Review: Black Panther

T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) AKA Black Panther, is to assume the throne of King of Wakanda, a land hidden from the rest of the world but with much high-tech advancement thanks to a vibranium meteorite. Unfortunately, T’Challa’s claim to the throne is challenged by the arrival of Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who was raised in America but claims royal Wakandan blood. He’s also in cahoots with nasty Seth Effriken arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), and has plans to take Wakanda’s technologically advanced weaponry for his own demented revolutionary plans. Angela Bassett plays T’Challa’s mother, John Kani appears briefly as T’Chala’s ill-fated father, Forest Whitaker is a Wakandan elder, and Martin Freeman plays a suit, basically.

Of all the superhero films of the modern era (i.e. The era that began with “Batman Begins”), only two have piqued my interest from their trailer alone: “Man of Steel” (which I ended up really liking) and this 2018 Marvel film from writer-director Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”, “Creed”). It looked super-cool, and lots of fun. When I saw that the film began in ‘Oakland, California’ I knew it would at least meet my expectations. It just seemed the right way to start this film. That being said, I think the backstory of Wakanda is a tad confusing and rushed in the early going, and overall the film borrows quite a bit from “Stargate” and “Thor” which is a bigger problem for me. However, on the whole this one rarely disappoints. This could’ve gone horribly, horribly wrong on a cultural level but Coogler makes it work while also being fun.

It’s an extremely pretty and colourful film, and there’s something simultaneously cool and corny about it, both of which are compliments in this case. In a way it reminded me of a Blaxploitation film in that sense, though this is obviously not Blaxploitation at all (I’d probably like it even more if it was, to be honest). Chadwick Boseman is excellent in the lead (I bet Wesley Snipes and Michael Jai White wish this MCU thing came about a couple of decades earlier), but Andy Serkis (feral and enjoying himself), Letitia Wright (who is adorable), and especially Michael B. Jordan steal their every scene. Jordan’s villain is classic stuff with an understandable but inexcusable motive behind it all. It’s a fascinating character once fully revealed. Jordan’s a really underrated actor, it’s a shame he has the blemish of “Fantastic Four” on his record. He doesn’t deserve to have that mark against him. After that initial confusion, Coogler juggles the Wakanda and non-Wakanda scenes much better than the overrated “Wonder Woman” juggled its two worlds. For non-Marvel nerds like me, the most important thing here is that like “Ant-Man”, this one largely works on its own without too much MCU tie-in intrusion. In fact, aside from over-familiar plot elements I’ve got zero complaints here.

Overrated as it is, I liked this. I didn’t love it, but I can at least understand some of the love, especially for African-American movie lovers. It’s not on the level of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” or “Man of Steel” for me so far as modern comic book superhero films go, but probably on that next tier alongside the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “Avengers: The Age of Ultron”, “Thor: The Dark World”, “Ant-Man”, “Avengers: Infinity War”, and “Watchmen”. It’s solid stuff. Wanna see a Panther take on a Rhino? David Attenborough ain’t got nothin’ on this film.  

Rating: B-