Black Panther

A film set in an imaginary African country. Wakanda appears from outside to be a poor agricultural country. In fact it is built on a mineral that arrived with a meteor and is the most advanced place on earth. After his father's death T'Challa takes the throne. The ceremony is interrupted by a challenge, and being king is won by fighting. An artefact stolen from a museum brings a man into view. Killmonger grew up in America and has a connection to Wakanda. From there the film is a contest for the throne. A raid on a casino, a chase in Korea, a border tribe and a rhinoceros. What the narrative is interested in is not power but responsibility: Wakanda has hidden for centuries, and the film asks whether the country owes the world anything. Killmonger is one of the best written antagonists in the genre. What he wants is not wrong; his method is, and the film says so plainly. The design of the country is its strongest feature. Costume and production design were built from elements of real African cultures and won in two categories at the Academy Awards; the music won as well. It was the first film in its genre to be nominated for Best Picture. Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya and Angela Bassett are in the cast. Ryan Coogler directed and wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole. Who it is for: anyone who wants a political argument out of a superhero film. Who it is not for: anyone who cannot take the digital fight at the end; the imagery in the finale is far below the rest of the film.