(Note: I badly wanted to not use The Lion King, but too much matches up. Set it
Africa. Daddy issues. Uncle issues. Two men witha claim to the throne battle for control of a
society that appears to dominated by women except at the very top. Token
assistance from a white british man [Rowan Atkinson as Zazu vs. Martin Freeman].
Side villain who break into fits of laughter for no reason.)
*Yes, the funny movies did great in 2017. However,
for the continued success of the MCU, they need to think 2-3 movies ahead. Black Panther being a more serious movie stops
the discussion of the Marvel movies being too frivolous before that
conversation can gain too much momentum. Say what you will about the MCU, but
Kevin Feige and company are savvy as hell.
This isn't the first time we've seen Chadwick
Boseman as T'Challa aka the Black Panther. He first showed up in Civil War.Seeing
that isn't required to follow what's happening in this film though. Black
Panther takes place mostly and appropriately in its own world. T'Challa is
the new king of the secluded African nation of Wakanda. Thanks to stockpiles of
an alien material called vibranium only located there, Wakanda is secretly the
world leader in advanced technology. For centuries, Wakanda has been a stable
and prosperous nation due to how isolated they've remained, but recent events
have increased the pressure from within for the country to reveal itself to the
rest of the world. T'Challa wants to remain hidden. Leaders of other tribes and
eventually a mysterious outsider played by Michael B. Jordan want to use
Wakandan technology elsewhere. That creates the central conflict of the film.
There's a lot of world-building required in this
movie. Probably the most of any Marvel movie. This is a great strength of the
film and also leads to my biggest drawback. Wakanda is built wonderfully. Director
Ryan Coogler and company execute their vision of the world wonderfully. They
pack in a lot of exposition about the history and present day of functioning of
Wakanda well. It's not seamless, but it doesn't feel like a constant exposition
dump either. Wakanda looks no more or less real than a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility,
which I suppose means it's consistent with the rest of the MCU. I do have a
fundamental problem with the idea of Wakanda. I simply don't believe this
country could remain hidden for this long. I know, it's a weird thing to focus
on, given all the other unbelievable shit in this movie and in the MCU as a
whole, but I can't help it. I couldn't buy into the idea of Wakanda
successfully being able to remain hidden for centuries without the outside world
(a world of Iron Man and Thor) finding out, so I fundamentally reject the
conflict at the center of the movie. It was one leap too far for me. I don't
assume this will bother other people as much. I just couldn't let it go.
The appeal of the movie, like most MCU movies, is
the casting. This is the most accomplished cast of any MCU movie I can think
of. I suppose the hidden benefit of using an under-served demographic to cast a
movie is that there's a long line of people overdue their opportunity to shine.
Chadwick Boseman plays T'Challa as a stoic hero. He lets the charisma of his
costars shine and functions as more of a stabilizing force in the middle. I'm
honestly most excited to see what he'll be like in a looser setting like an Avengers
movie. Will he have a wry sense of humor? Will he puncture the joke all the
time? I love the mix and match quality of the MCU, and Boseman is a different presence. Lupita Nyong'o is Nakia, T'Challa's ex and future girlfriend. Nyong'o
is simply delightful. Her casting since winning an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave has been
underwhelming (except in voice work). It's nice to get a reminder that she has
star potential. I'd certainly watch her as an action movie lead. Speaking of
star potential, I'm not sure how Michael B. Jordan isn't more of a household
name by now. I won't call his role as the antagonist in this film a breakout
performance, because he's already had "breakout performances" in two
other Ryan Coogler movies (Fruitvale Station,
Creed). This is more
reminiscent to Cate Blanchett showing up in Thor: Ragnarok: a talented
actor having a lot of fun giving a big performance that doesn't feel out of
place in the movie. It's a shame his Fantastic Four movie
sucked, because he could easily be the star of his own billion dollar
franchise. Danai Grira is only a surprise to anyone not familiar with her work
on The Walking Dead. In Black Panther, she is the general of the
Wakandan army, and I have no trouble believing her as the fiercest warrior in
the country. Letitia Wright plays T'Challa's younger sister, Shuri, who is the
chief tech expert in Wakanda (she's Q to T'Challa's James Bond). She's the most
playful character in the movie and appears to be the fan favorite. Martin
Freeman is the token white character: a CIA agent who helps, I guess. I'm a
little surprised to see him not in tied to S.H.I.E.L.D. in some way. Andy
Serkis, not in a motion capture performance, is somewhat wasted as side villain
who specializes in stealing Wakandan technology. Daniel Kaluuya, Angela
Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Sterling K. Brown show up as well. As I said,
it's a deep bench.
Black Panther is fine. For some MCU fans, maybe most, it will be a
massively welcome change of pace. I get the feeling that the movie is truer to
the tone of the comics than a lot of the MCU movies are. I'm just looking for
the popcorn entertainment value though. I prefer a little more humor than this
had. It has some moments of levity, but I can't remember anything that got a
big laugh in my theater. Ryan Coogler is best as a director when he's more
intimate with the action. There are a couple close combat sequences in the
middle of the movie that are one-on-one and enthralling. The climactic
one-on-one fight at the end was kind of convoluted, like they work backwards
from the end to come up with it. Also, the bigger the fights got, the more
generic they got. There's a bit too much plot and exposition, but that's
somewhat unavoidable. It's propped up by an excellent cast. In other words,
it's a pretty typical Marvel movie. When you look past all the box office
success and historic casting (and hirings behind the camera), Black Panther
is the MCU staying the course late into Phase three. It's more of a tweak than
a reinvention, and that's all I wanted or needed.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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