Archived Review: Black Panther
T'Challa, otherwise known as the Black Panther, is in a little bit of a pickle. The only thing holding the people of his kin (Wakanda, a hidden country built on the basis of technology and tradition) and the chaos of the outside world apart, is the will of his culture. But as King, he holds more responsibility than first examined. Not only do enemies come to Wakanda, but they come home.
What's so ultimately refreshing about Ryan Coogler's Black Panther is that we are finally given a better climactic essence than 'Beat up that evil blue dude' or 'Kill that crazy god-thing'. No, morals are being finally tested, and a bloodline dynamic is at the centre of it all. When I first saw T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) in Civil War, he was easily my favourite addition to the ever growing super-roster alongside Spiderman. Yet what really shocks me here, is how driven he is by (for lack of a better word) fear.
Perhaps fear is a poor choice of words, the man is straight faced nobility, but the knowledge of death is crippling to him. What's even greater maybe, is the knowledge that there are more people out there dying because of things he cannot control.
I wish Marvel would pick up their cinematography game like they did in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Wakanda is a gorgeous place at daytime, but at night it is a squintathon to the eyes. It lacks as much as the costume design soars, exquisite attire, not to mention an accompaniment to the delightful soundtrack. It's not the dreary basic schloch of Iron Man or Avengers: Age of Ultron, but a fusion of African instrumentals and satisfactory tension building, I will not forget this soundtrack. Ever. And I'm not writing about the original songs by Lamar, I'm talking proper non-diegetic studio music.
What's weird to say is that Black Panther is rhetorically resolute on 'simpler times' and somehow all about the what the future holds for us as a world, and as people of our own nations. What's weirder... is that a Superhero film... in 2018... is so... peaceful?
Blog image credit: Marvel Studios
