Black Panther - Spoiler-Free Review

If you could not tell by the title of this piece, this review of Black Panther will be spoiler-free!

Finally.

Finally finally finally.

Superhero films and Hollywood, in general, have been living in a bubble for many years. These films have consisted of largely white men with powers, and accessory characters to support them coming from a variety of different backgrounds to help them. Last year we finally saw Hollywood take a chance of creating a story for young girls to look up to in Wonder Woman, and saw that it could be a truly massive success. Gal Gadot took a character that was loved by comic book fans all around the globe and made her a true icon and hero for people to look up to. Unfortunately, though, that still means that an extremely large group of people were still being left out and essentially forgotten about in Hollywood, people of color. With the introduction of Black Panther, Ryan Coogler and Marvel have finally sought out to break ground and give these people the inclusion they truly deserve in Hollywood.

For those uninitiated (god bless your soul), Black Panther is the story of T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who is returning to his home nation of Wakanda to become king after the death of his father, T'Chaka. Upon his arrival, it is brought to his attention that an old foe in Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) has come back to prominence, along with a mysterious accomplice: Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). What follows is a conflict for not only physical control of Wakanda but over the ideals of this special nation. Along the way, T'Challa must work with those closest to him to protect the country they hold dear, and the way of life they have grown up with, all while questions of what their country should become appear more apparent. I honestly can't get any deeper into the story of Black Panther without entirely gushing and discussing every last detail of the movie, but after taking time to sit back and think on this movie, I do believe it is one of the best stories is superhero film history. Instead of focusing on a singular conflict between two people, this conflict engulfs nearly everyone in the nation of Wakanda and challenges them to make a choice as to who they are and who they want to be. Ryan Coogler's story for this film is fantastic and helps to make this incredible film even more incredible.

Enough about the story though, I want to talk about T'Challa himself and his family. Honestly, there isn't too much you can really say against Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther. He plays this character with such a quiet and proud confidence in every scene and he truly is a presence. They way he engulfs himself into the character is incredible and is only matched by those around him. The only thought I do have with the character of Black Panther, which is understandable and not something that necessarily bothers me, is that he is an essentially good person. Always believing in the righteous action he will work to make the Wakanda better for his people. This belief begins to be challenged though by his foes, and it results in fantastic character development for the king himself.

Outside of the main character, there are so many supporting characters in this film that deserve a form of recognition. Coogler creates a balance that allows for him to make sure every supporting character gets a focus and doesn't feel like an unnecessary accessory. First, I look at Letitia Wright, T'Challa's sister Shuri. The technology expert who helps create the necessary equipment he uses, she could have simply been the person behind the computer, but she comes into her own as the story develops and I really enjoyed the character as a whole. Another supporting character around the Black Panther is his former lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o). This is again a scenario where if the director was anyone other than Coogler, she could have been a simple love interest, but she has a larger purpose in question whether Wakanda is using its wealth of technology and intellect wrongly. This is a hint at a larger conflict and I really can't say enough about her role in the film.

The other major supporting characters I want to discuss before getting into my favorite character in the film is Danai Gurira's Okoye and Daniel Kaluuya's W'Kabi. She's head of the Dora Milaje, the female special forces unit that protects the king. Being a fierce warrior who is devoted to the nation of Wakanda results in her being morally challenged on a level I didn't expect and I give praise to her for being able to show that pain of choice in her eyes. Daniel Kaluuya plays her lover in W'Kabi and for me, he is the only true weakness this film has. He has a point of view that can certainly be respected, but he felt simply too much of a back and forth personality to truly be impactful. Again, I understand why he's there and the purpose he plays but the character just felt like it wasn't treated correctly.

Alright, enough squabbling about the supporting characters of the film, I think the thing everyone really wants to know about is Killmonger. At first, after having just seen the movie, I did not find Michael B Jordan's portrayal to be as fantastic as critics had spoken of him. But, with some thought and time, I began to realize just how great of a character we have on our hands with Killmonger. I've always believed that the best villains are those who see themselves as the hero and challenge you to question who you really should be rooting for in a story. Killmonger does exactly that, as he has a backstory that leaves him tragically abandoned and forced into a life he didn't choose for himself. When he comes to Wakanda, he brings a path of action that directly counters that of T'Challa, but the reality of the situation is that there is a world where he is speaking the truth. Again, if I were to do an in-depth discussion for the character of Killmonger, it would go into spoiler territory, but I do believe we are witnessing one of the great villain performances in Jordan's fantastic character.

Outside of the fantastic characters that Black Panther brings to the table, there are two other main things that I really want to talk about: the look of this movie, and the true cultural impact that this film brings to the table. Firstly, Black Panther is an absolutely beautiful looking film with some of the best visual effects the MCU has to offer. For me, that felt rather strange in a good way because you would expect a film that needed to rely more on the effects such as Guardians to be the standard bearer for visual effects in this franchise, but no, Black Panther takes it to the very next level and sets a new standard for these films. The costume design is some of the best I have ever seen, showing the true history of African culture in the clothing and still implementing the idea that this is a technological hub for the entire world. Once again, I can't praise the filmmakers enough for being willing to dive into the culture of African American people with fear.

So, after talking about the story, characters, and visuals of Black Panther, I want to finish this article up by discussing the true impact this film has on Hollywood. Being that I'm not a person of color, I can't truly state the impact this film has but I am not an idiot and I can recognize how big of a moment this is for Hollywood. For too long now Hollywood has spent far too long pushing white males as the heroes, but finally Marvel came to it's senses and created a story that not only is excellent on its own, but manages to give children of colored descent someone they can truly look up to as a hero and shows that placing people of color in starring roles can result in a truly successful film (something Hollywood was quietly been avoiding for many years now). Black Panther is a cultural phenomenon in so many ways that I can't state all at once. I'm just finally happy that Hollywood has recognized that it doesn't matter who stars in a film, as long as the film is great people will come to see it. But especially for this movie, we need to step back and realize just how powerful this movie is for so many people.

Wrapping up my by far longest review to date, we talked about the story, characters, visuals, and impact of this story. The dichotomy between T'Challa and Killmonger is one of the best Marvel has had to offer with the entire universe. Black Panther is a masterpiece of film-making and Ryan Coogler has surely set himself up to get a big payday to return to this franchise in the near future I'm certain. I cannot heap enough praise onto everyone involved in this movie so I'll simply state that this movie was a dream come true for me and I'm sure many people across the globe. As for a score, I thought long and hard about how I wanted to place this film, and I realize that in the immediate time after a film's release I may be living in a high from enjoyment so I needed some time to think it through. Black Panther has become an essential character and how he becomes king is one of the best stories to date in the explosive superhero genre. All in all, though, I think the true magic of this movie is in what it does for the Marvel universe and Hollywood as a whole. Superheroes aren't just white men. They're men AND women. They're people of all races and ethnicities. Black Panther makes the dreams of so many people a reality, and for that, I'm glad to have seen it.

9.75/10

Thank you for reading or at least skimming my review of Black Panther! Next week I will be doing my first group podcast diving deep into Black Panther with my friends Gerry and John to discuss everything there is to discuss with this film. We'll see you then!