Marvel's Black Panther growls, doesn't roar
There are a lot of reasons I try to avoid knowing anything about a movie before I go to see it. While it is relatively easy to avoid spoilers on social media, because my friends and the people I follow are cool like that, it is harder to avoid what is going on at the box office. Knowing that “Black Panther’ scored $200 million in its first weekend and $100 million its second raises a person’s expectations to a level that may be too high for any movie to meet. Add a Marvel movie fest that went from “Captain America: Civil War” to “Doctor Strange” and seeing “Black Panther” in a foreign language, and perhaps, no film could meet expectations while playing in a language that I barely comprehend.
The music was certainly visceral. I felt my legs moving to the beat and my foot tapping with the rhythm. The set for the Jabari is amazing. I love the minimalistic style of the walls. It felt like an elaborate theatre set, and that’s a compliment in this case. However, I wasn’t in love with the James Bond feel of Princess Shuri and the Casino scene. I like Morgan Freeman, but was he really necessary to this film. Couldn’t they have found someone else to provide the same amount of… ineptness, explanatory role… Just exactly why was he in this movie? Worse, Black Panther falls victim to the same problem that every other Marvel movie has had… For a spoiler or two, skip past the trailer.
The music was certainly visceral. I felt my legs moving to the beat and my foot tapping with the rhythm. The set for the Jabari is amazing. I love the minimalistic style of the walls. It felt like an elaborate theatre set, and that’s a compliment in this case. However, I wasn’t in love with the James Bond feel of Princess Shuri and the Casino scene. I like Morgan Freeman, but was he really necessary to this film. Couldn’t they have found someone else to provide the same amount of… ineptness, explanatory role… Just exactly why was he in this movie? Worse, Black Panther falls victim to the same problem that every other Marvel movie has had… For a spoiler or two, skip past the trailer.
The bad guy dies. In this case, 2 bad guys die. MARVEL! STOP KILLING YOUR VILLAINS! Before you point out Loki, let me point out Loki. He’s an example of what you can do with a bad guy who lives! Better, your good guys, ultimately, should be powerful enough to stop the bad guys without killing them, and Wakanda would’ve been the best place to start with that! Superhero films are supposed to be about the best that human beings can become. By and large, that is what Marvel is trying to show us, even in this film. Let’s start with valuing all life. Bad guys don’t have to die. Of course, when the only good guy you have killed is a one-off Quicksilver and all the collateral damage is only really talked about in personal terms when it is convenient, maybe killing the bad guys adds weight to the universe and the possibility that someone can die. Plus, bad guys should be able to get a team up, too. They can’t do that if they’re dead.
In the final analysis, for this review, anyway, “Black Panther” seems to have filled a need of some sort. The film itself is decent if underwhelming. I certainly wouldn’t say it is the best Marvel film to date -- my preferences lie with “Captain America: Civil War,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Doctor Strange” and “The Incredible Hulk.”
In the final analysis, for this review, anyway, “Black Panther” seems to have filled a need of some sort. The film itself is decent if underwhelming. I certainly wouldn’t say it is the best Marvel film to date -- my preferences lie with “Captain America: Civil War,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Doctor Strange” and “The Incredible Hulk.”