by Edward Baillargeon
When looking at the entire lineup of movies coming out in 2018, there are a lot of movies I’m really excited for and most of which were superhero movies that each offer something different to the comic book movie table. Rather it be the Marvel’s ultimate crossover event with Avengers: Infinity War, the return of the merc with the mouth with Untitled Deadpool Sequel (and yes, Fox confirmed that it is the official title), Ant-Man and the Wasp, Venom, Aquaman, and even some animated superhero films like Pixar’s highly anticipated, and long overdue, sequel The Incredibles 2 and Sony Pictures Animation’s potential redemption with Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Now, Marvel Studios and Ryan Coogler, the acclaimed director of Fruitvale Station and Creed, are going to kick of the year by transporting viewers into the world of Wakanda with the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther.
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as the country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with CIA agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Black Panther is another excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe collection that adds some much needed diversity. And also, we finally get to see a movie with a black lead that is not another Oscar bait story about slavery or poverty and portrays them in a positive light. The story is very well written and excellently directed thanks to Ryan Coogler’s vision. The movie also introduces audiences to the world of Wakanda showing the various cultural rituals, the technology, and just the way the movie looks is beautiful. Marvel has really improved their cinematography and color grading going from some of the older Marvel movies looking more gray and desaturated to looking vibrant and exciting, the way I think a superhero movie should look. The characters are also very well written and are given great performances by their respective actors. Chadwick Boseman especially gives a great performance as T’Challa and showing the struggles he goes through balancing his path to becoming the new king of Wakanda and fighting various villains as Black Panther. Other standout actors in their performances include Michael B. Jordan, a frequent collaborator with Coogler, and Academy Award nominees Lupita Nyong’o, of 12 Years a Slave and Star Wars fame, and Daniel Kaluuya, the star of Get Out. Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis, both of which also starred in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings respectively so they are the “Tolkien” white guys of the movie, are also standouts as Freeman plays a good American and Serkis is a show-stealer with his performance. The action scenes are also very well choreographed and are very exciting to watch with the car chase scene in South Korea being one of the highlights of the movie and is tied with the Thor vs. Hulk fight in Thor: Ragnarok and the airport battle in Captain America: Civil War as my favorite action scene in a Marvel film. And as always with any Marvel movie, always stay during the credits.
The impact Black Panther had on society is comparable to what happened last year with Wonder Woman. What Wonder Woman was to see women represented in superhero movies (both in front and behind the camera), Black Panther is to African Americans. Even though many news sources claim this was the first superhero movie with an African American lead, they are actually wrong because many forgot that Meteor Man, Steel, and the Blade trilogy exist, just like how Wonder Woman was not the first, but the first GOOD, female-led superhero movie as much maligned movies like Catwoman and Elektra came before, or that Deadpool was not the first R rated comic book film as movies like Watchmen, 300, V for Vendetta, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Sin City already beat him to the punch.
Overall, Black Panther is another excellent addition the the MCU with the usual great story, performances, and action to expect from Marvel. If you are a fan of Marvel comics and movies or if you are an African American who wants a superhero to look up to, this a must-watch. I’m going to give Black Panther a 9/10 with the Edward’s Seal of Approval.
