The story is so rich, there are several layers to it that mark it out as one of the best ever in a CBM, the themes within do allign with a lot of curent events and are intelligently explored via the conversations between the characters, while the thriller element of the plort also takes several dramatic turns.
The acting is top notch across the board, MBJ does bring a militant anger to Killmonger that is powerful but I think people are undervaluing Chadwick's performance as it doesn't have the grandstanding style of Killmonger, but he conveys the honor and noble leadership of T'Challa perfectly, and I just think it's case of the current day underappreciating a straight up hero. The reviews are also sleeping on M'Baku, he is great and has several excellent moments.
Of the Ladies I do think Shuri and Okoye steal the plaudits, Letitia is all heart and spunk with a bit of cute naivety as Shuri, while Okoye is fierce, passionate, regal and at times funny. Lupita is good as Nakia I just don't think she gets as much good material as the other 2 Ladies, but I do like her dynamic with both T'Challa and Okoye.
Visually the film is stunning, so many beautifully captured scenes, and of course that unique colorful tribal and sci fi tech mix is glorious to watch, the first establishing shot of Wakanda is breathtaking.
The action is solid without being great, the editing is a bit erratic at times and there's some very obvious CGI models for some of BP's acrobatics, it's not on the level of the action of the Russos, Chris McQuarrie or Justin Lin, that's not to say the action doesn't have some good moments, the Korea chase is cool and I liked the Waterfall duels, but I don't feel T'Challa is captured phsyically as well as he was in Civil War, Okoye actually moves better in the hand to hand stuff, and the final fight with Killmonger is poor.
One thing the film does bring is a slice of humour that I wasn't expecting, it's not overdone like in Ragnarok, but there are two or three funny lines/moments in the film that got an audible laugh in my showing.
All in all the film is a triumph, I am already thinking of where a sequel might go lol. Black Panther takes a seat at the top table straight away, right up there with the heavyweights of the genre like TDK, The Winter Soldier and Civil War.
9/10
Movie is still fresh in my mind so I'm letting it digest. Initial reactions are positive with some grievances. One of them being...
...the death of TWO GREAT VILLAINS!!! What the actual ****!!?!? They dropped Klaw and I was like ahh $***, at least we have Killmonger, then the dropped him too!!!
Killmonger has a history of coming back to life in the comics, so one can only hope, but resurrections af corny.
I'll be back to do a proper review. I'm just binging all the interviews and tv spots I purposely avoided building up to the movie.
Edit: I quickly add, am I the only black guy that didn't...really feel offended by the gorilla cult. Not only did it fit well, I thought the Jobari and M'Baku were scene stealers. Him and Shuri were my fave characters
No spoiler review here.
Straight 9.0/10 for me.
Best origin movie for Marvel or any superhero movie by a long shot.
I am a big fan of Coogler and this DOES NOT disappoint. I didn't cry though, unlike Creed which had me bawling.
Big props to Feige for nailing Wakanda. I'd say Wakanda is the hardest thing to get right in BP and they nailed it. The level of detail done to this city and the culture really whopped DC's Themyscira in the butt.
The villain does not disappoint. He is terrifying and does not give any Fs. It leaves you begging for more of Killmonger.
They also nailed the powers of the suit which is very faithful and it looks much better on-screen than in pictures. Absorbing energy and redirecting it is totally the suit from the comics.
Lastly, the side characters are all top notch and really empowering to see the women are even better than the men and that the men are more the damsels in distress.
We in Asia don't clap after the movie ends. But on this rare occasion, we clapped and cheered for the movie. That's making an impact.
Edit: I quickly add, am I the only black guy that didn't...really feel offended by the gorilla cult. Not only did it fit well, I thought the Jobari and M'Baku were scene stealers. Him and Shuri were my fave characters
I'm not black but...I thought they used the Gorilla motif in a powerful and menacing way, rather than a disrespectful way, it was really effective in the scene where M'Baku and his tribe enter the falls to challenge T'Challa.
Um T'ChallaDidn't kill off Killmonger. He delivered a fatal wound but Killmonger didn't want to be healed and wanted to die. T'Challa respected his wishes. Plus, if they follow the comics Killmonger may just show up again at some point.
Another thing that I realised.
When Erik ordered the people to burn off the purple flowers for the next king, but Nakia managed to steal a few purple petals, does that means the purple flower bed is now gone forever??
So the Black Panther power remains in those last few petals stolen by Nakia??