"Black Panther is Marvelous (pun intended)"
T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to his native Wakanda to be crowned king. Not long after he’s challenged for the throne and war looms over his homeland.
Black Panther isn’t your typical hero because let’s face it… He’s black. And apart from Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Smeagol (Andy Serkis), everybody’s black. And that’s the way it should be. The entire cast delivers. Boseman is excellent as king T’Challa who struggles with his new role. It doesn’t get any easierr when Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) shows up. Killmonger is a mean SOB yet you care for him (some good writing right there). He’s a worthy adversary and one of the better Marvel villains. Jordan portrays him perfectly. Director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are a match made in heaven. This is their third collaboration after ‘Fruitvale Station’ and ‘Creed’ and again they’re successful. The movie itself gets better as Jordan’s role gets bigger.
The female characters and actors are equally impressive. Especially Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) steal the show.
There’s less humour in ‘Black Panther’ than we’re used to seeing in Marvel films but that’s not a bad thing. The movie doesn’t need it.
Though it’s set in (fictional) Africa there wasn’t any filming done in Africa. Nonetheless the movie looks right. The makers did a great job of creating Wakanda. Huge props to costume designer Ruth E. Carter and composer Ludwig Göransson who help bring Wakanda to life. On the downside there’s a lot of CGI. Sometimes it’s too obvious (rhinos say hi). Despite that the battle scenes are beautifully choreographed. Especially Okoye wielding her spear is a thing to behold.
All in all ‘Black Panther’ is another wonderful addition to the MCU and we can’t wait to see what role T’Challa and his sidekicks are going to play in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.