February 14th, 2018 - Black Panther Review
LONG LIVE THE KING!
If you asked me how I would describe Black Panther in one word, it would take me hours to choose from multiple words that would be rumbling inside my head. EPIC, AMAZING, WILD, BALANCED, BREATH-TAKING would be the words that I would use to describe the Black Panther movie. Though Black Panther was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, director Ryan Coogler was able to take a step back to create a solid introduction for the character to make it seem like it’s actually the FIRST time we were meeting him. Coogler purposely filmed Black Panther to fit an IMAX screen to show a broad view of world of Wakanda and I’m here to say it is REALLY beautiful. I truly felt like I dove into the world of Wakanda with the extra details that was shown on the movie. The music and the sound that played during the whole movie also added into the feeling like I was actually there experiencing it in real life. Chadwick Boseman killed the role of T’Challa/Black Panther and he made it his own. It’s so hard to even watch him in interviews when he speaks without his T’Challa accent because you get so used to it while watching the movie. The sibling relationship of T’Challa and his little sister Shuri played by Letitia Wright was great to see. It was like they were siblings in real life with how they messed around, but also had that “I got your back” mentality. It’s fun to mention that it’s confirmed that Shuri IS the smartest person in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, (yes she is smarter than Tony Stark) so how will that meet up turn out when they meet each other in Infinity War?
These are figures that my friend David brought while we waited 5 hours for the premiere of Black Panther. Though you may all think that’s a long wait, it actually went by pretty fast.
To continue on with my Black Panther review, Danai Gurira as Okoye was a fierce character who was willing to do whatever it takes to protect the king. The scenes that she had in the movie blew the minds of the audience as we were all left with expressions of “OHHHH” and “AHHH” through it all. Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia and T’Challa’s love interest played an important role to T’Challa’s confidence as he had to become the new king of Wakanda after his father’s death. She was there supporting him and was a guiding force to T’Challa’s growth throughout the movie.
Michael B. Jordan played one of the best (if not the best) villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Erik Killmonger. I don’t want to dive into any spoiler territory, but his character has a great story and he has a goal set from the first time we see him in this movie. During the movie, it got so hard to not root for his character even if he was the villain of the movie. He embodied Erik Killmonger. It’s safe to say that after this performance, we can forget that Michael B. Jordan played the role of Johnny Storm/Human Torch in the Fantastic Four reboot movie that came out a couple of years ago. As the saying goes right?
“You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain”
If you haven’t heard the Black Panther album that was released last Friday then you are missing out on a potential album of the year AND IT’S ONLY FEBRUARY. Kendrick Lamar leads this album along with a GREAT cast of artists to create a 14 track album for the Black Panther movie. Which ones will be in the movie? You just have to find out this weekend.
Overall Black Panther is an action packed movie with a great plot from the beginning to end. Though it’s a comic book movie, it tackles real world problems that are occurring in the world we live in. Politics and the social hierarchy that’s created in the world is heavily expressed throughout this movie. I personally believe that everyone should watch Black Panther. The movie has an identity of it’s own and has great importance beyond it just being another superhero movie. Of course, if you want to watch it just to have fun, I can assure you that you will have fun and have a good time watching it. If you want to watch it because it’s the final movie before the heavily awaited Infinity War, you won’t be disappointed either. Black Panther is a movie that though it is the last movie before Infinity War, is still able to hold it’s own. I would personally put it in the top 5 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watch Black Panther. Once you watch the movie, you won’t have to wait too long because in 11 weeks T’Challa comes back in Infinity War.
WAKANDA FOREVER!
