As we all saw in Captain America: Civil War, the King of Wakanda has gone through a fateful bomb attack. The Wakandan Kingdom, secluded from the outside world, is therefore looking for a heir to the throne and logically T'Challa, the king's son, is trying to claim that luxury seat. However, others think the same way. Because of this struggle, the country is in danger of becoming more divisive. For years, hidden secrets could just emerge, with all the consequences. This last solo film for the cumulative showpiece Avengers: Infinity War dives into the world of Black Panther, but how much novelty can there really be discovered?
Just looking at the design a lot. At first glance, Wakanda is a typical third-world country, but whoever enters the hidden world will discover that Wakanda is actually a technologically advanced nation, feeding on the forces of fictitious metal vibranium (also responsible for Cap's shield). The peoples of this vibrant country are richly decorated with a wide range of cultural expressions, such as lip dishes and incised crocodile skins. The home front of the Black Panthers is a country where the primitive African tribal culture goes hand in hand with modern science. Certainly due to the effective use of jungle music, the total picture comes to life. Black Panther is already a candidate to bring in some Oscar nominations next year in the field of production, make-up, costumes and sound.
Wakanda, hidden deep in the rainforest, is therefore unrealistically beautiful and unprecedentedly modern. For those who have heard about it it sounds like a fairy tale. The psychotic gangster Klau (Andy Serkis) managed to penetrate and leave Wakanda as one of the few outsiders. He abuses his rare knowledge of the truth for his own criminal agenda. Together with T'Challa's hostile counterpart Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan, who now has the chance to really flame on in a superhero movie), he creates the necessary tensions on the world stage, with which a political thriller unfolds that tone strongly reminiscent of the widely acclaimed The Winter Soldier. Jordan knows with conviction to put down an emotionally layered bad guy. Which is rare in this film universe.
Black Panther sometimes even shows a certain roughness reminiscent of Marvel's Netflix department. Where Marvel fell flat quite a few times last year with their shitty comedy, director Ryan Coogler knows how to use the jerk drum much more nuanced. Especially T'Challa's dog-hungry sister Shuri (played with 'swag' by Letitia Wright) and tribe leader M'Baku (portrayed perfectly by 'newcomer' Winston Duke) steal the show in that area. Honest is fair, protagonist Chadwick Boseman delft in the middle of such a strong ensemble. Furthermore, the social significance of the film should be considered. Black Panther is indeed a nice boost for the black community, especially in America, and shows the so desired role models of colored men and women with a meaningful position. In addition, the film also subtly addresses a number of current political issues such as the refugee crisis and discrimination.
So far there is no shortage of creativity. Coogler knows how to distinguish himself well within the genre with his unique and lively images. Unfortunately, that is less true for the tempo and the build-up of the somewhat meager story of his film. The story goes by too fast, but at times it comes to a near halt. Certainly the final fight, in which the CGI quality also goes down to the video-game level, has been spread out so long that it evokes associations with the miserably long battle in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Partly this will be because Coogler, unlike many of his colleagues, has cut little in the action scenes, which makes them feel somewhat tedious. What is also striking is that Marvel has revealed almost all major key moments - up to one of the two after-credit scenes - in her promotional campaign.
All in all, you secretly have the feeling that Black Panther is the last piece Marvel had to still color in on the world map of Marvel's fictional universe, making the base solid enough for Infinity War. Coogler has managed to create a rich, unknown world, but dropped a lot with the relatively poor story, in those same beautiful surroundings. Wearing a crown, doesn't make you king. If Coogler paid just as much attention to the story as he did putting the Wakana-world on-screen this might've been the best Marvel-production to date. Now it just takes a backseat to plenty of their other hits like Iron Man and The Winter Soldier, but it's definitely one of their best and most entertaining
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2018-06-22T10:30:21Z
As we all saw in Captain America: Civil War, the King of Wakanda has gone through a fateful bomb attack. The Wakandan Kingdom, secluded from the outside world, is therefore looking for a heir to the throne and logically T'Challa, the king's son, is trying to claim that luxury seat. However, others think the same way. Because of this struggle, the country is in danger of becoming more divisive. For years, hidden secrets could just emerge, with all the consequences. This last solo film for the cumulative showpiece Avengers: Infinity War dives into the world of Black Panther, but how much novelty can there really be discovered?
Just looking at the design a lot. At first glance, Wakanda is a typical third-world country, but whoever enters the hidden world will discover that Wakanda is actually a technologically advanced nation, feeding on the forces of fictitious metal vibranium (also responsible for Cap's shield). The peoples of this vibrant country are richly decorated with a wide range of cultural expressions, such as lip dishes and incised crocodile skins. The home front of the Black Panthers is a country where the primitive African tribal culture goes hand in hand with modern science. Certainly due to the effective use of jungle music, the total picture comes to life. Black Panther is already a candidate to bring in some Oscar nominations next year in the field of production, make-up, costumes and sound.
Wakanda, hidden deep in the rainforest, is therefore unrealistically beautiful and unprecedentedly modern. For those who have heard about it it sounds like a fairy tale. The psychotic gangster Klau (Andy Serkis) managed to penetrate and leave Wakanda as one of the few outsiders. He abuses his rare knowledge of the truth for his own criminal agenda. Together with T'Challa's hostile counterpart Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan, who now has the chance to really flame on in a superhero movie), he creates the necessary tensions on the world stage, with which a political thriller unfolds that tone strongly reminiscent of the widely acclaimed The Winter Soldier. Jordan knows with conviction to put down an emotionally layered bad guy. Which is rare in this film universe.
Black Panther sometimes even shows a certain roughness reminiscent of Marvel's Netflix department. Where Marvel fell flat quite a few times last year with their shitty comedy, director Ryan Coogler knows how to use the jerk drum much more nuanced. Especially T'Challa's dog-hungry sister Shuri (played with 'swag' by Letitia Wright) and tribe leader M'Baku (portrayed perfectly by 'newcomer' Winston Duke) steal the show in that area. Honest is fair, protagonist Chadwick Boseman delft in the middle of such a strong ensemble. Furthermore, the social significance of the film should be considered. Black Panther is indeed a nice boost for the black community, especially in America, and shows the so desired role models of colored men and women with a meaningful position. In addition, the film also subtly addresses a number of current political issues such as the refugee crisis and discrimination.
So far there is no shortage of creativity. Coogler knows how to distinguish himself well within the genre with his unique and lively images. Unfortunately, that is less true for the tempo and the build-up of the somewhat meager story of his film. The story goes by too fast, but at times it comes to a near halt. Certainly the final fight, in which the CGI quality also goes down to the video-game level, has been spread out so long that it evokes associations with the miserably long battle in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Partly this will be because Coogler, unlike many of his colleagues, has cut little in the action scenes, which makes them feel somewhat tedious. What is also striking is that Marvel has revealed almost all major key moments - up to one of the two after-credit scenes - in her promotional campaign.
All in all, you secretly have the feeling that Black Panther is the last piece Marvel had to still color in on the world map of Marvel's fictional universe, making the base solid enough for Infinity War. Coogler has managed to create a rich, unknown world, but dropped a lot with the relatively poor story, in those same beautiful surroundings. Wearing a crown, doesn't make you king. If Coogler paid just as much attention to the story as he did putting the Wakana-world on-screen this might've been the best Marvel-production to date. Now it just takes a backseat to plenty of their other hits like Iron Man and The Winter Soldier, but it's definitely one of their best and most entertaining
7.7/10