Viewed in Chicago on February 24th. Back in August of 2014, Marvel's Phase Three was "leaked" and a lot of people, myself included, lost their collective minds when it was announced that Black Panther would be involved. T'Challa first showed up in Captain America: Civil War and suffice to say, he whetted everyone's appetite for his own franchise. It didn't disappoint. Chadwick Boseman reprises the role of T'Challa/Black Panther and the film is directed by Ryan Coogler.
The film opens with a flashback to Oakland, CA in 1992. T'Chaka, current Black Panther uncovers a traitor in his organization that is selling vibranium on the black market and deals with the problem rather harshly (this obviously comes back later in the film). Fast forward to today and T'Challa is returning home for his coronation. During the ceremony, T'Challa is challenged to a fight to the death by a rival tribal leader. T'Challa defeats his rival but spares his life because he's such a great guy (he really is).
T'Challa heads to South Korea in an attempt to apprehend Klaue (played brilliantly, as one would expect, by Andy Serkis), who is selling some vibranium to the highest bidder (in case you don't remember, Klaue last appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron). In Korea, T'Challa meets up with Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), takes down Klaue and turns him over to Ross. However, Klaue is sprung by Kilmonger, Ross is wounded and T'Challa opts to take him back to Wakanda for treatment.
Remember the opening scene in Oakland? Turns out the Wakandan traitor had a son, who went on to become a US military black ops soldier who goes by the name of Kilmonger (Michael B. Jordan, who is awesome). Kilmonger returns to Wakanda with a prize that T'Challa could not obtain, the body of Klaue (because Wakanda wanted him dead or alive and when you go by the name of Kilmonger, you choose the former). So Wakanda has a rule where someone of royal lineage can challenge the king to trial by combat. Kilmonger, being a cousin of T'Challa does just that and defeats him. Inevitably setting up a second showdown between Kilmonger and T'Challa. This time in their respective suits.
There is a lot to like, nay love about this film. Coogler adds a lot of color and landscapes jump off the screen. The wardrobe of the Wakandans is beautiful and vibrant. Coogler really brings the mythos of Wakanda to life. An advanced almost fairy tale land that has it all. Beauty. A symbiotic relationship with the environment and life altering technology.
Then there are the performances. Boseman, Jordan and Serkis are great. There are solid performances from Angela Basset (who doesn't look likes she's aged a day in the last 20 years) as T'Challa's mother. Forest Whitaker as Wakanda elder statesman Zuri, other than Battlefield Earth, when has Whitaker given a bad performance? Daniel Kaluuya (the guy from Get Out) as W'Kabi, leader of a Wakandan tribe. Lupita Nyong'o plays Nakia, T'Challa's love interest (she's not that into him) and undercover Wakandan spy. Danai Gurira is downright intimidating as Okoye, head of the Dora Milaje, the king's bodyguards.
Someone that is not to be trifled with.
But the best performance belongs to that of Letitia Wright as T'Challa's sister Shuri, the Wakandan equivalent of Tony Stark, Hank Pym and Peter Parker all rolled into one. In fact she might be better than them. She is the genius that develops the vibranium based paraphernalia of the Black Panther. She's smart, funny and doesn't back down from a fight.
Just your average 21st century teenager.
As great as this film is, it does fall victim to the standard superhero tropes. Mainly that the hero and villain are evenly matched. When they first fight, Kilmonger throws T'Challa over a waterfall but you know they're going to fight again and the final outcome is never in doubt. That's the worst that comes to mind.
The film received a 97% Rotten Tomatoes rating. That's a near perfect movie and I don't think this is a near perfect movie. It's close at 92-94% in my opinion and I think one can make an argument for this being the best film in the MCU to date. Black Panther took in over $200 million in it's opening weekend. Has a domestic gross of $696.6 million and a worldwide gross of over $1.3 BILLION. You will see T'Challa again when Avengers: Infinity War opens on April 27th. I think that Coogler is an up and coming director and I need to view his directorial debut, Fruitvale Station, in the not too distant future. Not to mention keep an eye out for his future work.
No comments:
Post a Comment