Super heroes in Hollywood has been going on for over 60 years, but a black superhero had always been something of an exotic idea. From Spawn, to Blade, Luke Cage and Black Lightning. The black super heroes race has been great but mostly lackluster. Now enter Black Panther.
Black Panther is the result of an idea, the answer to a question "What if there was a country that was never conquered by the white man". The answer is the mythology created by writers Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Which spawned a series of comic books. Now on to the movie.
The movie is based on a simple plot, prodigal son Kilmonger (Michael B Jordan) coming home to stage a coup d'etat for the throne of Wakanda the fictional country where this story unfolds. The movie is riddled with African culture and references to different countries in Africa, such makes Black Panther feel more African than Hollywood.
There were strong performances from the entire cast, Chadwick Bossman who plays T'challa the young King of Wakanda, Angela Basset (Ramona) T'challa's mother, but the main comic relief came from Letita Wright (Shuri ) who played T'challa's sister and quarter master. The performances where top notch, bringing authenticity to the story, but one person fell short of praise though and that's Michael B Jordan (Kilmonger) who's performance felt forced and completely out of sync.
Kilmonger had a legitimate reason to be a villain (can't go into details since it's a spoiler free review). But still his portrayal of the character fell flat on it's face as he spent more time growling and sneering at the camera than selling us his motives. Though he is presented as a very deadly opponent, we hardly felt worried about the safety of the good guys whenever he was on screen. In fact Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue ) a supporting villain prove to be more of a problem and entertaining villain than wannabe hip-hop Kilmonger who made more noise than a pubescent teenager.
Now taking nothing away from the movie Black Panther is a release from every other superhero movie ever seen. It's graciously separates itself from the entire marvel universe by giving us something of an epic in the likes of star wars and lord of the rings. Director ryan coogler managed to capture the true essence of a young man ascending to power to rule over a country he loves. There is something of a hero's journey in which T'challa goes through which changes him and also opens his eyes to the question what is power if it cannot be used for good.
A country with the technological advancements to improve the life and lives of everyone on earth but it is kept secret for fear of the lifestyle of Wakanda's bring corrupted by Western Civilization. Black Panther is a movie filled with action culture and drama sometimes its actually feels like you're watching a shakespeare movie but in Africa. This is one movie I would recommend to anyone who is new to superhero movies or who just wants to see something different from what's already out there.
I would be publishing another article on the black panther movie to really give you an in-depth view into the core story of the concept of the Black Panther.
8.5/10
YAY!!!
- Awesome performances
- watch out for Shit
- Okoye is awesome
- Great fight sequences
- Finale was great
- Rich in culture and tradition of Africans though mostly fictional.
NAY!!!
- Michael B Jordan sucked
- The love story was amiss
- We wanted more Ulysses Klaus
- We wanted more Forest Whitaker
No comments:
Post a Comment