Review: Black Panther
More than a significant milestone for the Marvel Cinematic Universe - or any other comic book film franchise, for that matter - Black Panther is, in and of itself, a thrilling film, combining spectacular action sequences, engaging wit, heartfelt drama, and, yes, racial politics with the ease that has defined many an MCU film. It also continues to up the standards of the genre, which has seen quite a number of excellent entries in the past 18 months alone - Logan, Wonder Woman, and Thor: Ragnarok - making sub-standard efforts like Justice League all the more woeful for their slapdash ways.
Of course, Black Panther isn't the first comic-based studio film with a black hero front and center (that honour belongs to 1988's Blade), nor is it the first Marvel-affiliated one (that would be Luke Cage on Netflix). Neither does it break new ground as far as the story it tells. The Shakespearean familial conflict at its center mirrors the one that has played out between Thor and Loki and, especially, between the Odinson Brothers and Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. The clashing beliefs of its central characters reflect the overarching one between Iron Man and Captain America. Even one set piece is a virtual swipe from the Bond film Skyfall, except the casino is in Busan rather than Macau. Yet Black Panther is a glorious achievement for it not only brings its own style and flair to oft-seen tropes, but it also grounds it specifically in the Afrocentric experience. Unlike Blade or Will Smith's Hancock, blackness is in no way incidental or represented as impoverished, victimised, colonised, or homogenised. Black Panther's vision of blackness is an Afro-futuristic one, where the promised land has already been won.
Picking up where Captain America: Civil War left off, the film finds Prince T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), still grieving the death of his father, returning to Wakanda to assume the throne. There we meet several important figures in his life: Zuri (Forest Whitaker), keeper of the heart-shaped herb that imbues its consumer with superhuman powers; W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), T'Challa's best friend who also serves as the head of security for the Border Tribe; and, most significantly the quartet of women, most of whom are arguably the real stars of the film: T'Challah's mother, the regal Ramonda (Angela Bassett); his younger sister Shuri (the scene-stealing Letitia Wright), whose technological innovations and cracking humour are likely to capture Tony Stark's admiration; his ex-lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), an undercover operative; and Okoye (Dania Gurira, magnificent), the phenomenally fierce leader of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special forces of Wakanda who serve as his bodyguards. These women are no mere tokens - they are independent, intelligent, assertive, possess agency, and are integral to the action.
"It is hard for a good man to be king," T'Chaka tells his son when they meet on the ancestral plane and, indeed, T'Challah's primary concern is how to maintain Wakanda's guise as a primitive nation when it is, in reality, a beacon of advanced technology and utopian living. Traditionalists want to keep their anonymity, progressives believes the vibranium, the source of their nation's power and success, should be shared with the world, at the very least with their fellow African kingdoms, most of which are struggling and oppressed. Into this already simmering ideological divide enters Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), the South African black-market smuggler first introduced in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. When T'Challah gets wind that Klaue is about to sell a stolen Wakandan artifact in Busan, W'Kabi, whose parents were killed as a result of Klaue's prior dealings, sees it as a perfect opportunity to bring Klaue to justice.
Unfortunately, the mission to capture Klaue goes awry with the appearances of CIA Agent Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), last seen in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, and Erik "Killmonger" Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), a former U.S. military operative who soon sets foot on Wakandan soil and announces his designs on the throne, adding the most potent threat to T'Challah's nascent reign. For all their excellence, Marvel has often been accused of featuring fairly unsatisfying villains, but both Killmonger and Klaue prove exceptions to the rule. Whilst Klaue is a deliriously over-the-top thug, literally armed with a super cannon, Killmonger is on the opposite end of the spectrum: his grievances are all-too-human, his actions relatable, and his villainy more tragic than treacherous.
Director Ryan Coogler cannot be lauded enough for what he has achieved here. This is a film that more than exceeds its ambitions. From Hannah Beachler's incredible production design to Ruth E. Carter's vibrant costumes to Rachel Morrison's stunning cinematography to Ludwig Goransson's percussive score, every frame of Black Panther is not only deeply and effortlessly cool, but it vibrates with cultural specificity and representation. Look at his ships, which bear the shapes of African masks. Or Shuri's lab, which mixes the sleek and sterile with tribal art. Or all of the women sporting natural hair (one scene finds Okoye purposefully snatching off her own wig to unleash her true warrior self, and it is rousing to the nth degree, as is a sure-to-be iconic moment where a man bows down to Okoye). That Coogler and co-screenwriter Joe Robert Cole integrate the personal and the political, the desire to understand one's ancestry despite generations being slaughtered, the fight to be free and unshackled, and explore race and subjugation would be remarkable under any scenario; that they do it within a Marvel movie is a miracle.
Black Panther
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Written by: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole; based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Sterling K. Brown, Isaach De Bankolé, Florence Kasumba
