Black Panther

Plot: T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes Black Panther  and King of Wakanda when his father the old Black Panther dies, and after he wins a one-on-one dual with a rival prince. Wakanda is futuristic and wealthy country that hides itself. Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and Eric Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) steal valuables from Wakanda, and the Black Panther with his all-female posse including Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Okay (Danai Gurira) go to get it back. They chase them around Busan, Korea, and Killmonger eventually finds his way to Wakanda. He reveals himself as a long lost Princely cousin, and challenges T'Challa for the throne. This starts a civil war leading to the final battles. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: The beginning is best. I liked the set-up: the mythology of a rich, advanced African country hiding from colonizers.  The art direction was great. I liked the arm-crossing gesture and the female soldiers pounding their spears on the ground. I liked the fighting challenge in the water.

It is slow going early as back-stories unspool including Jordan's Killmonger as the long lost prince. I liked drama of an psycho becoming King; an analogy to Present Trump, as they spell out in the dialog for anyone who misses the symbolism. When the bad guy takes over the government, the army falls into place and the government's resources are now available to profit from.

After Killmonger's initial success, there isn't much cleverness left. The writing delivers some bleak, dark situations for the good guys several times. This whipsaws our emotions, and that's OK.

There is a debate between Killmonger and T'Challa about why doesn't Wakanda open itself to immigrants or share its technology freely with the outside world. Killmonger wants to help the oppressed overthrow their rulers. Killmonger makes good points than T'Challa, but he [not a spoiler] gets defeated by T'Challa, standing up for property rights. This is a Disney film after all, and intellectual property rights are sacred to them. Having said that, in the first post-credit scene, T'Challa and Shuri (Letitia Wright) start a mission in Oakland; so Killmonger seems to have won part of the argument.  (Director Coogler is from Oakland.)

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Andy Serkis, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright.

Directed by: Ryan Coogler

Written by: Ryan Cooglar and Joe R. Cole based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

The Music: Disappointing. There is a hip-hop soundtrack by Kendric Lamar and a regular soundtrack by Ludwig Goransson. Goransson has African themed orchestral music; some repetitive: nothing that sounds good when reviewed the clips on iTunes. Lamar's hip-hop is nothing special, except for Pray for Me by The Weekend and Kendric Lamar. 

The Visuals: I loved the lab. I loved the moving symbols on the walls and the other walls painted with African symbolism. I loved first shots in Korea, outside and in the casino. I liked how the female soldiers were bald and had tattoos on their scalps. You gotta like the armored rhinos; so sad I can't find a photo of them. 

Rating:  3.5 stars: I liked the clever ideas and art direction early. I liked the epic sweep. It has stayed with me. It gets points for the world-building of an a high tech African utopia -- something that I'd never seen in a big budget movie. This is like Brokeback Mountain getting extra points for being unlike anything made before. 

 

More: Here is info on the two end credit scenes.

Even More: Even with all the female actors, my wife didn't like it.

Yet More: My sympathies to those people being driven out of Oakland by the high housing prices, but 2018 Oakland is not so poor. Having been to Oakland during my last vacation, I can only shake my head at the million dollar price tags on the houses. I see a gentrified city, and the idea that Oakland is full of poor people needs a reality check. Even in the low rent neighborhoods, the houses are ½ million.

In Detroit, you can buy a block-full of houses for ½ million.



.