It's safe to say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has practically taken over the world. With film after film making millions (and sometimes billions) at the box office and bringing in good to great reviews, it's hard to think otherwise. This February (just in time for Black History Month) Marvel has released another film and it's a great one.

The story revolves around the current Black Panther, King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), trying to balance doing what he feels is morally right and trying to do what he feels is best for his country after becoming the ruler upon his father's, King T'Chaka (John Kani), death in "Captain America: Civil War". T'Challa rules Wakanda, an African nation that has built it's success off of vibranium, which is the world's most powerful metal and is only found in Wakanda. This success has led to Wakanda becoming one of the most technologically and scientifically advanced countries in the world, although you wouldn't know by looking at it.

Wakanda has kept it's nation's wealth and technological superiority a secret from the outside world out of fear of becoming exploited and attacked by powerful "colonizing" nations that occupied and exploited Africa for it's resources and its people once before. However, the safety of Wakanda is threatened when Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) arrives and has a personal score to settle with T'Challa and his royal lineage. T'Challa must discover the dark secrets of his family's past and come to terms with them in order to meet the immediate threat Killmonger has to Wakanda and the rest of the world.

The film is beautifully acted across the board. Boseman gives T'Challa a lot more presence, depth, and hard emotion than the first time we saw him in "Captain America: Civil War". Lupita Nyong'o gives the Wakandan spy Nakia a deep sense of compassion toward the oppressed peoples of the world that's reinforced by her willingness to disobey certain Wakandan traditions. Danai Gurira gives the general of the Dora Milaje (the all felame guards of the royal family) Okoye a level of ferocity and cunning fit for the head of an elite group of warriors, but also infuses her with a sly sense of wit and humor.

The character that steals the show, however, is easily Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger. This character could've just been the typical evil opposite of the hero that we see in several different comic book films, but Jordan and the writers take this character to the next level. Erik acts as the perfect foil to T'Challa due to their conflicting world views and moralities, and yet they both share a common thread, but I'd be spoiling things if I talked about that.

Jordan also gives Erik a surprising amount sympathy not only for his character, but for elements of his plan. There's a scene where Erik interacts with his dead father through a vision and if Jordan is nominated for an Oscar for this role his acting in that scene is what they should use as the "Oscar clip". In terms of motivation, you find yourself agreeing with several aspects of his moral arguments in the same way you agree with other Marvel villains such as Magneto.

Wakanda is a beautifully realized country that infuses the color and detailed designs of several unique African cultures with technology so advanced that it feels like it belongs in a scifi series like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek". The film is also not afraid of diving right into the politics that are inherent to an African hero/king who must deal with leading a nation that's kept secret from the outside world for all too real historical reasons (part of the reason Wakanda was able to become so advanced was because it avoided the exploitation of foreign powers and white colonization). On the whole, this is one of the most political Marvel films since "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and it's better for it.

My only complaints only rise to the level of nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. While the action is overall fun and entertaining ,featuring great stunt work and choreography, the opening action scene was a bit hard for me to follow due to it taking place at night and being slightly over-edited. The best action scene in the film (the South Korean car chase) takes place at night too, however that had the added benefit of taking place in a brightly lit city rather than a dark forest.

The film also has a few moments when the CGI used on the Black Panther suit doesn't look that great, especially in the final battle with Killmonger in the vibranium mine. That action scene really could have used a few more passes in the rendering stage, however the scene is done with such style and energy that I didn't really mind that much. Other than that there's not much else to complain about.

"Black Panther" truly defines the term "event film". This was going to be a culturally significant film regardless, due to it being one of the first films staring a black superhero in a long time and the first big budget superhero film to have a majority POC cast. This film also serves as a great example of storytelling, character studies, cultural politics, and world-building (seriously, you could teach a class on that last one). Director Ryan Coogler proved he was a great director with "Creed" and with this film he proves that "Creed" was not a fluke and that he truly is that great of a director/writer.

Score: 9.5 out of 10

Wakanda Forever!