A Review of Black Panther
****1/2 out of five stars
Currently in theaters
by Walter G. Tarrow
Black is beautiful!
A Marvel comic book superhero masterpiece with mass appeal. More than a movie, a movement. Finally black kids and black families can have not just a black superhero, but an entire nation of black superheroes, of which to be proud.
Standing apart from the Marvel/Disney Avengers franchise, Black Panther introduces Wakanda, an isolated, hiding in plain sight through the magic of cloaking technology, African paradise of futuristic Oz-like wonders. Possibly the wealthiest, most technologically advanced nation on Earth, courtesy of a mountain of Vibranium, a metal with incredible properties and worth, Wakanda has chosen to exist outside of the problems of the world politic.
However, with the death of King T’Chaka, the ascension of his son Prince T’Challa to the throne, dissension within Wakanda, and the threat of a distant American cousin usurper radicalized by personal tragedy, the nation can no longer remain relatively peaceful and hidden.
Director Ryan Coogler, and lead actors Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan bring their partnership (Fruitvale Station, Creed) onscreen again to reimagine Marvel tropes from their woke perspective. Rather than Avenger-centric extraterrestrial threats, Black Panther focuses on themes of loyalty to family, tribe, nation, honoring ancestral tradition in a fast changing technologically progressive reality, overcoming global oppression through armed rebellion versus peaceful coexistence. and abandoning protectionism and risking national security to bring justice to the world.
As the Black Panther, T’Challa has parallels with Bruce Wayne/Batman. A father’s death leaves the son as heir to great wealth and a need, at first, for vengeance, then, justice. Although he gains strength, agility, and speed from a sacred herb, he does not possess exotic or mutant superhuman powers and relies upon his natural talents, training, and, most of all, the technologies of his resource rich nation. His tech savvy sister, much like Batman’s Lucious Fox, has developed amazing weaponry, vehicles and devices to make him the superhero.
And, in the role of the Wakandan royal guard, women represent a most powerful force. Most striking, stunning, and commanding of attention, the women of Wakanda stand alongside, and often in front of, the men.
Perhaps predictable and all too familiar, with storylines, characters and scenes lifted from other Marvel films, James Bond scenarios, even Lord of the Rings battle sequences, Black Panther still manages to stamp proudly the whitewashed comic book superhero genre with positive black sensibilities.
Martin Freeman, who portrays the token CIA agent connection to the Marvel Avengers universe, in response to being asked what it felt like being one of the only few non-black actors on set (and sometimes the only non-black actor on set), said “You think this is what black actors feel like all the time?”
Well, with Black Panther leading the way, perhaps black actors and black filmmakers need never feel that way again.