Movie Review: Black Panther
Rating: 3 and 1/2 Stars
I feel like I might be committing some sort of Twitter atrocity by not giving Black Panther a 4-star rating. I’ve been toiling over what is the appropriate representative star grade for a movie that was enjoyable from beginning to end but was missing something crucial.
Before I dive into my praise and criticism, I would be remiss not to mention that I hope Black Panther has the cultural impact many predicted it would. The commercial success of Black Panther should wake up more Hollywood executives allowing more black directors and actors to get more high profile roles in films of all different genres. In theory. It’s up to executives to entrust young visionaries such as director Ryan Coogler to work with a blank canvas.
My big concern entering Black Panther was how much influence director Ryan Coogler would have versus the Marvelization of superhero films. Coogler previously directed Creed which is one of my favorite films in recent memory. I was awed by the approach of Coogler to the presentation of a modern day sports film, it actually felt, modern.
Black Panther was certainly molded and edited into the Marvel film school methodology. Marvel has developed a formula where its movies aren’t often bad, but will only rarely achieve transcendent status. The Dark Knight was a transcendent film as it redefined the superhero film genre that Marvel has curiously studied and borrowed from. Black Panther may have a cultural impact, but the film itself is out in a time oversaturated with superhero origin stories. Han Solo is getting an origin story for God’s sake. I fully expect R2-D2 to have a Netflix series by 2020.
Black Panther is fun, energetic, contemplative in brief moments, and very very fast. Fast to a fault. Whereas Coogler was able to fully develop Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Johnson in Creed to the point of my full emotional investment, he’s not afforded the same opportunity in Black Panther. To Coogler’s credit, Black Panther gets enough information out in a short time to tell a complete and coherent story, but the pacing of Black Panther is comparable to the Bourne series.
One last thing before I get into the story. Right as the film ended and I left the theater, I proceeded to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, I overheard a young boy telling his father, “I’d like to go to Wakanda.” I was reminded that the beauty of film is to penetrate the wonderment of our collective imagination. I hope that boy finds Wakanda one day.
The story focuses on two recurring themes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The importance of family, in this case, the father and son relationship, and whose responsibility is it to protect the world from itself?
The film begins reminding us that T’Challa, the Black Panther, is set to become King of Wakanda. Wakanda is viewed as a third world country in Africa, but it secretly houses a technological utopia built on a revolutionary substance called vibranium. Five ritualistic tribes have settled inside a mountain, where four live in harmony, and one outcast tribe bickers from a distance.
The film opens with a father’s secret, one that besets the path of two young men to learn invaluable lessons about manhood.
T’Challa is becoming King of Wakanda due to his father’s assassination in Cap’n Murica 3: The Uncivil Disagreement. We see T’Challa’s relationships with his glowing ex-girlfriend, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), the strong embattled general Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the vengeful leader W’kabi (Daniel Kaluuya reprising his personality from Black Mirror). We also meet T’Challa’s bright and bubbly sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) in the Bond-like Quartermaster role. I wouldn’t be surprised if Coogler didn’t take some occasional Bond-ian inspiration.
Our original villain is Klaue (Andy Serkis finally not playing a computer-generated character), pronounced Claw, and he’s a handful. Klaue has a Joker-like personality with no regard for anything but destruction and money. He initially tags along with Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who only desires to go to Wakanda. Klaue protests and warns Killmonger that the Wakandan people are savages. Let’s just say Killmonger’s wish takes precedence.
Killmonger’s goal is to take the throne from T’Challa, as each other know their shared dark secret. Killmonger wants to use Wakanda’s technological and militaristic strength to help oppressed people overthrow their governments. Killmonger learned in American CIA training how to overthrow governments, and his ultimate plan is… to rule the world?
I’m not sure if Killmonger is thinking this through correctly. This is where Black Panther could’ve used a moment to take a breath and settle down on what the bad guy who thinks he has good intentions is really all about. Killmonger isn’t portrayed as a dummy, but his brief time as Wakanda’s dictator doesn’t make him look like a great intellectual either.
Black Panther concludes with an eloquent fourth wall quote from Killmonger.
The film’s dialogue was often short, compact, and to the point. The contrast between the tribal noble language of Wakanda versus Killmonger’s southern Californian dialect make for fascinating conversation.
The fighting scenes were well done as expected, but an early car chase was an absolute thrill ride as far as the numerous cinematic sequences go.
The movie’s laughs mostly came from the token white guy, which is a hilarious idea in of itself. A CIA agent is roped into T’Challa’s life by taking a bullet for his love interest, Nakia. Said agent is about as milk and toast of a character as he can get, and he figuratively winks at the camera because he too is in on the joke.
I found it a minor disappointment that Black Panther didn’t get more out of its soundtrack. There were brief moments where the hip-hop would seep into the usual orchestral score, and each time it did, the result was audibly enthralling. Coogler executed this to perfection in Creed. There was a brief mix of a hip-hop beat and an orchestral score that was one of those touches that takes a film from good to great.
Black Panther is a film I’ll want to watch again in a year to see if my thoughts are impacted or remain the same from now. Blockbusters like Black Panther, The Last Jedi, and Wonder Woman are great carefully crafted cinema, but each of these recent films lacks a touch of artistic expression that could make them timeless. Rewatchable? Definitely. Timeless? Arguable.
