‘Black Panther’ delivers satisfactory entertainment
Marvel movie discusses important themes, possesses powerful story
Used with fair use from Disney Movies
February 26, 2018
“Black Panther,” Marvel’s newest superhero installment, provides a captivating story along with compelling characters and themes. The film follows the Marvel comic superhero Black Panther, aka King T’Challa, as he returns to his home country and kingdom of Wakanda to combat the sins of his ancestors and quell a rebellion from the inside.
Black Panther provided many entertaining aspects, serving to both engulf the audience and flesh out the fictional African country of Wakanda, the main setting of the movie. In terms of set and costume design, this movie has most other Marvel films beat. The use of color in this film makes everything within Wakanda feel alive and vibrant. The visuals were overall positive, albeit with some subpar use of cgi. The soundtrack was also put to very good use in the movie. While a bit repetitive, much of the music from the movie when listened to on its own can give a vivid idea of the scenes, settings or characters they represent, attesting to the strength of the soundtrack.
The highlight of the movie was the portrayal of the the villain Erik Killmonger by actor Michael B. Jordan. Jordan has been known to have his best performances when working with director Ryan Coogler, and Killmonger is no exception. His character is a divergence from the general formula of Marvel Cinematic Universe villains by being more complex and sympathetic than your average big bad, putting him on par with their other great villains such as Loki and Vulture. Providing an electrifying performance, the only caveat to Jordan’s contribution to the film was his lack of screen time. He definitely could’ve been used more and his interactions with the Black Panther, his adversary, should have been more numerous and fleshed out.
Characterization was also a bit lacking in many key figures, most harsh for the eponymous hero Black Panther himself, due to his obvious importance to the story. While Chadwick Boseman’s acting was superb, I do feel the character was made a bit bland in this movie, particularly because of his lack of a true internal conflict. Because he’s dealing with the faults of his ancestors and not his own, there is no personal growth for T’challa. He made little to no mistakes in the movie and had little to no flaws making him a tad boring. Nevertheless, the character was portrayed well with perfectly timed humor and emotional depth.
The movie made mention of many important topics such as nationalism, the consequences of imperialism, foreign relations, etc. However, I feel most impacted and impressed by the fact that Black Panther touched upon a topic I’ve never seen discussed before in American film: the relationship, difference in perspective and almost tension between Africans and African-Americans. It’s a very difficult subject to discuss and while I, like many, came into the movie excited mostly for the chance to see a blockbuster with a predominantly black cast, I left most satisfied with the movie for having discussed this aspect of the African and African-American story. However, even without this aspect, flaws and all, Black Panther is simply put a good movie
Overall, “Black Panther” is a very good film. With satisfactory comedy, good action and an simple yet effective storyline, “Black Panther” is sure to captivate many audiences.
“Black Panther:” ★★★★☆
