Black Panther
/"Wakanda forever!"
Filmology Rating: 3.83 out of 4
In most regards I’m the wrong person to be talking about Black Panther, I’m a middle class caucasian white male who has been represented thousands of times on the silver screen. I have never felt that struggle that millions of people of other ethnicities have, but I have always empathized with them. While Black Panther is not the first black superhero is grace the silver screen, that honor belongs to Abar, the First Black Superhero which is a film that time has clearly forgotten, but it is clearly the film with the highest profile and highest budget to ever be put on the silver screen.
After the death of his father, T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, returns to the kingdom of Wakanda to take his rightful place on the throne. Shortly after he takes the throne an old nemesis to the Wakandan people, Ulysses Klaue, played by Andy Serkis, plans on storming Wakanda for the kingdom’s precious energy source: vibranium.
The politics being displayed in Black Panther are completely fascinating and brave for a big budget blockbuster to tackle. Most superhero films would just show off action set piece after set piece giving little thought to the motivations and thought process of the characters. You come to understand why every character in this world does the actions that they do and while at times they might seem rather drastic, you can understand them. The entire concept of a world being basically at peace because it hasn’t been colonized by white society is a bold statement for a film that is being marketed as a four quadrant superhero film. The more captivating element is how the film isn’t afraid to let go of its convictions and doesn’t care whether you disagree with them or not. While I am trying to stay as spoiler free as I possibly can, I find it refreshing to see a big blockbuster film tackle the issue of the United States creating military ‘heroes’ that only benefit us but when we release them back into the world, sometimes to their native country we have only given the world a new warlord leader. The only one to blame from the neverending corruption for the sake of ‘liberty and freedom’ is the United States, keep in mind this is only a few lines of dialogue in the film but since the film is incredibly dense with worldbuilding a few lines of dialogue can matter a lot more than an entire thirty minute subplot.
As someone who toyed with the idea of being a political science major those are clearly going to be the concepts that strike a core with me more than the claw swiping action scenes. So, it must be stated that the film is indeed not perfect as once the final act of the film roles along it becomes yet another computer game battle. The only Marvel film to try and inverse this concept was Captain America: Civil War but they haven’t been able to capture that spark again since. Many shots during the elongated battle seem like they were deffectly lifted from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies both in the quality of the computer imagery that is being shown off and with the ridiculousness that is occuring. Honestly moments during the climax of the film I felt like they were from a completely different film and almost destroyed the reality that was in place for me. Keep in mind this is during the final action set piece of the film, after the film already had two fantastic action pieces that I would love to watch again repeatedly.
The most important element to realize with Black Panther is that none of the ideals of the film are radical ideals. They all come from places of basic human functions and needs: the need to find a place in which one belongs; and how do I function in the society in which I am placed. A line of dialogue that is mentioned early in the film states the core journey that T’Challa is “You are a good man, with a good heart. And it's hard for a good man to be a king.” That statement cuts T’Challa to his core, as I feel it would anyone who would hear it. We would like to think that our leaders are good people and always have the best interest for everyone in their kingdom, which at times they do but it’s one of those “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few” situations. T’Challa must also quickly learn the difference between being a warrior who wants to have victory at any cost and being a king whose actions reflect upon his entire kingdom. Without diving deep into spoilers, the thought process from the villain of the film are also incredibly relatable and it in many ways seems like the correct way to handle his situation that he is in. Perhaps he takes it a step too far as every villian does, but the core values of his mission are not misplaced which gives the film a complex layer that most films can only dream of having.
One cannot question that Marvel Studios has made many crowd pleasing films in the past, but with Black Panther they announce that they are here to make provocative films that will make the audience members rethink hot topic issues that most popcorn entertainment won’t dare to touch. Black Panther is a film that captures perfectly where our society is at today, just as how The Dark Knight captured where we were when the War on Terror was at is most frightening. Black Panther will remind the world that isolationism isn’t the answer as to how to stay safe in the world, nor are building giant walls to keep out the threat only to make you a bigger target for your enemies.
Rating: See It
-Jonny G