Yep, Just Another Super Hero Movie

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2018)

I violated my own embargo on super hero movies in order to finally see what all the fuss was about.
You see, I had decided never to watch another super hero movie because....well, because they all suck. But praise for "Black Panther" was over the moon, and people were specifically saying that it broke the super hero mold and gave us something unique and reflective of our times. To which I say...."Nope." This is just another super hero movie, and it follows all of the safe, bland super hero movie conventions.
I do appreciate that the film is driven by African American characters and themes, because Lord knows if any genre needed a dose of color (or estrogen for that matter), the super hero genre was it. And I also appreciate how the film uses a super hero movie setting to explore questions of black identity in the larger world. But folks are giving it way too much credit. I was actually shocked by how poorly directed the film was, especially the climactic battle scenes, a hot mess if ever there was one, and how terrible the visual effects were. The film looks incredibly cheap.
And it's all just so silly, which is how I feel about all super hero movies. In super hero world, everyone wears ridiculous costumes and speaks in formal, portentous accents, and says things like "vibranium" with a straight face. This movie, like others of its ilk, would do well to plant its tongue a bit more firmly in cheek.
No, "Black Panther" benefited from timing. It was the movie people needed in the cultural moment, and I think audiences were seeing what they wanted to see in it whether it was really there or not. But divorced from that specific cultural moment, the film doesn't seem like anything special.
Grade: B