Black Panther (Spoilers-- Seen it? Discuss it here.)
TheOriginalGMan
Posts: 1,763
Saw it last night and loved it. My initial take is it's a top 5 MCU movie, right up there with Guardians of the Galaxy and Winter Soldier. If you want to tell me it's the best of the lot, it'd be hard to take exception. Easily the most visually beautiful of all the MCU movies, bumping Doctor Strange down a notch to #2 in that category now. The colors, costumes, and stunning views of Wakanda were mesmerizing.
I found the movie to be equal parts "The Lion King," "James Bond," and "The Lord of the Rings," but it worked. I thought the plot moved along at a nice pace, even given it's 2 hours and 15 minute run time. Usually, anything longer than an hour and 45 minutes or so has me checking my watch frequently (Hey, I'm old ... sue me). Not the case here.
A number of nice plot twists / reveals throughout the film, all of which worked well. The flashback reveals with the King's brother and young Forrest Whitaker worked great.
Thought Shuri was the best part of the movie. She definitely had all the best lines, and uttered what was arguably the funniest line in MCU history. Yep ... "WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE???" Missed all the dialogue that occurred for the next 30 seconds after that as everyone was roaring with laughter still.
If I hadn't known beforehand that Danai Gurira played the leader of the Dora Milaje, I never would've recognized her.
Michael B. Jordan was fantastic as Killmonger. The whole backstory with him being the orphaned nephew of the King living in Oakland was great.
I was aware of who Lupita Nyong'o was, but had never seen her in anything before (I know, I know ... I need to see "12 Years a Slave." It's on my list). She is, quite simply, one of the most beautiful women on the planet.
Didn't understand how the war rhinos appeared out of nowhere. Were they supposed to have been on that downed ship?
Knew I recognized Letitia Wright (Shuri) and Daniel Kaluuya (W'Kabi) from somewhere. As it turned out, both had starring roles in episodes of Black Mirror. Thanks, IMDB!
W'Kabi's decision to side with Killmonger felt out of place for me. Would have worked better if they alluded to some animosity between him and T'Challa, I think.
Andy Serkis' performance as Klaw was fine. Can't help but think how awesome Tom Hardy would've been in that role though.
I found the movie to be equal parts "The Lion King," "James Bond," and "The Lord of the Rings," but it worked. I thought the plot moved along at a nice pace, even given it's 2 hours and 15 minute run time. Usually, anything longer than an hour and 45 minutes or so has me checking my watch frequently (Hey, I'm old ... sue me). Not the case here.
A number of nice plot twists / reveals throughout the film, all of which worked well. The flashback reveals with the King's brother and young Forrest Whitaker worked great.
Thought Shuri was the best part of the movie. She definitely had all the best lines, and uttered what was arguably the funniest line in MCU history. Yep ... "WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE???" Missed all the dialogue that occurred for the next 30 seconds after that as everyone was roaring with laughter still.
If I hadn't known beforehand that Danai Gurira played the leader of the Dora Milaje, I never would've recognized her.
Michael B. Jordan was fantastic as Killmonger. The whole backstory with him being the orphaned nephew of the King living in Oakland was great.
I was aware of who Lupita Nyong'o was, but had never seen her in anything before (I know, I know ... I need to see "12 Years a Slave." It's on my list). She is, quite simply, one of the most beautiful women on the planet.
Didn't understand how the war rhinos appeared out of nowhere. Were they supposed to have been on that downed ship?
Knew I recognized Letitia Wright (Shuri) and Daniel Kaluuya (W'Kabi) from somewhere. As it turned out, both had starring roles in episodes of Black Mirror. Thanks, IMDB!
W'Kabi's decision to side with Killmonger felt out of place for me. Would have worked better if they alluded to some animosity between him and T'Challa, I think.
Andy Serkis' performance as Klaw was fine. Can't help but think how awesome Tom Hardy would've been in that role though.
Comments
Researching the character, Klaue didn’t die before becoming Klaw.
And the death was off-screen. Nothing can truly be ruled out.
This had to be (and I used the phrase I saw elsewhere) the most grown-up Marvel movie. When you deal with the issues that Killmonger raised about being isolated while the rest of Africa was being enslaved and exploited was realness. And I think Michael B. Jordan played him well as being just cold and psychotic. This was a guy who said fuck the world.
Enjoyed Letitia Wright's portrayal of Shuri as the tech whiz. I can see where Feige was saying that the Black Panther will be Marvel's James Bond so we see he has his Q. The only issue I had was that she seemed kind of upbeat for her father dying just over two weeks ago. We all grieve in different ways but I can see where she deals with it by inventing stuff.
My thoughts on the film (Spoilers).
M’Baku... The Man Ape.
We live in heady times.
https://www.theroot.com/killmonger-was-wrong-and-ya-ll-know-it-1823134207
It is the first Marvel movie (aside from Iron Man II), where I walked out of the theatre and didn't have the urge to purchase another ticket right away. Maybe I've reached the saturation point.
One thing I found kind of amusing tho: it really highlighted the idicoy of having a government determined by trial by combat! lol Happily, they have remedied that in the current excellent comic (altho not for the reason that picking a ruler via trial by combat is moronic!).
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You can find the podcast wherever you prefer to get them. The show is called Still Processing, and the episode is called "We Sink Our Claws Into Black Panther...". It is also on various online players, too, like this one.
And Coates joins the conversation around the 19 minute mark.
Now about the end credit scene with Bucky. They kids called him "White Wolf". I wonder if that was just a red herring (like communism) or are they going to make him the White Wolf character from the Black Panther comics. I know Sebastian Stan has a multi-picture deal and we are all assuming he will end up becoming Captain America after Chris Evans leaves, but what if they do this with him instead?
This was what I wish Thor had done in his movie, called out on Odin's BS. That would have made the film 10 times better for me.
Looking back, it feels like this entire movie has a lot more guts than Infinity War's plot-twist, touching on very hard-hitting and relatable topics Marvel has very rarely done before. I love the ambiguity in this scene and the movie. The "good guys" aren't always the good guys, and sometimes, the bad guy has a point too.
It's probably too much to expect such quality scriptwriting in every single MCU entry in the future (especially where Ant-Man is concerned), but oh well. I'll take what I can get from the Panther franchise for now.
I recall reading posts that killing Kent in BvS:DoJ was “bold,” but I thought that was overselling it. Maybe if Lois or Batman was killed, I’d think differently.
I’m actually glad not every franchise is written the same. I like that when I see Antman & Wasp this summer it’ll be different then what I just saw in the theatre. It feels more like the books; not every title has the same tone & style.
I’m looking forward to watching Black Panther again. I’ve got it currently around 4-5-6-7 with First Avenger, Iron Man, & the Avengers. I’ve realized my top 3 & my bottom 3 have been the easier ones to pick.
To be fair... you really shouldn't be quoting my "spoilers" if you realized that. Should've at least edited it out. Seems like you're contradicting your own point.
Anyone else see the similar plot elements Black Panther (2018) has with Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980)?