No one can deny the historical significant of Black Panther.
Created at a time in the mid-sixties when the civil rights moment was giving way to the ‘Black Power’ movement, and a group with the same namesake making news headlines for a more radical and immediate approach to racial equality, Black Panther issue in the coming of the black superhero in comics that would be a statement to the mainstream that super heroes of color would
NOW have a vital role in a medium that had not traditional seen black characters in the role as superheroes.
And Black Panther would be MORE than your typical superhero; he was also the
King of his own African country that was far advanced technology and socially than any modern civilization and had never been conquered or colonized.
And while he wasn’t the first black superhero in comics (
All Negro Comics published an issue featuring a variety of black superheroes in 1947), nor the first to headline his one comics (the western comic
Lobo from Dell comics) he was the first that was produced by a major publishing company that would be seen by many more people than any previous black character in comics.
After his successful debut in
Fantastic Four # 52, many other Black superheroes became regular in comics in the next decade, some even getting their own series. Power Man, the Falcon, Green Lantern (Jon Stewart), Black Lightning, Sabre, Black Goliath, Blade, etc. although most of these characters were in the vein of the popular “Blaxploitation” movies that were popular at the time.
However, above any of the other Black superheroes that were created after Black Panther in any main stream comics, Black Panther was the symbol of all that black people should be if were truly unified and didn’t constantly have to fight institutionalized racism by the laws of the land they reside in as minorities. And for me, growing up in the ‘70s in the projects, that made him a lot more important than the other black heroes of the time.
And while he hasn’t had any successful long running comic book series of his own, he’s always been a staple of Marvel comics appearing regular as an Avenger and in the Fantastic Four. And significantly, many would say that the first completed story multi issue arc “Panther Rage” in Jungle Action issues 6-24 was Marvel’s FIRST graphic novel.
And now Black Panther is the star of his own major motion picture.
There have been other black superhero in the movies (Blade, Steel, Meteor Man, Spawn…) but none so much associated with black people that fully captured a sense of pride in culture than Black Panther. This is more than just another comic book this is an event.
Introduced on screen in Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, as portrayed
Chadwick Boseman, he displayed a regal dignity and graceful strength in each scene he was in that it is one of the best adaptation of a character from comic to screen.
And he continues that stellar performance in Black Panther movie. His portrayal of King T’Challa is one for the ages. He brings presences to the character that has been defined in the comics so easily on screen you’d think that they somehow were able to make a real life Black Panther from the pages of the comics for these movies. His portrayal can now be considered one of the finest among comic book movies.
But more than just showing the Panther strength and grace he shows a sense of compassion and humility in his performance that you just gravitate to and can’t help but sympathized with him in some of the weighty decisions he has to make as both a King that will change Wakanda place in the world forever that intertwines with his understanding of how that plays a part in making Killmonger the “villain” of the movie so that he might exercise mercy toward him even after the crimes he commited against him and were planning on to do to the world. An outstanding performance.
Speaking of Kilmonger, Michael
B. Jordan is amazing as the main villain in this movie!
And I say he’s the main villain, because he really takes over as such when he betrays and takes out KLAW to forward his own personal agenda. After his terrible performance as Johnny Storm in the much hated Fantastic Four movie, he comes back as Killmonger and gives a performance that will actually have you almost rooting for him, from a certain point of view. His overall plan of using Wakanda advances weapons to bring down the oppressors is without question wrong, but his reason for wanting to do so is understandable. Very similar to how you might feel for Magneto and his fight for “mutant kind”.
But the epitome of his stellar performance is in the end after he is defeated and is granted to see one of Wakanda’s sunsets by Black Panther overlooking water and requested to be thrown in the waters like our ancestors who knew it would be better to die free than to live in bondage. And I’m NOT going to fake it, a tear ran down my face in that scene. Very powerful stuff.
However the scene stealer throughout the entire movie is
Letitia Wright as Shuri, Black Panther’s younger sister and princess of Wakanda as well as creator for most of its advance technology. She is certainly the “comic relief” in this movie although not a way that she becomes annoying or in a way she’s a stereotypical buffoon, but she is a very self-confident and smart person that just happens to be very young and full of spirit. I had never seen Letitia in any role before but now I will pay attention when I see her name in the credits of upcoming movies.
The rest of the cast is solid throughout the movie and there weren’t any real bad performances by any of the actors with a special attention to
Danai Gurira as Okoye, the general of the Dore Malaji.
And this is without a doubt one of the best looking comic book movie ever made. The full scope of Wakanda and how it looks to the costumes of Black Panther and the Dore’ Malaji to the just the variety of clothing from the various tribes of Wakanda. One of the best things I liked about this movie was the gravitas of the situation are greatly felt in the performances of the actors and it brings you in the plot and never let you go. As someone who criticize the MCU for using comedy as a crutch for not showing actual drama and let it resonate with the audience in their movies, I hope this movie show them that the audiences can handle real world situations in a fictional setting without the use of one liners and slapstick.
Director Ryan Coogler crafted and outstanding movie that didn’t shy away from the weight of the message in the story.
Still, no movie is perfect and if I had one complaint about this movie is that at times the
Special Effects at time were not up to par as they should have been. And I’m not one of those people who look for mistakes in the SFX department or even were that can take me out of a movie, but some were very glaring in this movie that I couldn’t ignore it.
This is an incredible and exceptional movie all around and one of the BEST and most important comic book movie ever made and once again no one can deny the historical significance of Black Panther.