"I never freeze ..."

Black Panther

Mini Review

[14th of February, 2018]

[PG-13, 2hrs 14min, Action, Adventure, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sci-Fi]

I haven't gotten the opportunity to write this mini review aside from the summarized version on my instagram because I wanted to wait until the weekend when the buzz is at the most high since it is the theatrical release on the Stateside. If you're one of the few who still haven't watch the film yet considering the possible $200 millions opening weekend it might be procuring, you should know that it itself a very contained story and you can watch it in and of itself whereby you will find T'Challa filling in the seat of the king of Wakanda that was tragically vacated as the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War and what that would entail for him as a ruler and the nation as a protected secret from the outside world. With that being said, having watched Civil War certainly would add to your understanding of his journey but that's as far as the Marvel's Cinematic Universe elements that are included in the main throughline. There is Ulysses Klaw that was introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron whom finally got his time to shine here and had his fun every time he is on, using his limited screen time to his benefit as Andy Serkis turned the personality to 11, to the benefit of the film.

First thing first, I want to highlight the amazing score and in turns the soundtracks being used and put in the forefront for a change after years of using them minutely in the MCU movies before and they certainly put me in the mood to delve into the African culture and its modernization, the fitting music always complementing the scene on hand as they are not afraid to use them anymore and finally embrace its function in telling us this one-of-a-kind premise. Speaking of which, the sudden rise to power forces the son of the deceased king to decide what kind of a ruler he would be to his citizens as well as their protector as the Black Panther, excellently portrayed by the ever charismatic and vulnerable Chadwick Boseman. Another surprising turn is where the film actually starts, where the first scene takes place really tells you the direction of the storytelling is going, definitely one of the more personal journey the main protagonist have faced in this shared universe yet but since it ties into the main antagonist as well, it resulted in one of the best and fully realised villains Marvel had to offer in recent memories, following up on the surprisingly solid outing of Michael Keaton's Vulture in Homecoming with its own humanized 'bad guy' with clear and understandable main motivations, especially in the current day and age.

Speaking of which, it is surprising to see how well Ryan Coogler manages to blend the futuristic, outlandish and supernatural premise of Wakanda with the current political climate that is starting to boil over surrounding the African American in particular and the African descendants around the world in general. This is why this movie needs to be a solid outing to be a wonderful representation of those who are being overlooked in the current pop culture and it did exactly just that, and then some. Wakanda itself is a character in and of itself as you'll see its most advanced high technology side resulted from the hundred of years of mining and using the vibranium steel and also its African heritage being proudly shown and represented in the forefront almost in every frame of the film. The detour to South Korea for that certain James Bond-esque sequence is a highlight of its own among a number of as memorable of alternatives. Among the solid supporting cast, I want to highlight once again Letitia Wright as Shuri, a bubbly, energetic kid prodigy and M'Baku to my surprise with his own no-nonsense approach and personality. None of them are wasted in my opinion as each of them are given just enough time to shine. Oh, I can't overlook Danai Gurira as Okeye, one of the baddest female warriors in the medium of movies, bar none!

I would love to get more in depth and spoiler-full in a full review hopefully in the coming days. Have you watched it yet and what do you think about it? Or are you not particularly interested ... could you let me know why?.

wiki - IMDb

P.S. . !