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Black Panther

feature film, 2018

Review is copyright © 2018 by Wil C. Fry. All Rights Reserved.

Published: 2018.02.25; Updated: 2021.05.20

 

 

The Film

Black Panther is a comic-book based superhero movie, based on the character Black Panther — created in the 1960s (predating the founding of the political organization of the same name). It’s the 18th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU); it opens just after the events portrayed in Captain America: Civil War (which introduced Black Panther to the MCU), though it doesn’t play as a sequel but as a standalone film.

Don’t worry; there aren’t any spoilers coming. Black Panther introduces viewers to Wakanda, a fictional African nation that is home to the world’s only supply of “vibranium” — a fictional metal from a meteor strike 10,000 years ago, and the basis for Captian America’s shield. Wakanda disguises itself as a third-world nation to hide its technologically advanced civilization. In this film, both Wakanda’s secrecy and character are threatened by an invader.

The film has taken on significant socio-political implications, due to its mostly-Black cast, Black director, Black screenwriter, portrayal of a wealthy and uncolonized-by-Europeans African nation, portrayals of natural African hair — but perhaps most of all, as a film during which people of color and African-Americans in particular can feel what we white Americans see on screen every week.

Looked at one way, this movie was just like any other superhero movie. Taking the story alone, I didn’t find it superior or inferior to other comic book movies. There’s a bad guy with an ace up his sleeve, a good guy with super powers but also imperfections, interference by the CIA and secondary bad guys, and lots of cool gadgets, weapons, and outfits.

Millions have been asking all along: “Depict us on screen as we see ourselves, not as you see us.”

But looked at in another light, this film stepped out from the crowd of seemingly ubiquitous superhero sequels and carved its own niche. Much like the Wonder Woman film of 2017, Black Panther filled a certain need, spoke to a certain longing, fulfilled a dream of millions of people who’ve been asking for this all along: “Depict us on screen as we see ourselves, not as you see us.”

And it did this despite a surprising (to me) backlash from apparently real, living white people who are offended to tears over movies like Black Panther. Yes, white people threatened to boycott Thor (2011) when a single Black actor was cast as a resident of a fictional universe. Back in 2012, racist fans were angered when Black actors were cast to play certain parts in The Hunger Games, because they’d always pictured white people when they read the books (despite the books describing these characters as having “dark skin and brown eyes”). And in 2014, when Michael B. Jordan was cast to play Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, there was another outcry. They were mad in 2015 when a Star Wars sequel depicted a Black stormtrooper. I personally witnessed many of these heated discussions on social media. A Black man playing James Bond? People got upset over that.

So imagine how these same moviegoers felt when almost all the characters in a superhero movie were parts given to Black actors? I won’t link to them, but there were startlingly bigoted op-eds in right-wing journals and news outlets, decrying the “virtue-signaling social justice warriors and liberals in general” who “feel overwhelmingly guilty over things with which they had no control or participation — e.g, slavery.” Another attempted to denigrate a related comic book with these words: “much of the plot appears to derive thematically from the Black Lives Matter playbook”. Conservative “thinker” Ben Shapiro literally said Black people should have been satisfied with Blade and Catwoman. Seriously. Not to mention that after the film opened, other racists began fraudulently claiming they’d been attacked by Black men at screenings of Black Panther.

Despite all this, humans who enjoy movies went in droves to see the film when it opened. After nine days, it has grossed over $700 million globally — and hasn’t even opened yet in Japan or China. (Update: the eventual gross was about $1.3 billion and the film won three Academy Awards from nine nominations.)

 

What I Liked Least About It

These are very minor nitpicks. First, near the beginning, when the history of Wakanda is being described, it’s said that vibranium made the country technologically advanced, while the world around them “descended into chaos”. But later, it’s insinuated that much of the technology of the country is new — developed by the king’s sister. It is entirely possible that I misunderstood, but it seemed to me that this was a contradiction.

Secondly, I noticed a reference to one character having graduated Annapolis “at 19”. Having personally applied to the U.S. military academies, I’m fairly certain there are no exceptions to the minimum age requirements for entry (17) and for a full four years to be required.

 

What I Liked Most About It

Honestly, the best thing about Black Panther is that it gave representation on screen to an eighth of our population that very often doesn’t get to see themselves in big-budget action blockbuster movies.

It’s well-made overall; I noticed no weird editing glitches or sound problems — which I tend to notice in every movie I see.

It has less humor than MCU movies typically force in. Having grown accustomed to the rhythm of Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Helmsworth slipping in a one-line joke every 90 seconds or so, it was actually something of a relief to wait longer between the less serious moments. Don’t misunderstand; there were jokes. Some were laugh-out-loud funny; others were more subtle. A few, I missed in my first viewing.

I also liked several subtle jabs at political regressives. For example, Wakanda has long had a “Wakanda First” policy — they don’t interfere or assist other nations, despite having the ability, both technologically and financially, to do so. In fact, one of the central themes of the story is the decision about whether to share Wakanda’s precious resources with the rest of the world. Though the words “Wakanda First” are never used in that way, the implication was obvious (to me) that the writers were thinking of the occasional U.S. tendencies to hoard our wealth and help “America First” (by which we usually mean the U.S. only).

Several quips were made in reference to colonization — the European conquest and exploitaion of Africa that was barely mentioned in my history classes growing up. Colonization — and the subsequent sudden decolonization that left many nations of the world stateless — is arguably the primary “contribution” of Europeans to the world and hasn’t gotten nearly the coverage it should have.

The costuming was gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any movie — in my entire life — with actors costumed this beautifully.

The set design, both CGI and actual (though it’s not easy to see where one ends and the other begins), was incredible. The structures in Wakanda looked and felt like places I would want to live. The laboratory, vibranium mines, mag-lev train, and other features of Wakanda were impressively designed as well.

It was also immersive. There were only a few places where a fast cut took me out of the story or something was so unrealistic as to be distracting. Most of the time, I felt like I was there, standing next to the people onscreen.

 

Conclusion

If you see only one movie in the theater all year, it should be this one. If you buy only one movie on disc all year, it should be this one. Even if you typically don’t like superhero films, this one carries such a different tone, such an air of dignity, poise, and clarity, that it’ll be worth it.