Black Panther (2018)
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Black Panther Movie Review
Black Panther is a 2018 superhero film directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan. It’s one of Marvel’s best movies.
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“You are a good man with a good heart.
And it’s hard for a good man to be a king“
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Black Panther’s story and overall frame definitely consists of familiar plot beats such as a young king taking the throne after his father dies, an adversary overthrows him and he comes back and retakes the mantle. That’s all very familiar for sure. However, the film still is great despite its familiar plot points because the overall story is told with such obvious confidence and is fueled by so many fantastic themes and conversations.
The film is to many people about the struggle of black people and what it means to black in America and the overall world. But to me, the film is so much deeper and more sophisticated than that as it deals with immigration, kingdom ruling, the division of old traditions and new technology and ideas in one country and especially foreign policy and the relations between Africa and America.
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Foreign policy is the most important theme. The issue of whether or not Wakanda should share their technology and resources with the rest of the world creates this global conflict in the film and is the major source of frustration for its villain. I just loved its message that richer nations should share and help the poorer ones and that there should be no boundaries in the world. That is definitely a wonderful, sound sentiment that is only somewhat offset by my main issue that this film comes from Americans who themselves are guilty of the exact same thing…
T’Challa is such a good protagonist and a great king. His story is familiar, but very well told and moving. Killmonger is naturally fantastic and one of the highlights of the film. He has his reasoning and I was with him throughout most of the film actually and that is what made his character terrific – he is a powerful villain as he is humanized and the conflict is real that arises and very realistic, but he still retains his villainous strengths such as sheer power an bravado attitude. He’s truly Marvel’s finest villain so far.
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Nakia is fine, but somewhat forgettable. Okoye is a badass female character who provided some of the film’s finest action sequences. M’Baku is definitely very funny, but his entire tribe is ridiculously goofy and over-the-top. I found it stereotypical and even racist and I just did not like them at all. Ross, on the other hand, is a lot of fun and highly likable. Watching his reactions to Wakanda provided some of the film’s most amusing moments. Ulysses Klaue is such a charismatic, fun villain and of course Shuri steals the show as the most entertaining and charming part of this team. She is a lot of fun and quite funny at times while also being smart and overall a wonderful female character who is definitely going to replace Tony Stark in the MCU.
The acting is phenomenal across the board. Now I did find Michael B. Jordan’s performance somewhat lacking at first as he did not deliver his lines properly and the acting was shaky, but later he became much better and actually delivered some highly emotional moments. Chadwick Boseman is very strong in the lead role and of course Letitia Wright is very charismatic and endearing in her breakthrough role.
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Black Panther features very weak special effects. Some of it is strong, but some scenes looked fake to me, especially those rhinos which were also ridiculously underutilized. However, in all other technical aspects, the film is a marvel to behold, no pun intended. The costume design, hairstyling and makeup are simply awards-worthy how detailed and professional they are, but the movie’s score is also brilliant in pop, tribe and traditional music. Whether in visuals or in audio, they transport you to Africa and that level of detail and obvious care I admired the most about this production. The accents are also pretty strong albeit I would prefer the film to have been entirely in African.
The action sequences aren’t the strongest. The Busan car chase is very well done as are ritual fights. But the entire battle near the end was not mu cup of tea as it was not very well filmed and not particularly exciting or memorable. There was a lot of missed opportunity there regarding the rhinos and the use of technology.
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But I still admired how the film relied more on politics instead of action. The best scenes are the various conversations as well as gorgeous imagery of Wakanda. The dialogue is strong and the film has a lot to say and it does present some wonderful statements and messages. It is the most political, most sophisticated superhero outing yet and Marvel’s best film after ‘Doctor Strange’.
Immigration, the division of old traditions and new technology and ideas in one country and especially foreign policy and the relations between Africa and America are some of the themes and issues explored in Black Panther – a film that is the most political and sophisticated superhero outing yet. The special effects needed more work and the end battle is not particularly exciting, but the film perfectly transports you to Africa thanks to stunning costumes, set design and amazing score. It has a wonderful message and it mostly favors dialogue over action while also providing us excellent performances across the board and many fantastic characters such as badass Okoye, charismatic Ulysses Klaue, scene-stealing Shuri and the very best Marvel villain yet in Killmonger. Black Panther truly is one of the best superhero films so far.
