Black Panther (2018)

“If you say one more word, I’ll feed you to my children! [Ross shuts up, beat] I’m kidding. We’re vegetarians.” – M’Baku

Number of Times Seen – 1 (2 May 2018)

Brief Synopsis – After ascending to the throne of Wakanda following his father’s death, T’Challa must try and rule his Kingdom properly and secretly in order to keep the technological advances of is nation secret from the outside world.

My Take on it – Glad I finally got to see this film after waiting so long.

Was a bit disappointing since I felt that there was so much hype about how amazing this film is.

The story is told quite well but feels too formulaic in its structure and predictability.

I had hoped that they would take the cue from the Guardians of the Galaxy films or even the latest Thor and stay true to the overall MCU themes, but still stray away to make it even more fun and unpredictable.

The supporting characters and main villain are more interesting and enjoyable to watch than T’Challa, who should be the main focus here.

Michael B. Jordan has a much stronger screen presence than Chadwick Boseman and the film suffers because of it.

They get too political in certain scenes and that takes away from the enjoyment of a film that should stay action oriented for the continuity of the MCU films.

Visually, this film is stunning to watch and is put together really well.

Loved the way that they focus on the mix of technology and magical elements when dealing with how their powers and weapons work because it opens up so much for the future of the MCU.

The action scenes in South Korea are great and we get a taste of what this film could have been had they not reverted back to a standard formula right afterwards.

I’m very curious to see where they will now take the characters from Wakanda and use them in the future films of the MCU.

Bottom Line – Nice addition to the MCU despite its flaws. The action is great and they do a great job with the supporting characters and the main villain yet the main character of T’Challa feels outshone by everyone else even if the film is supposedly about him. The technology and magic used by the Wakandan’s is great to watch because it shows so much about the possibilities for the future of the MCU which can combine both elements.  The story itself comes across as being too formulaic for its own good and unlike some of the other recent MCU films, stays predicable the whole way through.  Gets a bit too political at certain points instead of trying to just tell a great action story. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The filmmakers created a unique culture for each of the Wakandan tribes, to get a sense of the country being a mix of different tribes: The Golden Tribe (the royal tribe) uses a motif of black and purple, and a continental symbol for the sun found throughout Africa. They also have panther-themed designs. The Border Tribe was inspired by Lesotho architecture/language, and uses a motif of blue and wood. They have rhino-themed weapons (attack rhinos, shields and horn-shaped blades. The River Tribe uses a motif of shells and green, and wear crocodile skins and leather. The Mining Tribe wear lion-themed designs. The Jabari Tribe wears fur and wood to represent their naturalism and to honor their sacred animal the gorilla. They also speak in a Yoruba dialect of West Africa, in contrast to the Wakandans having the Xhosa dialect of South Africa, to represent their outsider status.  (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

_______________________________________

Check out my *updated* movie stats here

To see my reviews of Oscar Winning Performances check out this link

To see my reviews of all Oscar Best Picture Winners click here (now complete)

Here is a link to my movie index A-Z