Review of Black Panther (2018) by Devon W — 06 Mar 2018

In July of 1966, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the first black superhero to appear in mainstream comics; Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic Four and then Captain America, followed by a handful of others before finally getting his own run in 1973. A powerful and influential force in the Marvel universe, this character finally has his own film (not counting the 2014 fan film Storms of Carnage). Leading the way again, Black Panther is one of only a handful of black superheros to have achieved a prominent place on the silver screen, and it's been a runaway success.

Black Panther is at least on a par with any of the other origin story marvel films, and perhaps does somewhat better, thriving on an established universe and reveling in the ability to break new ground - thematically and socially - with fresh characters, fresh environments and a fresh story.

The film embodies the vision of Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote and directed. Coogler is both a champion of black empowerment and imagination and a comic fan and nerd in his own right; having also directed Creed, he was a natural choice to bring the project to life. This is perhaps most apparent in the setting of Wakanda, which embraces African tribal heritage and culture and makes it feel authentic and vital, while at the same time showing us that Wakanda is an educated, technologically advanced first-world country. Visual and production design has seldom been so strong in a Marvel film. The writing was solid, if somewhat predictable, with only one bit towards the end about sending out ships filled with weapons feeling weak; the character driven story was a fitting medium. Collaboration with Kendrick Lamar was a stunning success, as the soundtrack just shivered with African vibes and the occasional hip hop bounce throughout, nothing out of place and everything crafted with a wonderful attention to detail.

The cast all performed well, and in an inversion of the Hollywood standard of racial inclusion a nearly all-black cast led by Chadwick Boseman and Michael B Jordan is fleshed out by token Caucasians in supporting, story-driven roles. Boseman is, without question, the outstanding performance in this film. No stranger to challenging performances, Boseman follows up three historical character portrayals with a role as superhero; while this seems like a freebie, Boseman brings real gravitas and dignity to his character, making it believable that this person could in fact be the benevolent monarch of a kingdom and not just a superficial quip-slinging comic avatar. Michael B Jordan's character started out being somewhat mysterious but slowly became less and less likable up until the very moment his history was revealed and he truly became relatable, his outrage and internal conflict palpable. Between the two of them there is a really interesting set of dichotomies besides just good guy/bad guy, down to the very essence of their characters; Boseman as African royalty and Jordan as an African American hip hop influenced bad boy.

The supporting cast held up well, too. Lupita Nyong'o led a cast of great female supporting roles, and with any luck we'll get to see her as Malice in another Black Panther film. Andy Serkis shows his versatility as an actor, transforming himself into a vicious outlaw; in stark contrast, Forest Whitaker's mannerisms tend to take the audience out of the movie because despite whatever role he's playing he's still clearly Forest Whitaker. Martin Freeman's take on Everett Ross is pleasantly understated and appropriate despite his vaguely transatlantic accent. Of additional note, Winston Duke deserves mention for his performance in a minor but important role as the intimidating but sincere M'Baku.

Beneath the film's spectacle of superheros and action pulses highly cogitative social undercurrents. While it would be very easy for a movie of this kind to become bitter and resentful with its message or overly self-righteous and preachy, this particular film manages to walk the line without falling into either thematic trap. The internal conflict of the antagonist is real and relatable enough that you can understand the resentment without endorsing it. From some of his lines, the animosity he feels for Europeans and those of European descent is obvious, echoing vindictive sentiments that have proliferated in America for years; however, the film has painted anger and hate as steps on the path to villainy and destruction. It acknowledges the issues of race in society and the accompanying bitterness without supporting it. Instead it offers the image of Wakanda and its champions as the path forward, suggesting without preaching that moving forward together to find solutions and peace is more productive than dwelling on ancient wrongs and feeding hatred. For a film to accomplish this subtly and without draining the fun out of the experience is a truly notable achievement and one worthy of recognition and praise.