MOVIE REVIEWS
‘BLACK PANTHER’
PG-13 2:14 ★★★½
The king of a Third World country indeed runs around in a bulletproof catsuit.
That fact surprises people in “Black Panther,” but it’s not a stretch in a Marvel Universe full of green rage monsters and Asgardian warriors.
After emerging as the most intriguing hero in “Captain America: Civil War,” T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) makes his proper debut in style as the homecoming king of Wakanda. He returns to his technologically-advanced African nation to pick up the Black Panther mantle after his father’s death. It’s good to be the top cat, but it’s also complicated.
Before digging into this crafted with care and overdue film, it’s worth addressing the hype surrounding it. “Black Panther” is far and away the most touted piece of modern afrofuturism, a genre that blends elements of fantasy, science fiction and philosophy into a world reimagined with a black ideology.
It’s a creation of profound imagination and empowerment that’s been bubbling about the outskirts of popular culture for decades, championed most recently by modern artists like Kehinde Wiley and JeanMichel Basquiat along with musicians like Outkast and Janelle Monae, who might have dual citizenship in the American south and outer space.
So, picture a genre that’s been hiding in plain sight, like Wakanda, and give it a $200 million megaphone for the first time. That’s pretty novel. Co-writer and director Ryan Coogler (“Creed”) did not miss his shot.
“Black Panther” is a super comic book adaptation with a personality of its own. Boseman’s Panther has a dryer sense of humor than the line-a-minute deliver of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and also takes himself much more seriously than Thor does in “Ragnarok.”
It’s not unheard of to have a movie featuring a black superhero — check out Marvel’s own “Luke Cage” on Netflix, “Hancock” and “The Dark Tower” — but “Black Panther” showcases so many prominent African American characters that it operates in a league of its own, as did “Straight Outta Compton.” The production is steeped in so much African art, culture and costumes that you might not even recognize it, on the surface, as a Marvel Studios release.
Similar to what made “Get Out” a success last year, “Black Panther” is a conversation about a black experience made for a black audience wrapped
in a genre piece that’s sharing a universal story. At its heart, the movie’s about re-evaluating traditions and how adverse they are to change. It’s a rather mature, action-heavy story that makes a strong showing in a crowded field of CGI-filled super stories. It definitely benefits from not having to constantly connect back to convoluted Avenger timelines. It tells its own story.
T’Challa’s at the steering wheel as he struggles with the trappings of leadership and faces moments of peril so virile that I felt nervous for Black Panther. Sure, heroes are constantly bombarded with challenges, but it’s rare for them to feel so immediate.
But “Black Panther” isn’t a one-man show.
The female cast shines as if they’ve been playing super people their whole lives. Warriors Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) kicks equal amounts of tail while Shuri (Letitia Wright) gives the popular gadget guru role a fresh take. Her lab resembles something outta James Bond’s MI6 HQ with way better decorations. Much of the film’s stunning costumes and futuristic production design were crafted by women, too.
Wakandans built their tech-filled society with the aid of a fictional meteoric
ore called vibranium. It fuels everything from the Black Panther suit to public transportation. It’s a constant battle whether vibranium belongs outside Africa. Two baddies want to make that decision for Wakandans.
Although he’s not the main villain, Andy Serkis — the “Tolkien white actor” known for his motion capture roles as Caesar the ape and Smeagol from “Lord of the Rings — takes off his digital mask to play the deliciously evil Ulysses Klaue. He has a special gift for bugging the hell out of everyone around him, and it’s hilarious.
But his menace is stunted by Michael B. Jordan’s especially evil Erik Killmonger. His name says it all. The former black-ops soldier thinks the world is ready for a reboot. Funnily enough, his argument to spread vibranium is a bit weak because he’s the perfect example of a person who shouldn’t have it in the first place.
“Black Panther” is bold, but isn’t totally bulletproof. The fights are a bit clumsy and difficult to follow at times, which wasn’t aided by 3-D glasses. It made a few dimly lit scenes too hard to see. Save your money on those dopey glasses and catch it in two dimensions.
The balance of soundtrack and score puzzled me, too. I figured “Black Panther” would be filled to the brim with the Kendrick Lamarcurated hip-hop soundtrack. My expectations resembled a “Guardians of the Galaxy” feel — where the tracks would weave in and out early and often. Only a handful of tracks made the cut.
The score features a lot of rapid, upbeat rhythmic drumming which sets the mood, but I suppose a soundtrack that’s R-rated doesn’t mesh with a PG-13 movie.
Also, the third act feels a bit rushed. Friends and family turn on each other without much explanation. I’m not sure if “Black Panther” is trying to sneak in a few points about politics and civil wars — no, not Marvel’s “Civil War” — but it needed more finesse.
Still, “Black Panther” roars in its debut and leaps to the front of the Marvel pack.
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira. (Prolonged sequences of action violence and a brief rude gesture)
— Nathan Poppe, The Oklahoman
‘EARLY MAN’
PG 1:29 ★★ ½ H
Aardman Animations is, along with Pixar, responsible for some of the wittiest family entertainment ever, charming both parents and children. “Chicken Run,” “Wallace and Gromit” and its many spinoffs, and “Shaun the Sheep” — the TV series and the movie — are all delightfully clever, which is why the British studio’s name inevitably encourages high expectations.
That may not be fair, but the company only has itself to blame if, measured against its own success, “Early Man” is such a disappointment.
In the grand scheme of movies for kids, the stopmotion comedy is hardly a stinker. But it’s also less fun and inventive than you’d expect, given the company’s stellar, Oscar-winning track record.
The comedy, directed by Aardman fixture Nick Park, centers on Dug (voice of Eddie Redmayne), a late-Stone Age cave man who lives in a lush valley with a tribe of bungling rubes and an adorable pet hog. It’s a miracle Dug and the crew have survived so long, considering they can barely hunt down a rabbit. So when Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) — a Frenchaccented nobleman who’s already enjoying the innovations of the early Bronze Age — rides in on a mammoth with metal weapons and claims the land, what can the more primitive group do but flee?
The entire tongue-incheek premise of the movie is that soccer was invented during the Pleistocene epoch, when a meteor fell to Earth and a bunch of barbarians couldn’t handle the hot piece of rock. So they started kicking it around.
And that’s how “Early Man,” against all expectations, turns into a run-of-the-mill sports movie — soccer being the game of choice in Lord Nooth’s kingdom, where his team of arrogant hunks is unbeatable. Dug approaches Nooth with a wager: The winner of a soccer match between the cave-dwellers and Nooth’s players gets to keep the land where Dug grew up. Given that Dug’s compatriots have never heard of the sport, Lord Nooth is eager to take the gamble, and the highly publicized battle between the Bronze Age and the Stone Age commences.
There are certainly amusements along the way, including a messenger bird who does extraordinary vocal impressions (Rob Brydon), and a couple of sports commentators who rely on puppets for instant replay. The visuals, too, are notable, especially when Dug first travels to Lord Nooth’s domain and stands in awe of all the marvelous technological contraptions.
Yet such diversions don’t entirely distract from a sense that we’ve seen “Early Man” before. Cheeky references to Manchester United and “Jurassic pork” only go so far.
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne and Maisie Williams. (Rude humor and some action)
— Stephanie Merry,
Washington Post
‘SAMSON’
PG-13 1:50 Rating unavailable “Samson” is based on the powerful, biblical epic of a champion chosen by God to deliver Israel. His supernatural strength and impulsive decisions quickly pit him against the oppressive Philistine empire. After being betrayed by a wicked prince and a beautiful temptress, Samson is captured and blinded by his enemies. Samson calls upon his God once more for supernatural strength and turns imprisonment and blindness into final victory.
Starring: Jackson Rathbone, Billy Zane and Taylor James. (Violence and battle sequences.)
— Rottentomatoes.com