Black Panther (2018)

Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, who has already been on a roll with noteworthy films like Fruitvale Station and Creed, takes on the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Black Panther, one of the better entries to date. Working well as a standalone film, a mix of James Bond, war epics, Shakespearean intrigue and requisite comic book antics, Black Panther stakes its own claim as being a mix of formula and new ground in the so-called superhero cinema arena, and one that has plenty of relevant themes to ponder once it is all said and done.

Chadwick Boseman stars as T’Challa, who we were introduced to in his brief appearance in Captain America: Civil War. After his father, King T’Chaka (Kani, The Ghost and the Darkness), is assassinated, T’Challa ascends to the throne as king of the (fictional) majestic African nation of Wakanda, a proud, protectionist nation that that had never been colonized by European influence, and which prides itself on isolationist policies that keep themselves self-sustaining and avoiding getting into protracted wars. Becoming king also bestows upon the king the powers of the Black Panther, though his threats aren’t physical so much as political, having to deal with not only external forces who want to use Wakanda’s stash of the worlds hardest and most powerful metal, vibranium, to their advantage, but also within Wakanda, among those who feel that they have a responsibility to share their advancement with the world to help those who desperately need its harnessed powers to heal, or, more extreme, to use their secretive wealth in resources and weapons technology to right centuries of wrongs for people of African descent around the world through a revolution.

Praise has come from those more sensitive to the issue about how Coogler is able to craft his high price-tag tale without the need to put in a white male lead in a major role, with most speaking parts going to actors of different nationalities, but descendants of Africa.  Going the extra mile, Coogler also pushes forward several strong female characters who are noble, intelligent, fierce and heroic, but also grounds them as separate and distinctly female entities, rather than just generic roles that just happen to be played by women.  The supporting characters are usually an afterthought, but in Black Panther, they are so well drawn that they seem every bit as interesting, perhaps even more so, than the main protagonist himself, who is either mostly masked or obvious CG during his battle sequences, whereas we are always aware as the women fight, with full acting and facial expressions to root us into their fight in the moment.

Coogler not only handles the large-scale epic direction with finesse but the building blocks of his storytelling as well, co-scripted by Joe Robert Cole (Amber Lake).  We get some of the story as it plays in the present, but we also see key pieces that shade that present with flashbacks to the past.  Coogler ups the intrigue as the film plays, with each new piece of the puzzle put together to deliver impact, and to change what we know about these characters in ways that give the entire story a surprising amount of nuance, given the number of characters to follow, as well as the wider scope of the international politics.  It leaves you wanting more without feeling

There is also an interesting villain.  Not necessarily the deadly master thief known as Ulysses Klaue (Serkis), whose missing arm is supplanted by a powerful prosthetic weapon, played with gusto by Andy Serkis, but in American black-ops assassin Erik Killmonger, portrayed by Coogler-favorite Michael B. Jordan in a way that exposes his intentions to do great harm, but also reveals a tortured and twisted vulnerability and inner pain in terms of what fuels his rage.  Unlike most Marvel villains, who have little nuance as far as their evil intentions, Killmonger has a rationale for his malevolent acts, and a certain sympathy beyond this, that makes the film more a struggle for political ideas than it is just a black-and-white fight between good guys and bad guys.  In the battle between the man born to possess everything, because he was born into royalty in a nation full of wealth, and the other, in the inner city, who has nothing, it’s an interesting

With solid actors, good writing, vibrant costume work, a terrific score from Coogler-regular Ludwig Goransson, humor that’s delivered with refreshing subtlety, and Coogler’s taut pacing that also takes the time to build up its scenarios, Black Panther succeeds at delivering an unlikely solo effort in the superhero genre, and leaves skeptics and those completely unaware of the characters within the comic books hungry for more.

— There are two extra scenes during the credits (one mid-credits and one post-credits)

Qwipster’s rating: A

MPAA Rated: PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action violence, and a brief rude gesture
Running Time: 134 min.

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, John Kani
Small role and cameo: Stan Lee, Sebastian Stan
Director: Ryan Coogler
Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole