Black Panther Review (SPOILER FREE)
Recently, people have started to become more and more aware that there needs to be representation in modern media. Back in 2017 women got their first main character superhero in Wonder Woman, and today Black Panther helps to spread even more equality. Yes, as of today we have a movie where a white guy with an African American sidekick isn’t the main character. In fact, there are only two white characters that appear in more than one scene. However, did this step forward in equality also step forward with a great movie?
Story
Keeping details basic, T’Challa is named king after his father died in Civil War. However, Erik Killmonger, yes that’s his name, comes to Wakanda wanting to take control. So, T’Challa obviously won’t sit by and let that happen, and takes him on as the Black Panther.
Presentation
Honestly, I think Black Panther beats every other Marvel movie so far in its presentation. When it comes to music, there’s a mix of African music heavy with bongos and other instruments, but then you can just switch to a fast paced futuristic sounding song. That’s not even counting all the great rappers featured in this movie, with a good amount of Kendrick Lamar.
When it comes to visuals, Black Panther’s got everything. You want beautiful African waterfalls and landscapes? Black Panther has it. You want futuristic cities and underground mines? Black Panther has it. Do you want to see Oakland, California in both 1992 and the modern day? Black Panther has it.
Black Panther has also got some great camera work and choreography. There are multiple long shots, and they all just look great. There’s also a good amount of fighting, and each and every fight looks great, with you almost being able to feel each hit.
Final Thoughts
Black Panther is the perfect Marvel movie. It has great cinematography, beautiful visuals, an amazing soundtrack, an intriguing story, relatable characters, and just a good time all around. Another thing this movie succeeds in is getting away from Marvel’s quippy joke formula. I think because of their commitment to having all characters speak in quips, movies have suffered. One good example is Thor: Ragnarok, because there were so many jokes the best ones just ended up feeling slightly better than the many others. But, Black Panther has tons of different comedy, with very few of those jokes being quips. So, here’s hoping Infinity War will end up being at least as good as Black Panther.
