father only to have his privilege ripped away is well done. The waterfall fight ritual feels weirdly archaic (as Shuri, played by the likable Letitia Wright, points out), but I think it works as an excuse for some fun fight scenes. The casino scene and the car chase are fun, really highlighting the good cast including Martin Freeman and Lupita Nyong'o and Coogler's surprisingly good direction of action scenes. M'Baku the Man-Ape is a fun antagonist-turned-ally, Andy Serkis's Klaw is so much more memorable than his bit part in "Age of Ultron," and I gotta give it up to Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger. Jordan's acting can get a bit hammy at times, but overall, he's a compelling villain who is completely right and I only wish the film went a bit deeper with those themes and ideas. There was some real potential to create "Dark Knight"-levels of philosophical conflicts if only Jordan had a truly great scene. The world-building is also a big highlight, Wakanda is such a vibrant and realized example of great Afrofuturism and the purple fields T'Challa goes to speak with his ancestors is one of the best uses of surrealism in a Marvel film.
The only big issues I have with the film are pacing and the CGI. Some scenes can feel overlong or leave me scratching my head on how they stayed in the film. For better or for worse, the film is not as quippy as other Marvel films, and I don't think it would've hurt to lighten up a few scenes. Easily some of the weakest CGI in a Marvel film, with some seriously noticeable visual weaknesses. The fact that the final fight is yet another bad version of the superhero versus the superhero is just...eugh, fucking really? Throw away Killmonger like that? What a whimper despite the pretty fun battle in Wakanda.