Review of Black Panther (2018) by Matt S — 19 May 2018

I thought the movie was a very large disappointment.

The acting was mostly subpar throughout the movie. Chemistry between characters just didn't seem to be there. At no point during the movie did I believe there were any romantic feelings between Nakia and T'Challa. The accents were off at times, the dialogue was poor, and the monologues fell flat. Most surprisingly and disappointingly, Chadwick Boseman's portrayal of T'Challa wasn't what it was in Civil War. I was very excited to see him as the leading man. Unfortunately, I think he proved that he's best as a regal supporting character. The star of the movie ended up being Andy Serkis. He stole the show with his portrayal of Klaue, and at no point was I as emotionally effected as I was by his death. This wasn't because I was upset by his demise, but by the fact that he'd obviously no longer be in anymore scenes. Other than Serkis, I think Michael B. Jordan and Dani Gurira also did great jobs. They also exhibited presence and made you want to see more of them.

Another disappointing factor was the action in this movie. Being a superhero film, good action tends to be important. During the jungle scene when Black Panther stops a caravan of trucks, I couldn't actually see what was going on. A mixture of shaky camera and poor lighting made it impossible to have any bearing on what was happening. Later in the movie, the ceremonial and ending fight sequence lacked any memorable moments and seemed to provide just the bare minimum in action.

There was also a lack of emotional connection between the audience and what was occurring on screen. The movie tried to depict emotionally engaged characters reacting to the ceremonial fight sequences, but it was never believable. As well, the central story lacked depth and at times had some questionable character motivations.

The positives were the couple of enjoyable characters, the costumes, the world building that the movie tended to focus on a little too much, and some of the funny moments.

Overall, I tended to catch myself noticing how long the movie was and not being all too interested in what was happening on screen. I think the failures tend to lie on Ryan Coogler, who seemed to be out of his depth. Creed was an amazing film, I just think the big budget superhero flick had too much for him to manage.