Black Panther (2018) Movie Review
Black Panther (2018) Movie Review
I went to see Black Panther and, to be honest, I wasn’t disappointed. The reviews were great, and everybody was so hyped up for it, and everybody was talking about it. Well, here’s another great review.
The first scene (not counting the expositional father-talk scene) is pretty good, with the two guys in the apartment and the Wakandan people there. The old king (Atandwa Kani) visits two spies from Wakanda (Sterling K. Brown and Denzel Whitaker) and finds out that N’Jobu (Brown) has betrayed the country by bringing Vibranium, the nation’s signature metal and resource, into America (which is against the rules) (I hope this sentence isn’t as much of a run-on as I’m fearing it is). That’s a good scene, but the next twenty minutes or so aren’t actually that interesting or cool.
There is a great moment of cinematography (Black Panther crouching in a tree), but other than that the beginning of the movie is slow and seems somewhat pointless. It definitely improves by the end of the movie, which is admittedly kind of awesome. One thing I’m glad about with this movie is the villain, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who is T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) step-brother (or cousin? They’re definitely related). The MCU has had some less than stellar villains in the past, such as Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy, Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3, and Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. But with Black Panther I think they really stepped up their game with Killmonger, who actually has a motive and seems like a really bad dude, which are two things to look for in an antagonist.
Honestly I’m getting tired of Andy Serkis being in everything. His character, Klaw, here is pretty annoying and is only there to set things up. Klaw makes a bunch of modern references to things such as “making it rain” and SoundCloud that come across as more cringey than cool. Andy Serkis isn’t that bad of an actor, but if you look at his filmography, the first thing that will come into your head is most likely, “Isn’t there anybody else to put in these roles?” That’s how I feel, at least.
One nit-picky problem I have with this movie is some of the technology that the Wakandans have. Like, I get that it’s a superhero movie and that they’re an advanced race and everything, but seriously: has anybody else noticed that Black Panther’s mask just kind of forms out of thin air? There’s just air- then he just wishes the mask into being. It doesn’t work that way! If Wakanda has no magic, then it’s impossible for that to happen! I don’t care what kind of sci-fi you have, there is no way (without magic) that solid particles can just form out of thin air.
Black Panther further establishes Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Kaluuya, and Michael B. Jordan as some of the best up-and-coming actors right now. Chadwick, besides Marvel movies, was in 42 as well as Marshall (both critically acclaimed). Daniel, of course, was in last year’s Get Out, and is also one of the cast members of Black Mirror. Michael B. Jordan seems like he is making up for Fan4stic with this movie, and it works because that was bad and this is good. Another actor from this movie that I think will be very famous one day is Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia, a Wakandan agent. She was great in 2016’s Queen of Katwe, which was an excellent film that I, but pretty much nobody else, saw. And of course Marvel has to put in a bunch of big-name people just to get even more attention, so Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett are in this movie.
Compared to other Marvel movies, Black Panther stands out for a few reasons. One of them is that it’s really a moving-forward for African-American portrayal in film, which is something that’s being celebrated with this movie. According to the New York Times, there’s never been as much hype among the black community for a movie since Spike Lee’s Malcolm X came out in 1992. The non-white-men hype reminded me of Wonder Woman last year, which was a huge film for women.
What cultural advancement superhero movie will be made next year? It’s hard to tell… maybe one for the Asian or LGBT communities? Apparently they’re very minimized in movies, so that could happen. Another reason Black Panther stands out from some other Marvel movies is how good they use CGI. CGI is sometimes used as a crutch with some of these superhero movies, and it can occasionally look…not that good, to be honest (ahem, Age of Ultron, Ragnarok). But it seems like they only used CGI when they needed to here, and instead put more effort into costumes and dialogue and stuff, which I think worked out in the end.
Safety Chart:
Violence: 6/10- I mean, there’s violence and stuff, like some tribal war violence, but it’s never very bloody, brutal, or inappropriate.
Language: 4.5/10- The main villain says one curse a surprising amount of times. Some insults and stuff. Black Panther’s sister (Letitia Wright) flips him off.
Drinking/Smoking: 2.5/10- There’s a scene at a club. That’s pretty much it.
Overall, Black Panther is a great superhero movie that will be fondly remembered in later years. The acting is decent, and the action scenes are exciting. It’s complete with some awesome cinematography and a great villain, and is even kind of hilarious at times: in one scene, a rival tribe leader (Winston Duke) tells a white man (Martin Freeman) that if he talks again, he’ll kill him and feed him to his children. The tribe leader then says, “I’m just kidding, we’re vegetarian.” It doesn’t sound very funny in text, and I don’t usually laugh at those kind of jokes, but that one hit at just the right time. Black Panther is a very enjoyable movie. While slow at first, it gets better and better as it goes along. I’m giving it an A-. Go see this one. It’s, uh… good. I’m running out of synonyms for “excellent.”
