Black Panther: Review

This is a NON-Spoiler review for Marvel's Black Panther.

Plot Summary: "After the death of his father, T'Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T'Challa's mettle as king -- and as Black Panther -- gets tested when he's drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people."

As much as I could focus on one specific character in Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther did stick out in that movie. Civil War had the task of introducing both their version of Spider-Man (which is the best) and Black Panther. Which they did a fantastic job with. And I was really interested in seeing Black Panther. I thought Ryan Coogler was a great choice just based on his filmography. I haven't seen Fruitvale Station (I do mean to), and I only recently saw Creed. So I think Ryan Coogler is a very good director. And I think he's a great choice to lead this story. But it does feel like he is leading the same team as pretty much every MCU solo movie. I'll get back to that in a minute. 

I enjoyed Black Panther. But why I think this movie is awesome is because of the lessons that it's trying to convey to its audience. I hadn't noticed that we had never had a female-led superhero movie (which I think is insane) until I reviewed Wonder Woman. And once again, when I saw the trailer for Black Panther I just thought it looked like a really cool Marvel movie. I hadn't noticed that we've never had an African-American led superhero movie (at least at this scale). Which once again is insane. I can't believe that this is just now happening. And hearing people's stories of their excitement like Octavia Spencer buying out an entire theater for African-American kids to see a superhero that they can relate to on screen. I love hearing awesome stories like that. So it's really awesome that this culture is finally getting represented as the lead in this movie. But it also has a very positive lesson that I think people need to learn.

I loved the dynamic between T'Challa played by Chadwick Boseman and his villain Killmonger played by Michael B. Jordan (I'll talk about the cast later). They reminded me very much of Magneto and Professor X. And I think they're the perfect two characters to convey these good messages for people to hear. Similar to Magneto, Killmonger is a character who hates the way he's been treated and just hates the world and believes that violence and dominance is the way to bring balance. And after seeing his past and why he has this belief system, you do sympathize and kind of understand him. But very much like Professor X, T'Challa stands up for what's right. He stands up for peace and love. It's this great tension between love and hate. And that may sound cliche, but I think it's an awesome message that people of all ages need to hear right now. It's a great message but it's also great conflict for good drama. This movie has the conflict between love and hate and it also talks about learning from the past. I think what Ryan Coogler is trying to say is - How you respond to a situation will determine if you create darkness and hate or love and light. There's a great quote from the movie that I think we should all remember - "In times of crisis, the wise build bridges, while the foolish build walls."

Let me talk about my biggest flaw with this movie. Even though this does very much feel like a Ryan Coogler led movie, it does feel like the same team as just about every Marvel solo movie. I can't entirely put my finger on what it is, but I can always tell that I'm watching a Marvel movie. They all have the same look and feel to them. They all look like they're from the same cinematographer to me. And I think a big reason for that is their use of green screen and CGI. Don't get me wrong, IT IS NOT vomit-worthy CGI like the Star Wars prequels. But throughout a lot of this movie, the sets felt very artificial. Again, it's not bad. I just find it very unsatisfying and I don't really connect with it. So it definitely feels like Ryan Coogler is the leader of this story, but it does feel to me like he's leading the same team as every other solo Marvel movie. And I think if they want to keep these movies alive, I think they need to not only do a different genre, but I think it also needs to have a different look and feel even more so than they're already doing. Anyone who's read any of my reviews for any of the MCU movies knows that I've had some big problems with their overuse of comedy. I was so thankful that this was SO MUCH more balanced. They held back the jokes very well except for maybe a couple of spots. I enjoyed the world Wakanda. I enjoyed this mix of futuristic and tribal. I was a bit disappointed because after seeing the trailer, I thought there was gonna be this mysterious expedition to find Wakanda. But there wasn't. I didn't find it very mysterious like they were pitching.

The acting from the whole cast is great. Actors like Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya, Lupita Nyongo, Danai Gurira, are all in their prime and at the top of their game here. Chadwick Boseman does a great job leading this movie. But Michael B. Jordan was great as the villain. Killmongor rivals Loki as one of the best MCU villains. He was an awesome upgrade to what we're used to in an MCU movie. And I know that I'm a white dude asking for more screen time for one of the only white dudes in this movie. But I am a giant Andy Serkis fan and I tired of him being underused. I thought for what he was given, he did a great job with what he was given. I'm not necasarally saying that his character was underused. But I think that Andy Serkis has the talent to give a performance on the level of Heath Ledger's Joker and he doesn't ever get to give it. So I also enjoyed Andy Serkis a lot but I think he deserves better roles but not necessarily in this movie.

Whenever the hero and villain were in their Black Panther suits you could definitely tell they're 90% CGI. There was an entire fight sequence where I don't think Chadwick Boseman or Michael B. Jordan even needed to show up. So I was a bit unsatisfied in that. But I really enjoyed the hand to hand fight scenes when they were out of their suits that you see in the trailer. Ryan Coogler really brought some of those really good boxing scenes from Creed over to Black Panther. But the other fight scenes definitely felt like same old Marvel team. I just wish that Marvel would spend the time and money to make really great action scenes in their solo movies. Sometimes it feels like they're going for quantity over quality. I don't think that we can expect The Dark Knight every time we see one of these movies. Both our heads and the studio's heads would explode. But it does feel like a lot of these MCU movies (especially a character's first solo movie) feel like their just supposed to get me excited about the next time they're on screen. I am ready for another GREAT Dark Knight-level Marvel movie. Good thing that the next movie is Infinity War. My brain is gonna melt. I think Black Panther is going to have a great impact culturally with the lessons it's trying to convey to its audience. I don't think it's this visual experience that you need to see in IMAX. I do recommend this movie in a standard showing. My grade for Black Panther in a B+