This past weekend, Marvel’s long-awaited Black Panther film premiered, the latest installment in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film introduces the technologically advanced city-state of Wakanda, in the aftermath of King T’Chaka’s death in Captain America: Civil War. Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) must ascend to the throne and take on the birthright mantle of Black Panther. With the help of Princess Shuri (Lettia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), Black Panther finds himself in direct conflict with international weapons and arms dealer, Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and by association, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), former U.S. special operative.

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Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) sets itself from past MCU films in several ways. The new setting of Wakanda, unlike other self-contained worlds in the MCU, is portrayed realistically, with panning visual evidence of an active and thriving society with substantial infrastructure. The movement of plot is done efficiently through dialogue. Character interactions either enhance their individual characterization, further the action, or touch on relevant themes. Dialogue that does not operate within those parameters is usually comedic – one of the funnier characters is Princess Shuri, the head of technological development in Wakanda, and a slight homage to James Bond’s Q.

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The action sequences in the film, particularly moments of hand-to-hand combat, are well choreographed and, for most of the film, easy to follow. Cinematography later in the movie drifts towards the extremes, either zooming farther out for the spectacle, or showing critical moments of battle up close, forcing the viewer to claustrophobically keep track of what is occurring. Though occasionally off-putting, the shots make the viewer feel as frantic as the characters being depicted. The final/main sequence of the film gets progressively more convoluted and messy, and action off the ground seems a tad underwritten and removed from the grounded combat. These are relatively minor qualms however, and largely undercut by adrenalizing engagements.

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Many of the characters come to represent ideologies that contrast one another. Okoye, for example, is duty-bound to tradition, while other characters like Nakia and Shuri are less rigid and more independent. Klaue’s pragmatic evil contextualizes Erik Killmonger, who is an ultimately sympathetic figure, despite his emotionally driven radical zeal, which works further to contrast T’Challa’s measured instincts.

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The films themes vary from tip of the iceberg, to well below the surface. The presentation of deeper themes dealing with the global repression of the African diaspora, are present and driving forces of conflict in the film (much more than say, war-profiteering was in Iron Man), but are not met with definitive platitudes, instead approached with appropriate poise and compassion. The result is a Marvel film that interacts cohesively with itself, and the world around it, something which only the satire of Thor: Ragnarok had achieved prior.