This is going to be my second post griping about a popular movie. Who knows if it'll become a recurring thing. Ha, by me doing this, it's almost certain that someone will absolutely shred my books apart in the same way someday. Oh well, I'll have deserved it.
Advanced technology, backward government
I find it very unlikely that a country with their level of technology would be led by an absolute monarch. What's more, a monarch who's decided through trial by combat. You're telling me that over their thousand-plus-year history, not one king has been a warmonger? Felt the desire to conquer with their superior technology? That every man who rose to power through their might-makes-right methodology has always had peaceful intentions only?
Vibranium power creep
It seemed like every time I blinked, vibranium gained some new fantastic ability. Invincibility. Medical panacea. Gravity defiance. At this point I'm more interested in finding out what this glowing deus ex machina can't do.
T'challa "dies"
This isn't necessarily a mistake, but more of a "why would you do something so painfully obvious?" As soon as Killmonger challenged him, you knew they were going to fight on the waterfall and T'challa would "die" by going over, only to later come back and defeat his cousin. I think that could have been circumvented to a decent degree if the combat wasn't on the edge of a waterfall.
Purple drank
So they get these superpowers through purple flower punch. I can't recall it ever being explained why only one person at a time can become superhuman. Why not make the whole country into black panthers? And you know, perhaps the comics clear this up, but that doesn't help when we're judging the movie on its own merits.
Obligatory car chase
Why are you giving chase in cars? You have an invisible, flying vibranium ship! Also, the general throws her spear, it lodges in the road, and it brings an entire moving car to an immediate stop. Then her car gets exploded, and she's surfing down the road on the door. For some reason, her slamming her spear into the ground doesn't stop her for many yards. Guess she has more momentum than an entire SUV. Additionally, they went on a mission to get a little piece of vibranium, but then she left the first spear in the road?
Killmonger's plan
Here's a dude who graduated Annapolis early (you can't start until 17, and you have to adhere to their strict 4-year schedule, but he graduated at 19?), then he graduated MIT, and for some reason he can't wrap his head around why arming random people (he obviously doesn't support background checks) with WMD is a bad idea? C'mon, if you're going to make his logic so faulty, don't give him such an intelligent background.
All these people are not united under a single banner, save some vague notions. What happens to the ones who don't want to follow your program? This isn't organized like the military; there are no options for reprimand. As soon as you give out those weapons it's a free-for-all. There might be some cohesion at first, but it'll fall apart.
Killmonger's plan II
Why even bother with Korea and the CIA? Killmonger has no compunctions over murder, so why didn't he kill his team off in the UK and just fly straight to Wakanda with Klaue's body? Going to Korea and doing a deal with the CIA seem like ridiculously unnecessary extra steps. "But then T'challa and crew wouldn't have dispatched and faced off with Klaue." Yes, exactly. This whole plot point is there only because the plot needed it, not because it makes sense.
Final battle is a rip-off of Phantom Menace
1. The natives are having a giant face-off involving blue force shields on a grassy hill.
2. Out-of-his-element pilot has to fly a system he gets unwittingly forced into, then destroys ships, saving the planet.
3. The hero faces off against the villain in face-to-face, color-coded combat, battling on thin platforms above a high drop, and the combatants keep getting walled off from each other.
Duplicate ending scenes
Why would you have the movie end with T'challa smiling to himself, thinking about Wakanda, then have it end exactly the same way again after a few minutes of credits? That was weird.
Polymath sister
I know it's a common trope to have one "science super expert" in a movie, but it still annoys me. People spend their whole (very intelligent) lives getting PhDs and doing research in very narrow fields at the exclusion of learning about other things, yet she manages to know and do everything all while being socially normal?
Northern lights
So T'challa drinks the Kool-aid and goes to the ancestral plane. Why are there (admittedly cool-looking) auroras? This is supposed to be a place of pure tradition. Did the ancestors come from northern Europe or something? Felt very out-of-place. Just imagine if this had been a movie where a viking visits his ancestral plane and there were purple zebras.
Leave the child
What exactly was the issue with them taking the child (Killmonger) back to Wakanda? You just tell him the truth, that his father betrayed Wakanda, then when confronted about it, he tried to kill another citizen in front of the king and was killed in defense. Better than leaving a kid with knowledge of Wakanda out rogue in the world.
Recap
There were a few other bits and bobs that I omitted (insignificant things like hands being in different places or window tint varying from cut to cut; those things happen even in the best movies). But there were too many other things that keep me from saying this was a great movie. Definitely had some cool stuff (I loved the visuals for the most part), but nevertheless.
