Black Panther: All Hail The King
In light of the recent passing of the magnetic powerhouse that was Chadwick Boseman, I and millions of people around the world took to watching Ryan Coogler’s massively successful film, Black Panther. When this movie landed in theaters in 2018, the film sent shockwaves around the world, breaking any prior stereotype about what a successful film looks like. While the film received great reviews, it’s cultural significance for black people, particularly black Americans, could not be denied. The fact that young black boys and girls now had black superheroes that they could now see themselves in was a momentous moment. It even had an impact on me to a certain degree. I was a freshman in college when Black Panther was released in theaters. Freshman year was challenging at times due to the fact that I was trying to determine my day to day life, deciding a career field, finding a new social group all while trying to figure out what my identity was. “Who am I?”, was a question that I was constantly asking myself as it was my first time being on my own. In some ways, Black Panther gave me some answers to that question on a silver platter, as it helped me come to certain realizations about myself due to the pride that it instilled in me during and after the movie. I’m not going to lie, I was feeling myself walking out of the theater. However, I wasn’t exactly expecting to feel this way. I was excited for the film because I was, and still am, a Marvel movie geek and I am also infatuated with Director Ryan Coogler’s style of filmmaking. I left the movie happy not just with the quality of the film, but simply because of how it made me feel. And a large part of that feeling came from Chadwick Boseman’s performance as the quintessential King of Wakanda.
The film takes place in our modern day, shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) travels back to his newly inherited kingdom, as his father was murdered in an explosion during the events of Civil War. When T’Challa arrived back to his homeland, I was introduced to Waknda for the first time. I saw a utopia — glimmering buildings and incredible technological achievements whilst staying true to organic and indegenious roots. I am introduced to T’Challa’s mother Romonda (Angela Bassett), his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) and tribal leader Zuri (Forest Whittaker). T’Challa is accompanied throughout the film by his bodyguard Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Wakandan spy Nakia (Lupita Nyongo). All of these characters try to guide T’Challa as he takes on the mantle of king and tries to decide what type of king he wants to be. Does he uphold the separatist traditions that Wakanda has clung on to? Or does he forgo these prior traditions and let the world know of their presence? His decision does not come easily and it is brought about through him clashing with his fascinating foil, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Killmonger’s goal is to take over Wakanda and use their resources to help liberate black people all around the world. However, his methods in doing so would result in countless lives lost and an eventual transformation into the very thing that he is looking to destroy. Michael B. Jordan’s performance in this film is incredibly emotional, and is in a lot of ways, the heartbeat of the film.
Chadwick Boseman’s performance as T’Challa, however, is what impacted me the most. Mr. Boseman is able to depict T’Challa as wise beyond his years while keeping it evident that T’Challa has a lot left to learn. T’Challa in this film is regal yet relaxed, strong yet vulnerable. Boseman’s acting skills lay not within his physicality but instead with his eyes and emotions. If I look into Boseman’s eyes at any moment during this film, I forget that I am watching a movie and instead feel the weight of the events that are happening to his character in each moment. This portrayal of the character is eerily reminiscent of Al Pacino in The Godfather II, which would make sense as these two movies are eerily similar in some thematic aspects (power, legacy, elegance, etc.)
While I do love this film, I do believe that this is not Ryan Coogler’s best work. The action scenes weren’t all that interesting to watch at all. They were graphics heavy which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the CGI in this film for whatever reason was not as up to par with some of the other films in the Marvel Universe. Furthermore, as this is a Marvel film it is sometimes weighed down by elements that are in place solely to connect the film to the rest of their cinematic universe. Martin Freeman’s character and some of the comedic moments sometimes fall flat because they can at times feel out of place from the overall story. Also, while Black Panther’s power and impact in our world can’t be denied, his literal power within this film feels diminished from his prior depiction. The awesome physicality and fighting of the Black Panther I saw in Civil War, isn’t as present in this film as much as I would have liked.
With that being said, this is still a very strong entry in Ryan Coogler’s already wonderous filmography. Coogler utilizes camera movements that whirl and twirl around the scene to pick up every significant piece of action and movement. The costume design and the soundtrack are also superb. The movie also came with a killer companion album composed by Kendrick Lamar that I still listen to to this day. You can ask my freshman year roommate, I danced like a dork in my dorm room when that album first came out. This film also comes with a heavy dosage of social commentary regarding the colonization of the world that I thought was done really well. It never felt like writers, Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, divulged away from the story solely to make a point. All of the social commentary in this film actually fuels the story and adds a greater contextualization behind the mindset of the citizens of Wakanda. Furthermore, Director Ryan Coogler’s grasp of intimacy (which I believe is his strongest skill) is utilized perfectly and it delivers really emotional moments throughout the film. One moment that stands out to me the most is when Killmonger is talking to his father, N’jobu (Sterling K. Brown), in the ancestral plain.
“No tears for me?” N’jobu says.
“People die everyday,” the young Killmonger replies. “That’s the way things are around here.”
This moment takes place during a very important scene in the movie, however this particular moment is quiet and the movie cuts back and forth only between medium close up shots of Killmonger and his father. I really do believe that with only three movies in, Coogler has mastered the depiction of intimacy.
Loss and grief are themes that are very present within this film which made watching this film therapeutic for me, as I was so taken aback by Mr. Boseman’s sudden death. While the film does have social commentary, it’s bigger message is primarily about the importance of legacy. This year has been brutal for everyone. In every community we have had losses due to COVID, tragic accidents and senseless murders. This movie reminded me that while these losses have been devastating, those who have lost their lives continue to live on through us and it is up to us to carry on their legacies.
Black people in movies were almost always side characters, criminals or were just there for comedic effect. Chadwick Boseman himself was aware of this and he made it a point in his career to not fuel any of those stereotypes. This mindset can be proven by most of the films on his resume such as 42, where he plays Jackie Robinson, and Marshall, where he plays Thurgood Marshall. However, I believe that his role as T’Challa is where this mindset presented itself the most. In this film, a black man was presented as royalty. In this film, a black man was brilliant, hard working, devoted to his family and was in the possession of an impeccable wardrobe (seriously his outfits are crazy in this movie). I obviously didn’t know him, and many of us didn’t, but the collective mourning that took place around the world is a testament to how significant Mr. Boseman was to a lot of people. Through interviews and the way colleagues spoke about him, he seemed like a genuine, smart, well mannered and immensely influential guy. Last night, I sat down and listened to his commencement speech that he gave to a graduating class at Howard University some years back. It’s an incredibly inspiring speech and it showed me that T’Challa is not just a character that he was pretending to be, he was T’Challa. In many ways, Chadwick Boseman and T’Challa were everything that I want to emulate. His legacy will surely live on in not only in me but in everyone who was affected by his presence, whether it was on screen or in person.
Rest In Peace, Chadwick Boseman
All Hail The King.
