Black Panther

Alright everyone, tonight I went and saw “Black Panther,” released nine days ago, a movie that is actually overhyped, but don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it. Here are my thoughts:

Following his father’s death, T’Challa is officially made Wakanda’s king and a superhero/protector. Soon – along with challenges to his style of royalty – the new Black Panther is defending his secretive, technologically advanced country from an infamous arms dealer and a former veteran with a mysterious past.

I agree with JimiFamurewa when he said in his review, “To say that Ryan Coogler’s films are expanding in scope and scale – more ambitious, audacious and pyrotechnically dazzling each time – would be to deal in wild understatement. After the wrenching, real-time intimacy of his debut, Fruitvale Station, and the franchise-jolting, bruised adrenalin hit of Creed, we now have Black Panther: a giddily enjoyable, convention-bucking 134-minute epic that somehow manages to simultaneously be a comic-book blockbuster, a pulsating espionage thriller and an Afro-futurist family saga.” Seeing how this is only Coogler’s third film makes it in every way more impressive.

We start in the past, on a huge starlit sky, with King T’Chaka (John Kani) telling a young T’Challa (Ashton Tyler) (along with the audience) about the vibranium meteorite that crashed into the country and goes to seal its future as a secretive, technological utopia. Famurewa noted, “Next, we jump to Oakland, California, in 1992 – the birthplace of both Coogler and, in an important thematic nod, the actual Black Panther Party – for a prologue that establishes the notion of Wakandan spies, identifiable by hidden, glowing blue tattoos on their lower lips.”

Famurewa continued, “It’s an important scene, not just because of the crucial plot seeds it sows, but also because of the contrast it offers between the outside world – all Public Enemy posters and makeshift basketball hoops – and Wakanda, a lush fantasia that’s every bit as otherworldly as Asgard.” After a present-day drop-off in Nigeria (where a Panther-suited T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) joins with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o’s undercover agent), and saves a group of kidnapped women from Boko Haram-like soldiers), we finally get the full effect, flying down into the vibranium-hiding loner country.

Famurewa said, “These scenes around T’Challa’s coronation vibrantly establish the customs of his trippy sci-fi kingdom – the futurist spires and shirtless ritual combat, the brightly attired tribal leaders and power-giving purple plants – but they do also foster a tone that feels awkwardly caught between Marvel’s trademark quippy interplay and the rapt wonder of a djembe-banging broadcast from the Wakandan Tourist Board.” Our villains’ London-set introduction to villains Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) and Boer-accented, cannon-armed killer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, not motion-captured and enjoying the role) feels similarly off.

Thank the Panther casters, then, for Letitia Wright as T’Challa’s playful, tech-loving little sister, Shuri. Famurewa said, “From the moment the British actress arrives – radiating charisma and cheek as the Q to her brother’s 007 – Black Panther finds its feet and its comic groove.” T’Challa, Nakia and Okoye (Danai Gurira from “The Walking Dead,” playing the bellicose tough leader of the all-female royal guard) go on an undercover mission to capture Klaue at a South Korean casino. It brings the Wakandans into the radar of the CIA’s Everett K. Ross, played by Martin Freeman, and starts an action scene that begins with, as Famurewa said, “a kinetically filmed brawl – watch out for Gurira topping Doctor Strange’s ‘cape-fu’ with a spot of ‘wigjitsu’ – and ends in a show-stopping, masterfully staged car chase through ravaged neon-lit streets.”

Famurewa continues, “And the action only gets more thrilling as Killmonger’s plan – a distantly rational, if ultimately megalomaniacal, desire to share Wakanda’s technological riches with the globe’s struggling black communities – takes shape, via a brutal, heart-in-mouth fight with T’Challa atop a rushing waterfall.” Looking at the performances, Jordan and Boseman are well matched, with Jordan’s natural, American arrogance contrasted by Boseman’s watchful dignity and pained, expressive eyes.

They’re capably backed throughout by an incredibly deep group of award-nominated actors – Daniel Kaluuya as a troubled tribal elder, Angela Bassett’s Queen Mother Ramonda, Forest Whitaker as shaman figure Zuri – all coming to the film of what is needed a plethora of black talent. Famurewa said, “But one of Black Panther’s greatest triumphs is to make you forget the barrier-breaking significance of its mere existence. By the time the climactic battle has broken out – set a world away from the customary razed metropolis of modern comic-book films – you’re too busy marvelling at its bottomless invention, its big-hearted verve, to truly consider the game-changing revolution playing out in front of you.” Long live the king, or as they say in this movie, “Wakanda Forever.”

Famurewa ended his review by saying, “Like Taika Waititi before him, Ryan Coogler gives the Marvel template a bold auteurist twist with an African extravaganza that packs a muscular intensity and challenges as much as it exhilarates.”

What’s different about this movie compared to the other superhero movies is that it’s not a straightforward, basic superhero movie. You know the simple punch, kick, superpower flashy show that we see all the time. This time, Coogler makes it about the characters engaging and relatable. On top of that, they sneak in humor when you don’t expect it. The action in this movie is actually nice, since there aren’t a lot of special effects used. Definitely go to the theaters and see this, it’s an absolute must. It’s not as good as everyone is overhyping it to be, but it’s still one that you must see. This makes another one of my favorite superhero movies and definitely is in the top five. The superhero movies are starting off with a bang and “Black Panther” is a great preparation for the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War” movie, so let’s see how it goes from here.

Spoiler alert: in the mid-credits scene, T'Challa appears before the UN to tell Wakanda's true nature to the world. In the post-credits scene, Shuri helps Bucky Barns, reprised by Sebastian Stan, with his recuperation.

Thanks for joining in on my review on the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, stay tuned for what I have in store for everyone in March.