Review of Black Panther (2018) by Jonathan B — 27 Feb 2018

After some pretty dire, incomprehensible and deeply unsatisfying movies from Marvel Studios, it is great to find that they can still pull it out of the bag and make fun, entertaining and exciting movies.

Black Panther breaks so many moulds of this, frankly tired genre, that it appears fresh, optimistic and original. Chadwick Boseman is great as the lead, T'Challa, King Wakanda, the hidden, technologically advanced African country, who takes on the hereditary role of the titular superhero.

This is a character with style, panache and humility, proving himself to be a more intelligent character than many fantasy characters. He is aided by a noble group of female warriors who act as his personal guard and sidekicks.

There's plenty of action which makes this film thrilling to watch. The whole look and visual style of Wakanda and the tribal touches to the technology are wonderfully realised and give the film a unique feel and there's a merciful lack of the incomprehensible gobbledygook that has mired other Marvel franchise movies.

This is a proper superhero movie with a good solid plot that doesn't get bogged down in the ego or psychological turmoil of its lead character. It's just plain good fun and much better for it.