Marvel's Bravest Film to Date

Rating: 9/10 (27 March 2018)

After my sixth, or maybe it is my seventh viewing of Black Panther, I am finally ready to review it (Don't judge me-I tend to demonstrate compulsive behavior towards the movies I love). So if you have not seen it, I will not spoil it for you, but I also won't hold back my enthusiasm for the first big-budget film with actors predominately of African descent and Marvel's first Black black superhero.
When Chadwick Boseman's portrayal of Black Panther debuted in Captain America: Civil War, I knew something special was on the horizon from Marvel, but I did not know just how special it would be as a film. The fandemonium had reached epic levels: people were dressing up for the movie, there were social media campaigns to bring kids to the theaters in groups, and my community was creating all kinds of badass dance challenges on YouTube to celebrate the film's release. So part of the reason I needed to see it so many times was to ensure that the hype and enthusiasm I was experiencing in my community had not robbed me of the experience of appreciating all the craftsmanship that went into this movie. Marvel intended for it to be big-thus the $200 million dollar investment-but they could have never anticipated a reaction like this. I also needed to be sure this film stood up under scrutiny after multiple viewings because I knew I was already on a cultural high that would bias my review. So by my fourth viewing, the hype had waned for me, and now I was evaluating Black Panther for what it was-one of Marvel's most poignant and influential films in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Yes, some people still don't know what that is.
The film opens with a bedtime storytelling of the history of Wakanda that catches the audience up to speed on everything in less than two minutes. Can someone please share this storytelling method with every studio exec who feels the urge to bore us to death with more origin stories? Please, and thank-you. The film picks up right after the events of Civil War with T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) seeking out his ex who's on an undercover operation saving hostages, only to use the opportunity to invite her to his coronation as king. How smooth is that? Using your inauguration to get the girl. Well, the funny part is, as fierce as T'Challa is on the battlefield, he is softer than a marshmallow soaking in hot chocolate around the woman he loves, i.e., Nakia (played by Lupita Nyong'o). It is little weaknesses like this that help establish T'Challa's humanity and his impending burdens as king. As said in the multitude of trailers, he is "a good man, with a good heart, and it is hard for a good man to be king." Moreover, T'Challa will learn that lesson the hard way. When an old Wakandan adversary-Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) shows up with an unknown black-ops soldier named Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), everything accelerates into a battle for the throne and the fate of society at large. As a Michael B. Jordan fan, seeing him decked out in tribal scaring and challenging everything T'Challa stood for, much in the way Malcolm X challenged Martin Luther King-was a cinematic feast like no other. Jordan's portrayal of the controversial Killmonger character manages to not only seduce you intellectually and but enthrall you emotionally. And Jordan's performance places Killmonger-a terrible character in comics-among the best on-screen villians in the MCU.
Black Panther is that rare superhero movie that manages to take on challenging social themes of race, the diaspora of black Americans, immigration, isolationism, and retribution for oppression, all without isolating any particular group. It manages to be both provocative and smart about its messaging without becoming condescending and heavy-handed. As an action film, Black Panther plays more like a spy film than a comic-book movie, much in the same manner as Captain America: Winter Soldier worked more on the level with a Jason Bourne-like thriller. What Black Panther lacks in bombastic action, it more than makes up for it with strong story-telling, establishing a beautiful new cinematic world, savvy action sequences, and phenomenal performances. Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead), Winston Duke as the compelling and hilarious M'Baku, and Letitia Wright as Shuri (the scene-stealing tech-guru of Wakanda that'll give Tony Stark a run for his money) all manage to provide depth and heart to this fictional world in a way that takes most films multiple sequels to achieve. Black Panther's attributes far outweigh its occasionally choppy CGI and accelerated third act which is my only complaints. Ryan Coogler manages to create such a compelling world that this 2-hr and 20-minute film (which is long by any action film standard) never quite feels long enough. Wakanda is such a marvel to look at that you will want to explore it beyond the capital city, rural areas, and marketplace settings we are limited too. Maybe Avengers: Infinity War will give us a bigger bite of the Wakanda pie before Thanos arrives.
Black Panther works as a standalone film-connected to the larger MCU by Agent Ross, Klaue and a surprise character in the post-credit scene. A compelling script is what happens when the MCU grows up and recognizes that there is a bigger world out there. It is diverse. It is beautiful. Moreover, it is full of engaging human stories waiting to be wrapped in the blanket of fantasy to tell the type of universal stories that only good science fiction can tell. Black Panther takes the MCU into new territory: a world where heroes can emerge from parts of the world that are often ignored in America. It also takes the MCU in a much smarter direction without ever losing what made the MCU so special in the first place-fun and fantasy. If anything, Ryan Coogler's fantastic direction of Black Panther has just expanded the world, much in the way King T'Challa hopes to-eliminating the day where a black superhero is a rare event.