BLACK PANTHER is one of the most vibrant, colourful, visually appealing blockbusters I've seen in years. Delving into the realm of Afro-futurism, it was glorious to see Wakanda and its people on the big screen. The cast is exceptional and whilst yes, this is a BLACK PANTHER movie, it's maybe the closest Marvel Studios has ever had to a true ensemble film to date.
Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, stand out Danai Gurira as General Okoye and my personal favourite Letitia Wright as Shuri, don't just have moments like supporting characters typical do in their solo hero's films, but are actually pivotal to the plot. I'd almost go so far as to say this isn't a Black Panther story as much as it is 'Wakanda: The Movie,' all the Black Panther's strength.
Martin Freeman is developed nicely from his cameo in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR as Everett Ross and Andy Serkis was obviously told to play Klaue mad, something which he absolutely revels in. Michael B. Jordan is easily one of the better villains of the MCU, oozing with equal parts charisma and bilious truths as he works his way through the film like the ultimate Bond villain, whose ultimate goals you can kind of see his reasoning behind. And Chadwick Boseman himself is great as T'Challa, the man who lost a father and must not only face becoming King, but the fact that his old man may not have been as perfect as he once believed.
The plot sees Wakanda facing a threat unlike any it seems to have deal with in its history, as they are forced to face the consequences of their choices to stay hidden and not become part of the wider world. This plays out on both a macro and micro scale as Wakanda's demons are of course of their own making and questions of how could a nation like Wakanda exist and morally stay hidden whilst the rest of the continent suffers, are both asked and answered. Tying the villain's motivations to this question, having them essentially be the ultimate end of this doctrine of neglect perfectly sums up why and how a caucasian writer/director would have struggled to tell this story. As weird as it is coming from this white boy, BLACK PANTHER is completely, unequivocally a black story.
Not that it's exclusionary at all, there's action galore, especially when playing around with the abilities of the Black Panther and the special properties of vibranium leading to some action set pieces the likes of which I'd never seen before — outside a Marvel comic book.
And the humour! My god the humour. The chemistry between the cast means the banter flows possibly better than any I've seen in any Marvel movie.
The mantle of the Black Panther's origins are touched upon during the story, but never are we forced to sit through a flashback explain how T'Challa became the eponymous hero. Instead, it's organically weaved throughout the film's plot so that by the end, even though you absolutely haven't been shown a BLACK PANTHER origin movie, you know exactly what it took for T'Challa to take the mantle. This kind of storytelling really does it for me and I pray that Marvel Studios leans into it more going forward, so we don't have to spend the first half hour of the film waiting for the main character to suit up.
Which each passing film, I feel that Marvel Studios goes from strength-to-strength, ultimately pushing all it's previous entries down the chart as every new film is a “Top 5 entry.” I personally would go a little further and say BLACK PANTHER is Top 3 for me. Maybe even Top 2 after CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. But I'll need some more time to think on it, something which'll I'm assured to do when I see it in theatres two or three more times.
Written by Nick Whitney, MCU Correspondent
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