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Chadwick Boseman is the legendary Black Panther in Marvel's solid comic book outing |
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther), Michael B.
Jordan (N’Jadaka/Erik Kilmonger Stevens), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Danai Gurira
(Okoye), Martin Freeman (Everett K Ross), Daniel Kaluuya (W’Kabi), Letitia
Wright (Shuri), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Angela Bassett (Ramonda), Forest
Whitaker (Zuri), Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue), John Kani (T’Chaka)
Marvel’s comic book world is now so stuffed with characters,
worlds and dimensions that it is remarkable how many of its heroes are white
and male. Black Panther does
something completely different, giving us a set of African heroes and placing
the common framework of a Marvel film within a very proud, and distinct,
African heritage. So you can pretty much guarantee you ain’t seen a comic book
film quite like this one.
After the death of his father (in Captain America: Civil War), T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes king
of the secretive nation of Wakanda. Camouflaging itself as a poor and
unadvanced nation in order to avoid interaction with the rest of the world,
Wakanda has in fact for centuries been mining a remarkable metal, vibranium,
that has helped the nation become hugely technologically advanced. Its king
also bears the responsibility of being the “Black Panther”, ingesting a
vibranium-infused herb to gain superhuman speed and strength. However, others
have their eye on the throne, not least Erik “Kilmonger” Stevens (Michael B
Jordan), who wants to turn Wakanda into a force that could protect the black
people of the world from their historical oppressors and avenge centuries of
slavery.
Black Panther
never fails to be entertaining. The film is shot with a genuinely vibrant
excitement, and I love the way it proudly embraces a comic book twist on
African tribal heritage. In fact the film’s depiction of an African nation
which is secretly the most powerful and advanced nation in the world is really
quite an impressive political statement.
Ryan Coogler directs the film with flashy brilliance and
comes up with a few ways of presenting what are (essentially) action sequences
we’ve seen many times before in unique new ways. The stand-out is an early
action scene in a Korean bar, filmed to appear as an immersive single take
around a large set, the camera dipping and zooming from character to character.
Coogler also brings a fair amount of visual wit to the fights while not losing
the emotional and character depth the story is aiming for.
The film also has some fine performances, with Boseman
dripping dignity, nobility and decency as T’Challa. Regular Coogler
collaborator Michael B. Jordan gives a great contrast as bitter LA slums kid
turned misguided would-be dictator Kilmonger. Danai Gurira stands out as proud
general Okoye, torn between duty and personal loyalties. Hell even Forest
Whitaker – clearly loving every moment of this OTT Marvel world – gets some
weight and dignity out of his typical grandstanding style.
It’s another mark for the film that the world of Wakanda is
so effectively gender neutral. Kings of Wakanda have a Praetorian Guard of
female warriors, most of the leading voices on its council are women, and its
technical genius is T’Challa’s sister Shuri (played by Letitia Wright in a charming,
star-making performance). Sure it doesn’t feel like the role of Black Panther
himself is up for grabs for anyone lacking a penis, but this is a world where
women are equal, if not leading, partners in the action.
The film also addresses issues of post-colonial struggle,
not least attitudes towards slavery and oppression handed out to Africa over
centuries. Kilmonger’s fiendish plot is, in many ways, actually quite
sympathetic – he wants to use Wakanda’s resources to protect those of African
descent across the world. Jordan gets some good moments from his speeches laced
with anger at the historical treatment of Afro-Caribbeans and, to be honest,
it’s hard not to see his point. So hard in fact that the film has to drop hints
that Kilmonger is a potential tyrant to stop him from seeing too reasonable.
This is where the film’s plot starts to get slightly hazy.
The character arc of T’Challa himself is pretty unclear. Traditionally in these
films, the character must embrace his destiny. Problem is, a lot of this arc
was covered in Captain America: Civil War.
The writers are unable to give him a truly compelling replacement arc here.
T’Challa drops a few references early on to not feeling ready – but basically
swiftly embraces it. He never outlines a real alternative agenda to Kilmonger –
there are characters in the film who
argue “Wakanda doesn’t get involved in the world”, but he isn’t one of them, so
there is no journey towards engagement with the outside world (on far more
humanitarian terms than Kilmonger advocates).
Frankly, Okoye is given a better character arc than
T’Challa, beginning by advocating “we must serve the throne and respect our traditions
even if we doubt them”, and learning later to follow her own conscience. T’Challa,
in contrast, is no discernibly different at the end of the film to how he was
at the beginning.
T’Challa’s journey is basically getting something, losing it
and then getting it back. Strip away Boseman’s performance and the character is
basically pretty dull. He partly suffers, as does the rest of the film, from an
overstuffed cast spreading the focus of the film far too thinly and leading to
character arcs and interconnections feeling rushed. Kilmonger’s connection with
T’Challa is forced – they only know each other for at best two days! – and there
is a superfluity of villains. There’s not only decoy antagonist Klaue (and his
gang) hanging about for a good chunk of the film, but also Daniel Kaluuya’s ill-defined
best friend turned opponent, W’Kabi. Combining Kilmonger and W’Kabi would have
helped no end, allowing two different, divergent agendas to develop and cause a
relationship rift between two friends (Kaluuya is instead totally wasted in a
nothing part, whose allegiances change depending on the demands of the plot).
The good guys fare no better: Lupita Nyong’o is completely
wasted as a love interest who feels stuffed into the movie because, y’know,
these films gotta have one. She does nothing in the film that could not be
easily done by another character, and nearly all of T’Challa’s emotional scenes
– and personal motivation – are tied into his sister rather than this are-they-aren’t-they-a-couple.
It’s all part of the traditionalism that underlies the film.
Its structure is familiar and, like many Marvel origin films, the villain is a
dark reflection of the hero with similar skills. The final battle is
traditional and a little dull (and feels very ripped off in Avengers: Infinity War). The film avoids
showing T’Challa torn between isolation and intervention – he in fact advocates
both in the first 15 minutes – and doesn’t really make much of the prospect of
a hero changing his mind or developing his views to embrace a wider world.
But it stands out because it is different. And it deserves
no end of praise for making such a film so full of love and respect for its
heritage. It walks a very difficult line between enjoying the bright exotic colours
while not making the film patronising or overly “other-worldly”. How many other
Hollywood films have, at best, two white characters (well played in both cases
by Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis)? How many others would dare have the villain
make a defiant, sizzling and emotionally inspirational speech about racial
oppression and the hypocrisy of the West (though the film goes easy on America,
with the speech taking place at the hilarious “Museum of Great Britain”. Where
is this place – please get my tickets!).
That it slightly dodges and fudges the implication of these
themes in its plotting and the conception of its hero – who is basically a dull
character played by a charismatic actor – doesn’t reduce its pleasure at doing
something different. I’m not sure it will stand up to repeated viewings – look
past the setting and it does little new – but it’s a worthy entrance in a
crowded universe.
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