An important film filled with beauty and culture

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2018)

Let me start off this review by mentioning that I am a white Mediterranean-American. That being said, I am a humble ally of the African American community and the black experience. I am a massive fan of the history and culture. And I have the great benefit of being included when it makes sense. I also have the responsibility to see myself out when it doesn't make sense. This film is an example of when it didn't make sense, it wasn't my story, or other lighter skinned or mixed raced people's story to tell. It was a story of people who have gone through great oppression, whose blackness isn't an awesome thing they get to throw on and be in the world. This was an opportunity for a beautiful and underrepresented portion of the black community, who is the heart of the black community, to have their story told and to be put center stage, and have that to be enough. And it was. Quickly I will say that on a superhero film level, it was excellent and beautifully made. Not the best Marvel film, but still a stellar movie to add to Marvel's tremendous library. But it's so much more then just a superhero flick. It's a film that the black community deserved, especially the portion depicted in the film. There really aren't many films depicting African culture in such a light. And it was a beautiful thing to see. There are only 2 main characters who are white in this film (Martin Freeman and Andy Sercis) and it is an interesting thing to see, and it makes you realize that there are so many films where there's only a limited number of black people. The tables were flipped and it was a necessary and interesting change that people need to see. There is so much culture packed into this film. From the colors, to the costume design, the face paint, the hair styles, the locations and scenery. I have felt this way about certain films before myself, as a gay man. Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name especially were very important to me. It was nice to see a gay man on screen, not being used as a stereotype or a joke machine. Just another human being with feeling. That's how I imagine the black community feels about this film. They are not being depicted as the key black side character, they are the heroes of the film and the culture is brought to the forefront. It's important for anyone to see someone on the screen in any film they can relate to and they can look at and realize that they themselves are beautiful and valuable. Another example of this could be Pixar's Coco. You could really see the impact it had on the Hispanic community, Disney does their research and it is something I appreciate and respect.
This film is definitely worth buying a ticket to go see. I will most definitely be seeing it again. A great superhero film and an important film that I think will be the start to a necessary change we need.