I liked your thoughts and they are are pretty much my thoughts as well, especially on his friend.

Thank you. I tried not to ramble on as much since I knew most of my comments would need to be redacted. 😉

But yes, the “best friend” was probably my biggest grievance with the whole film as the only reason for it was to add fuel to the final battle.

Even before Killmonger ever showed up, W'Kabi said he would gladly help in a conquest to rule the world "rightfully". Him turning on T'Challa certainly didn't come out of the blue, it didn't seem that way to me anyway.

He said that in the idea of following his friend (T'Challa) into battle type thing, some friend he was after, Man-Ape was more honourable.

I think this speaks to the major flaw of Black Panther: that character motivations and themes make sense on paper, but didn't make a smooth transition to the big screen. A few more scenes here and there showing the deteriorating friendship between BP and W'Kabi, or the clash of philosophies between BP and Erik, or the inner conflict of Okoye -- these would have helped the audience understand the characters better, and would make the physical confrontations, betrayals, and revelations that followed so much more powerful.

Additionally I would point out that he was content (for all we know) for the past king to do nothing for thirty years to bring Klaue to justice. His best friend makes his FIRST official act as king, to go and capture him, against the advice of the council. He fails only because Killmonger rescued Klaue. He treats this “failure” as a betrayal and immediately backs the coup of the man whose father’s real betrayal led to his parents’ death. He then forsakes their laws by ignoring the challenge and going into battle against his king. I’m sorry. Those motivations are nonexistent on the page. I blame the writing. But it’s a clear sign that the story was not given a suitable ending. In discussing it with Veknoid, it’s like they decided what the ending should be and worked backward. It’s a major flaw in the structure of the film. Almost every other character is well written. It’s the antigonists that are given little to work with.

Black Panther

I saw Black Panther today and I really liked it a lot.  I'm going to share my thoughts below, and there are several minor SPOILERS, but I am going to be vague and avoid spoiling the major stuff.  If you are bothered by minor SPOILERS, then please DO NOT READ, but I'm not going to put anything in here on the level of "Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father" major stuff. 

Pluses:

This film feels totally unique to me, and I feel it is breaking major ground.  I think it is obvious that the concept of a high tech African nation pretending to be a Third World country is unique in itself.  But more than that is that I can't recall ever seeing a movie about Africa where the people and culture were presented in a positive, affirming light.  Instead Hotel Rwanda and Zulu Nation come to mind.  (Not saying those are bad films, either.)  One of the biggest things that will bring me out to the theater is a unique experience, and this film totally delivers on that.  Therefore Black Panther scores major points with me for the same reason that the Avengers did, and on top of that I actually had more problems with the first Avengers movie, than I did with this one.  I'm totally ready to buy a ticket to Black Panther 2, just to see more of Wakanda and its characters.

The cast is awesome.  I really loved the characters and the acting that went along with them.  I had already grown attached to Black Panther in Civil War, but I'd have to say most of the new characters in this film were even more interesting.  Really liked the chief from the rival tribe.  There were lots of interesting and kickass women in Black Panther, but I'd have to say Shuri, the high tech sister, was my favorite.  Klaue we already saw in Age of Ultron, but he really gets to shine here so much more.  Not sure how many of these characters are going to be in Infinity War, but I would be happy to see the whole cast all over again.

Great action.  All of the stuff in Korea plus the first waterfall scene particularly stand out.

The villains did a surprising thing in the middle which I really liked.  (How is that for vague?)



Minuses:

I really wanted to like Killmonger as a villain, but I just couldn't get into him.  I think the main reason was that his motivations were unclear.  All of the scenes (including the opening scenes) show him as having one motivation, but his dialogue suggests another motivation.

The waterfall.  I actually really loved the first waterfall scene.  However, it was so good, that I found the second waterfall scene to be predictable and uninteresting by comparison. 

Overall Black Panther is a unique film with a great cast that really leaves you wanting more.  However, the Killmonger villain was not developed in a way that is clear to the audience.

8/10

While I'm at it (SPOILERS):

Gwen Stacy dies, Bruce Willis is a ghost and Rosebud is a sled.   Now if you actually know the things that I am referring to, then I'm willing to bet that you already knew those spoilers.

NOOOOOOOOOO!

THAT@S IMPOSSSSIBLE!!!