Black Panther

photo courtesy of heroichollywood.com

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

     Black Panther has arrived, courtesy of Marvel Studios and director Ryan Coogler, and it has made an impression. The movie is the 18^th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, undoubtedly, the first in a solo series for the titular character. As with last year’s Wonder Woman, all eyes are on Black Panther, not just as an anticipated installment in a superhero franchise, but as a cultural landmark for representation in Hollywood. And like Wonder Woman, Black Panther is a nearly unqualified success.

     In Black Panther, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to the sovereign nation of Wakanda after the events of Captain America: Civil War. As the new King of Wakanda, T’Challa consolidates his reign and contemplates the future of Wakanda (which despite having technology 20 years ahead of the rest of the world, has remained isolated from the global community). But T’Challa soon faces opposition from unforeseen quarters: a) Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), a black market dealer of Wakanda’s most valuable resource, the indestructible metal vibranium, and, b) Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) a ruthless black ops soldier and ex-Wakandan. With pressures from inside and outside Wakanda, T’Challa’s reign threatens to unravel as soon as it begins.

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     It’s not exaggeration to say that you can tell Black Panther is different within the first few seconds. Black Panther features that kind of exceptional, confident storytelling that too rarely visits the superhero genre. The screenplay from Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole is smart, cohesive, and efficient; everything serves a narrative, thematic, or artistic purpose. But more than that, it’s the kind of movie that combines narrative strength with a real sense of wonder, the kind of story whose strength of vision captures the imagination of its audience.

     Much of Black Panther’s strength stems from its roots in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, one of the most immersive, fully realized worlds Marvel has conjured up thus far. Wakanda feels tangible, with a history and identity all its own, even as it wows us with fantastical technology. In that respect Black Panther gets help from its art department, which provides vibrant sets, costumes, and CGI vistas. Wakanda—and several of the other locations around the globe which T’Challa visits—is often dazzling to behold.

photo courtesy of cbr.com

     Black Panther populates Wakanda with an astoundingly well-drawn cast of characters. Boseman, who certainly made an impression in Civil War, truly distinguishes himself here. T’Challa is Marvel’s first superhero who can rise out from under Tony Stark’s shadow on his own strength, the kind of hero—much like Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman—that people can really, earnestly root for. Surrounding the Black Panther are a number of talented actors, including Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman, Winston Duke, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker, and Angel Bassett. Wright’s Shuri stands out the most, stealing scenes right and left. Danai and Lupita also impress as members of the Dora Milaje, T’Challa’s seriously badass bodyguard force.

     Michael B. Jordan has earned a lot of buzz for his performance as the film’s primary villain, Erik Killmonger. The hype is well-deserved; Killmonger is one of Marvel’s best villains. He can be as ruthless as any of them, but thanks to a series of revelations that occur throughout the film, he ends up being one of the most motivated, one of the most sympathetic comic book villains of all time. It's his role that gives Black Panther its considerable emotional substance, allowing it to tell a mature story with real consequence. (More on that below in the spoiler section.) If his character is somewhat predictable at times, it doesn’t matter: like the original Star Wars, the sheer weight of Black Panther’s imagination, mythos, and emotional resonance makes us forgive its more predictable plot points.

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     At the end of the day, Black Panther is a superhero film, so there’s a certain quota of action-spectacle to be met. The movie’s not nearly as strong when it indulges in that regard as when it focuses on T’Challa and his family, but its action sequences are still some of Marvel’s best. One particularly James Bond-like sequence in South Korea displays the movie’s unique hand-to-hand combat style, thanks mostly to the Dora Milaje’s dexterous and deadly expertise. And when the time comes for the inevitable epic confrontation between good and evil, Black Panther delivers there, too.

     Part of the conversation about Black Panther centers around its status as a major milestone for representation of African-Americans in Hollywood. Panther leans into that platform to an extent, meditating on themes about isolationism, social justice and responsibility, inequality, and the destructive power of fear and revenge. Rather than overtly stating anything, it explores those issues artfully, by challenging its characters and exploring their relationships. In any case, Panther seems to be aware of its significance and unique social relevance, and thankfully, it has the power to deliver on that promise with one of the superhero genre’s most iconic and most meaningful stories.

SPOILERY DELICIOUSNESS

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     Many things about Black Panther stand out, and some I’ve already mentioned: the Dora Milaje, the twist concerning Killmonger’s parentage, the visual beauty of the movie in scenes like Killmonger’s final sunset. One (spoiler-centric) item that bears mentioning is T’Challa’s character development. It can be cliché (as when he follows a fairly rote death and resurrection arc in the movie’s second half), but it can also be profoundly interesting (as when T’Challa confronts his father in the afterlife).

     Part of T’Challa’s growth in the movie is his willingness, in light of the new information about T’Chaka leaving young Erik behind, to challenge the ideal notions he had about his father’s reign—culminating in his confrontation with T’Chaka and the other Black Panthers in his second journey to the afterlife. That confrontation, among other things, fuels T’Challa’s shift from isolationism into benevolent outreach into the movie’s final scenes.

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     It would be easy to qualify what T’Chaka did, to water it down, rationalize it, push past it toward reconciliation. But while that approach might be reassuring, it would undermine T’Challa’s progress. Instead, the movie does the smarter thing, letting that uncomfortable recognition of T’Chaka’s sin stand without attempting to resolve it outright. The resulting picture is a more mature, morally complex one, wherein the good guys can take responsibility for their share in the evil of the world… and hopefully learn from the experience. (As a byproduct, the choice also makes Killmonger a far more interesting, far more tragic villain.)

     Looking to the future, Black Panther doesn’t have a lot to say about Marvel’s next movie, the climactic show-down that will be Avengers: Infinity War, outside of introducing Wakanda and its inhabitants. It’s definitely for the best that the Black Panther stands alone, but its post-credits scenes are the one part of the proceedings that leave something to be desired. The first scene puts the finishing touch on T’Challa’s new openness toward international entanglement—a beat that probably belongs before the credits—and the second teases what we already knew: that Bucky Barnes will be awake (and hopefully fixed) in time for Infinity War.

photo courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com

     Interestingly, Black Panther shows no clear sign of where the final Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone, resides. Footage from Infinity War’s trailers would seem to imply that Thanos’ army comes to Wakanda to do battle for the Stone, but Black Panther remains altogether quiet on the subject. There could be some other reason for Thanos’ appearance in Wakanda, but it’s still possible that the Stone is there, unmentioned or unknown. Either way, it’s a smart choice to leave the introduction of the Stone for Infinity War; rather than burdening another solo film with its presence, the Stone can function as another exciting variable in the already mysterious culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 10-year story arc. 

Watch the trailer here. 

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