The Panther organization, founded in 1966 in an Oakland ghetto by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, was a radical, armed, black community group dedicated to ending police brutality and beginning community self-help programs. Panther, chronicles that history from its raw beginnings, when the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was simply trying to get traffic lights installed at a dangerous intersection in their neighborhood. Some scenes are heart-pounding exciting, some are emotionally gripping. But others are too contrived or badly executed. He is a highly educated, articulate young man who happens to be a Vietnam veteran, so he knows both social politics and guns.
Panther still packs a terrific wallop.