Marvel Studios' BLACK PANTHERT'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)Credit: Matt Kennedy/©Marvel Studios 2018
Someplace between the joyous celebration of all things African culture and the tremendous principal cast of all black actors in Black Panther lies a fairly run-of-the-mill comic book movie narrative, but it almost seems at this point that if we're hitting any Marvel Studios movie in search of the non-formulaic, we're going to be sorely disappointed.
We enter the fictional African nation of Wakanda as its prince, the mighty T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman, 42), is set to take the throne following his father's murder (which you may have seen in Captain America: Civil War). For hundreds of years Wakanda has thrived thanks to the also-fictional vibranium, a metal so precious and powerful that it can make any far-fetched sci-fi dreams come true; a metal that just so happens to exist only there. Up until now, pretty much no outsiders have entered Wakanda, but when a mysterious former US soldier (Michael B Jordan, Creed) starts poking around and trying to find his way in for nefarious reasons, T'Challa must confront heavy truths about his country, his people and the heartbreaking past of African Americans. Fill things out with utterly badass women like Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira), and we're really getting somewhere.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, Black Panther is a complete triumph. The costuming and hair, the production design and, frankly, the hot-as-fire score and soundtrack (thanks for the hit jam, Kendrick Lamar!) are all glorious. Where it falters, however, is in its attempts at a deep story. At the very edges of the action lies surface information about colonization and racism, but we never dive deep enough into these concepts in any meaningful way. Rather, they're mentioned briefly between kickass fight scenes which, yes, are kickass, but how refreshing and potentially valuable it might be to see a comic book film dissect something real.
Still, the requisite explosions and shaky morality plays are there, along with the always-fantastic character actor Andy Serkis. Perhaps director-writer Ryan Coogler (Creed) is simply dipping his toes into the concept of a heavier (or more grounded) direction, and we really hope he gets there with a sequel. For now, though, Black Panther is still a gorgeous film and the most culturally-significant Marvel outing to date—that's something all on its own.
8
+Culturally impactful, badass women
-More important concepts lost in the noise
Black Panther
Directed by Coogler
With Boseman, Jordan, Nyong'o, Gurira and Serkis
Violet Crown, Regal, PG-13, 134 min.
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