Black Panther (2018)

[BK007]

I'm going to have take back some of my disparaging of the movie from before it was released.

 

Finally saw it, and I will say that it does feel like it is Ryan Coogler behind the camera, at least in the sense that it's not the traditional tale told from the perspective of a white male, where Wonder Woman, despite Patty Jenkins, feels exactly like that.

It probably didn't go as deep into such interesting themes as it brought up, but it's definitely leagues ahead of most other Marvel movies and the pretender Bryan Singer X-Men flicks that people like to laud as deep or resonant. There has been a lot of laughable justifications that movies like Winter Soldier are meaningful, but this is as close as Marvel has got so far, and hopefully it's just the start.

It is unlikely that a masterpiece could ever come out of the Disney whitewashing and I'm not sure what exactly Coogler can retread in a sequel given Killmonger's motivations, but continuing in the same vein instead of the feel-good copout of "Wakanda saved the world with moniez and vibranium" would be a welcome change.

 

Shuri absolutely steals the show, but the cast sans-Kaluuya was pretty great. I haven't watched Get Out, but on this performance, I'd say that Kaluuya is a pretty lousy actor, even if he had not much meat to his role. I don't particularly like Michael B Jordan as an actor, and would have preferred them to have cast a new actor, but he did well.

[Avatree]

This started out strong, I liked the mythology and world building that it was writing and it felt fresh with the aesthetic. But.. that's about it. Characters have very strange and inconsistent actions, the fight sequences are flat out awful, and the CGI for alot of it is crap. 

 

I was really annoyed when Klaw died, he was the only person I enjoyed in the movie and he should have been the main villain or at least not be killed off as I'd like to see him again. He's actually scary and funny.

 

There are too many things that happen for no reason other than to move the plot along. Character motives are just illogical.

 

I got very bored about half way through and briefly fell asleep. 

[xanamanax]

I enjoyed it but it really didn't live up to all the hype. First off, I know nothing about the Black Panther comics so I have no idea how true to it the movie stayed. I thought most of the action was pretty good. The final battle in the field was a bit chaotic, and I didn't really like the virtual car and fighter. Killmonger was a great character. I wish he had a bit more screen time. Loved Nakia and Okoye. I liked Shuri but she was a bit too "Q" for me. The story was okay. What surprised me most was how bad some of the production looked. And I mean bad by completely taking me out of the moment. Scenes in the jungle or outdoors that looked so clean, so neat, they reminded me of daytime soaps. That scene when they were extracting Nakia was like, WOW, this looks terrible. It didn't make me think they were in a jungle at all. But, like I said, I enjoyed it. I wouldn't buy the DVD, but if I was flipping though the channels and found it, I'd probably watch again.

 

B+

[Blankments]

"It's hard for a good man to be a king."

 

Black Panther is a striking debut solo film from Ryan Coogler. Boseman embodies T'Challa in an inspiring way, and his role in this movie feels unique within the superhero subgenre. Jordan's Killmonger is more than a worthy match for him, reacting to the existence of Wakanda itself in a touching and harrowing way. Wright steals the show as Shuri, who charms and makes every second of her screentime memorable. Honestly, the whole cast is phenomenal, with not a weak part in the ensemble.

 

More than anything, the star is Wakanda. Brought to life in a jawdropping way, it feels like a real place more than anywhere else in a Marvel movie. I want to explore Wakanda more and see more of its beauty more than anything else after leaving this film. Coogler and Cole's script is on point, tackling big themes and not really having a clear answer for any of them, which is good because that's life. It's a tad disappointing Coogler's direction seems muted, forced to fit within the visual style of a Marvel movie rather truly venture out into the creativity has shown before.

 

Göransson's score is memorable, but doesn't get enough of a spotlight to truly stand-out. The action is mixed, but the highlights include an awesome car chase and the first actual battle sequence in the MCU. The first act sadly feels a little off, but that might've just been getting used to the world and natural growing pains. I will only know for certain with a rewatch. For now, Black Panther is an exciting blockbuster that feels more different than familiar despite some formulaic trappings. Moreover, T'Challa is a hero we need right now, a good man who can be king. A leader we can believe in. Coogler and Boseman nailed that important aspect so well, and that's better than anything else. A thrilling, fun, and touching superhero film. A-

[John Rambo]

BP is definitely worth the hype but not the best MCU movie in recent times. Id give that to Thor:Ragnarok. 

 

But the problem here is BP neither bends towards one of the best knor a one time watch (Marvel can never go wrong). 

It has very tight screenplay even though a few scenes were kinda slow and sluggish. Story was routine nothing new and Michael B Jordan's fucked up performance was way over the top. But Boseman and others screen presence makes it up.

 

Coogler did a good job though not upto the range of his previous movies. Look out for this guy he's gonna be huge someday! 

 

In spite of all these mess Marvel once again doesn't disappoint me as it entertained me. That's what matters end of the day. I remember watching SM:H and there was a void and i felt after a long time Marvel has disappointed me. 

 

Thats the best part of Marvel. They entertain you. 

 

7/10

 

 

 

[MrSinister]

On 3/18/2018 at 4:22 AM, BK007 said:

 

Finally saw it, and I will say that it does feel like it is Ryan Coogler behind the camera, at least in the sense that it's not the traditional tale told from the perspective of a white male, where Wonder Woman, despite Patty Jenkins, feels exactly like that.

It probably didn't go as deep into such interesting themes as it brought up, but it's definitely leagues ahead of most other Marvel movies and the pretender Bryan Singer X-Men flicks that people like to laud as deep or resonant. There has been a lot of laughable justifications that movies like Winter Soldier are meaningful, but this is as close as Marvel has got so far, and hopefully it's just the start.

It is unlikely that a masterpiece could ever come out of the Disney whitewashing and I'm not sure what exactly Coogler can retread in a sequel given Killmonger's motivations, but continuing in the same vein instead of the feel-good copout of "Wakanda saved the world with moniez and vibranium" would be a welcome change.

While WW and BP both introduce a White male to the characters world, in WW it’s a huge name in Chris Pine. 

Martin Freeman is known but him being relegated to a minor role is not unusual when he’s like the Chris Mullin of this dream team ensemble.

 

I agree about X-Men per se as my favorite is probably First Class which Singer didn’t direct. Though I enjoyed X-2 and DoFP I felt First Class did an amazing job with Magnetos revenge plot and reframing the whole childhood sequence in an interesting way. That being said I’m also someone who loved the hell out of Winter Soldier.

 

Continuing in the same vein might be difficult while keeping it fresh. M’Baku is an ally here. I don’t see Shuri wanting the throne for herself. And I can’t really recall too many other interesting internal threats from the comics. I’d like to see Mephisto for something different.

that being said Kendrick Lamar, the artist behind most of the album (not the BFF soundtrack) has offered to play a villain in Black Panther 2. Some think he should do it

https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/kendrick-lamar-play-villain-black-panther-sequel/

[Nostalgia]

Barely Average Movie

[DAR]

  The supporting cast are all great.  However T’Chala himself might be the least compelling character in the film.  And some of the fx work is pretty dodgy.  Overall it’s a good movie.  

[aabattery]

On 2/16/2018 at 8:01 PM, somebody85 said:

Yeah that's what I was guessing. They just never showed them pouring the liquid in his mouth again which they did throughout the rest of the film. I figured that's what that meant though.

 

[CoolioD1]

2 hours ago, aabattery said:

 

But  how did the cotton get in T'Challa's ears?

[aabattery]

12 minutes ago, CoolioD1 said:

But  how did the cotton get in T'Challa's ears?

 

Let me get some timetables and I'll break it down for you.

[somebody85]

On 5/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, aabattery said:

 

Yeah I noticed this immediately when I watched it again, I think last week. Not sure how I missed that in theaters but you were right. Overall held up nicely!

[somebody85]

On 5/16/2018 at 2:54 AM, CoolioD1 said:

But  how did the cotton get in T'Challa's ears?

Ah, yeah I missed that too but my main issue there was the family keeping the TV off but not going to get into it again. Some people love that movie and I thought it was average with a premise that has a lot of issues due to the opening scene.

I liked this a lot more.

[Maxmoser3]

This one has some good bits. But overall pretty overrated. Chadwick Boseman does fine as the main hero, and Michael B. Jordan is an ok villain. But the rest of the movie isn’t very good, just very predictable, and is by far one of the weakest Marvel movies in a while.

grade: D+

[Blankments]

Black Panther improves greatly on rewatch. The first act flows better, the emotion is stronger, and the score and script stand out even more. Coogler’s direction is subtly fantastic and Boseman anchors the entire film with a strong soulful performance that is never overshadowed by the many other great performances. The action still is disappointing but besides that, everything is pretty stellar in Black Panther. A superhero film that takes the mild and tells a truly unique story within it. Excellent. A

[Blankments]

delete

Edited August 20, 2021 by Blankments

[Torontofan]

The film is not perfect but the themes and messages are powerful imo.

 

Like the message that if people did bad to you, and if you have the ability to do bad back, does not mean it is right to do so

 

Is a very powerful one.