Wakanda won me over!

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2018)

I was honored to receive an invite to attend an advanced screening of Marvel's latest release, "Black Panther". I will be honest I didn't know a lot about this character before reading about him recently and seeing the film. The story line crosses both racial and cultural lines which has made this super hero a fan favorite for more than 50 years and I really love him now too. He is a fierce fighter and is empathetic to those around him. He has a big heart and wants to do his very best.
T'Challa is haunted by the mistakes of his father and is also a flawed person but puts a lot of pressure on himself to be the best king he can be for his people. During his transformation to King he goes to the land of his ancestors and is able to have a brief talk with his father. His father assures him he will be a good king but it will be hard because he has a good heart. This is a weakness and something he has to figure out how to balance with his leadership and superhero roles. I really enjoyed watching Mr. Boseman as this character and he brought not only a fierceness to the role but also a sensitivity and a humor that was just so human and optimistic. Things might be hard but he tried to come with an openness and we saw more of that come to fruition as the movie progressed.
I loved the entire cast of this movie and felt like the right people were put into the right roles. I can't imagine anyone else playing these characters. The performances were incredibly strong although I definitely felt like Shuri, T'Challa's sister played by Letitia Wright, stole the show. I just loved her character! She was strong, funny and intelligent. She is the force behind inventing much of the Wakandan modern technology (if this was Bond, she would be Q) and most specifically the Black Panther suit. On top of all that, she is a character girls are going to look to and be inspired by. I really loved the chemistry between all of the characters and felt like they genuinely liked or loved each other. It didn't feel forced.
I felt like the action really kept in line with what is shown in other Marvel movies. In fact I felt like there was less fighting and violence in this film than in "Guardians of the Galaxy" and some of the other Marvel Studios films. There is sword play and a couple of scenes using guns but the most dramatic fight scenes are hand to hand battles for the throne.
After seeing this movie I couldn't help thinking back to last year and seeing the new "Wonder Woman". Seeing a woman yield such incredible power, yet being allowed to also be tender, hit me so hard. I walked away from Black Panther with the same feeling I had with "Wonder Woman". Seeing fierce, powerful, intelligent, tender women standing up and being a part of the action spoke to me and I cheered for them every time they picked up a spear or showed the technology they created or acted as advisers. I really liked that the women were treated as equals. There was equal "saving of each other", never portraying the women as weaker and needing help. They worked together. This spoke to the message at the end of the film that we all need to learn that we are one tribe on this earth and we all need to look out for each other.
We highly recommend the film!