‘Black Panther’ delivers on many levels
Where to start with this movie? The A-list cast, the social and political commentary, the topnotch director, or maybe the studio that made it happen and keeps knocking it out of the park with every swing.
“Black Panther” is the 18th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It continues the great legacy that Marvel has built with all of their previous films but it is unlike any other Marvel film. While it takes place within the same universe as “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it manages to be unique, very self-contained and stand on its own as a movie. With so many superhero movies nowadays, studios are taking a genre-transcending approach of not boxing their movies only into the “superhero” genre but making it a film with a certain genre that happens to have a superhero.
“Black Panther” feels very much like a spy thriller, a James Bond-type of film, and this makes everything much more intriguing and refreshing. One of the reasons it worked so well on its own is because of the incredible worldbuilding done by everybody behind and in front of the camera.
From the sets to the costume designing to the unique Wakandan accent created by Chadwick Boseman himself, the soundtrack by Kendrick Lamar, and the score composed by Ludwig Goransson, all of these elements come together perfectly to create an authentic feel to the completely fictional nation of Wakanda and makes you feel like you are there.
This is done so well you will leave wanting to revisit Wakanda soon.
The film is great because of the people that worked on it, and with names like these you wouldn’t expect anything less. In the director’s chair is Ryan Coogler, who directed the critically-acclaimed “Fruitvale Station” and the Academy Award nominated “Creed.” Headlining the film is Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa (the Black Panther) and starring opposite him is Michael B. Jordan (who also starred in Coogler’s films) as Erik Killmonger. The supporting cast is filled with incredibly talented actors: Lupita Nyong’o (Oscar winner), Danai Gurira (from “The Walking Dead”), Martin Freeman (Golden Globe nominee), Daniel Kaluuya (Oscar nominee), Andy Serkis (Golden Globe nominee), Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, and Letitia Wright, who stole every scene she was in. The amount of talent surrounding this film is ridiculous and everybody delivers. Every character has purpose and motivation, which makes them relatable even if some of them have super powers and are from an incredibly technologically advanced city.
One of the things that makes “Black Panther” stand out is that it gives us two of the best Marvel villains in a very long time. Marvel is known for not focusing much on their villains, but in “Black Panther” Erik Killmonger is arguably the best Marvel villain yet.
What makes him such a great, compelling and multi-layered character are his motivations. The best villains are the ones that make the audience question right from wrong because they have beliefs worth fighting for, and this is exactly the type of villain Killmonger is.
He fights to protect his people, he fights for his past, and he wants to fight against oppression.
These reasons and the fact that he is willing to do anything to achieve them are what make him dangerous. Andy Serkis plays the other villain, Ulysses Klaue, who is a gangster-like black market arms dealer, and he is outstanding. Serkis’ mannerisms and facial expressions, combined with his character’s twisted way of thinking and carefree attitude, make Klaue one of the most intriguing villains of any Marvel movie.
Aside from the amazing cast, the complex characters and the marvelous worldbuilding, this is a film that does not shy away from tackling important social issues. “Black Panther” thematically deals with very relevant social and political issues such as equality, representation and oppression. This is something that not every film takes on, and this is probably the first Marvel film to do it in such a gutsy way. Packing so many things into a two-hour film was certainly a risk but “Black Panther” went all in and hit the jackpot, becoming not only a very sofilm, cially important but a great one as well.