Review of Black Panther (2018) by Andrew P — 01 Mar 2018

Well, I just wrote a long review for this and then posted it, or tried to, before logging in. I then logged in, hit "post" without noticing that my carefully written review was gone, and now have to write it all over again. So here we go, take two:

Black Panther did not catch or hold my attention from the very first scene. Even the music over the black screen as it faded in had me thinking "Uh-oh. Well, it will probably get much better, so we'll give it the benefit of the doubt". It never did. Instead, like a late night re-run of "The A-Team", I felt like I could have slept through most of it without missing anything. To be blunt, I thought it was boring.

Other reviewers seem to think this is one of the greatest movies ever made, particularly within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I disagree, but it isn't the only time I found myself on the opposite side of the fence with a Marvel movie.

The first time it happened was with Ang Lee's "Hulk", which I loved. It has things I don't like, but overall, I still enjoy that movie a great deal. The blend of music, cinematography, effects, and story, made me feel like I was watching the best of grand opera. But, it didn't perform well and the character was rebooted with Edward Norton playing Bruce Banner. I liked pretty much every scene that had Norton in it, but started disliking the movie when the Abomination was revealed as the villain. Not that I have anything against that villain, but I didn't like the way he was handled in that movie.

More recently, I disliked all the political maneuvering in Civil War. Take that out, and I might have liked it. As it is, after seeing it more times than I care to admit, I still don't like it. Ragnarok was too jokey for my taste. Not that I don't like the humor in Marvel movies--usually I love it, but in Ragnarok, it made Thor the butt of every joke, and I didn't like that.

The problem with Black Panther, at least, the problem I have with it, is that everyone connected to the film seems to have taken themselves so seriously that they stifled all the life from the film. It was like watching a DC movie, where the superheroes may as well be empty costumes for all the personality they have.

Unlike others, I did not like Boseman as T'Challa, nor did I like him in "Civil War". It was one of the things that irritated me about the movie. Marvel has made some brilliant casting decisions, from Idris Elba as Heimdall, Chriss Pratt as Starlord, and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. How could they blow their streak of casting every Marvel superhero to date perfectly by giving us an actor who was so regal that the character lacked a personality and any discernible flaws?

Add to this the claustrophobic sets, average cinematography, tedious story and editing, and the nonsensical mixture of tribal and futuristic culture, and this movie really falls apart.

It was watchable in the sense that it didn't offend me (unlike "the Manchurian Candidate remake, which I walked out on), but it could have been much more interesting if the filmmakers hadn't treated every aspect of this story like a Faberge egg they were afraid might break if they breathed too hard. The political content was sublimated more than expected, but it didn't bother me. I just wish they had let themselves cut loose and make something that was less safe.