Black Panther
This week's movie rental was Black Panther ...
a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film is directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.
In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but his sovereignty is soon challenged by a new adversary who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since the film version of the character of the Black Panther was introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), but the Black Panther's homeland, Wakanda, has always been a part of the Marvel Universe, as that's where the extraterrestrial metal, vibranium, that comprises Captain America's shield, can be found. Here's a video showing his introduction in the Captain America movie ...
The plot: the Black Panther movie begins where the earlier film ended, with T'Challa taking part in a ritual to formally become king of Wakanda after his father's death. His first effort as king is to track down Ulysses Klaue, a South African black-market arms dealer who has stolen vibranium from Wakanda (which the evil Ultron used to make his new body, but that's another movie ;). While trying to do this, he encounters someone he hadn't known existed, a cousin who challenges him for his throne and also challenges his very idea of Wakanda's fated place in, and duty to, the rest of the world.
The film has been extremely popular and I myself really liked it and definitely recommend it. Here;s the beginning of a review in The LA Times ...
'Black Panther' is a royally imaginative standout in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
We didn't know we'd been yearning for it until it arrived, but now that it's here it's unmistakable that the wait for a film like "Black Panther" has been way longer than it should have been.
On one level this is the next-in-line Marvel Universe story of the ruler of the mythical African kingdom of Wakanda who moonlights as a superhero and has to contend with threats and problems both internal and external.
But "Black Panther," as co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring a deep bench of actors of color, is an against-the-grain $100-million-plus epic so intensely personal that when the usual Marvel touchstones (Stan Lee, anyone) appear, they feel out of place.
A superhero movie whose characters have integrity and dramatic heft, filled with engaging exploits and credible crises all grounded in a vibrant but convincing reality, laced with socially conscious commentary as well as wicked laughs that don't depend on snark, this is the model of what an involving popular entertainment should be. And even something more ....
Here's a trailer ...
Now looking forward to Avengers: Infinity War which the Black Panther foreshadows and in which he appears ...
a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film is directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.
In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but his sovereignty is soon challenged by a new adversary who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since the film version of the character of the Black Panther was introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), but the Black Panther's homeland, Wakanda, has always been a part of the Marvel Universe, as that's where the extraterrestrial metal, vibranium, that comprises Captain America's shield, can be found. Here's a video showing his introduction in the Captain America movie ...
The plot: the Black Panther movie begins where the earlier film ended, with T'Challa taking part in a ritual to formally become king of Wakanda after his father's death. His first effort as king is to track down Ulysses Klaue, a South African black-market arms dealer who has stolen vibranium from Wakanda (which the evil Ultron used to make his new body, but that's another movie ;). While trying to do this, he encounters someone he hadn't known existed, a cousin who challenges him for his throne and also challenges his very idea of Wakanda's fated place in, and duty to, the rest of the world.
The film has been extremely popular and I myself really liked it and definitely recommend it. Here;s the beginning of a review in The LA Times ...
'Black Panther' is a royally imaginative standout in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
We didn't know we'd been yearning for it until it arrived, but now that it's here it's unmistakable that the wait for a film like "Black Panther" has been way longer than it should have been.
On one level this is the next-in-line Marvel Universe story of the ruler of the mythical African kingdom of Wakanda who moonlights as a superhero and has to contend with threats and problems both internal and external.
But "Black Panther," as co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring a deep bench of actors of color, is an against-the-grain $100-million-plus epic so intensely personal that when the usual Marvel touchstones (Stan Lee, anyone) appear, they feel out of place.
A superhero movie whose characters have integrity and dramatic heft, filled with engaging exploits and credible crises all grounded in a vibrant but convincing reality, laced with socially conscious commentary as well as wicked laughs that don't depend on snark, this is the model of what an involving popular entertainment should be. And even something more ....
Here's a trailer ...
Now looking forward to Avengers: Infinity War which the Black Panther foreshadows and in which he appears ...
posted by crystal | 2:44 PM
2 Comments:
What a wonderful, uplifting and comprehensive review -- thank you!
Thanks, Jana.
Post a Comment
<< Home