Black Panther

When it comes to creative visuals, engaging action and likable characters, "Black Panther" stands confidently next to the best fare offered up by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ultimately, it's more interesting to think about than it is to watch.

Coogler is trying for a lot of things in Black Panther, probably too many, but there is also a winning modesty to his ambition.

I loved spending a couple of hours in the Black Panther's magical, transformative world. Mark me down as someone who wants Wakanda to stay isolated.

But Black Panther was a moment, not just for Marvel fans and Disney stans, but it was the rare instance of a film purporting itself to be a cultural movement, and succeeding.

Black Panther is a revelation, the first film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that truly feels like an of-the-moment masterwork that also happens to be a comic book movie.

Each man and woman...is resplendent in Ruth Carter's traditional costumes. Indigenous dialects are spoken amid the space flights, museum heists, and car chases.

"Black Panther" lived up to the hype.

I want us to love on Black Panther, bravely and openly. But, we cannot forget the asterisk. We cannot forget that a significant achievement for black representation once again came on the back of forced black queer silence.

Black Panther gives off a contemporary crackle while staying true to its roots, both African and Marvel.

Black Panther isn't just a great movie for the first half of the year; Black Panther is the best movie Marvel's ever made!

Whether or not this is the best film Marvel Studios has made to date-and it is clearly in the discussion-it is by far the most thought-provoking.

The identity politics provide a fresh spin to the genre's increasingly tedious narrative formula.

Jordan has swagger to spare, with those rolling shoulders, but there's a breath of charm, too, all the more seductive in the overblown atmosphere of Marvel. He's twice as pantherish as the Panther.

Black Panther is, culturally and commercially, the right film at the right time. The significance of bringing a black superhero to the screen at this moment cannot be overstated. Any reservations I have will, and possibly should, fall by the wayside

It's uniquely satisfying popcorn entertainment, a triumphant trifecta of subject matter, talent and timing.

As a writer/director, Coogler has firmly established that his strength is in creating and developing intimate relationships that capture the viewer's attention.

Coogler and his talented cast and team tell a story that dazzles, one that dares its audience to dream of a world unrestrained by our own stifling reality, without ignoring how the pain of the real world informs those joyful dreams.

Black Panther could have been just another Marvel romp-a fun but ultimately disposable entry in the studio's catalogue. But Ryan Coogler and company had the power, and perhaps the responsibility, to do much more. And they did.

One of the year's best films, and one that transcends the superhero genre to emerge as an epic of operatic proportions.