Friday, 16 February 2018

Black Panther - the right film at the right time


If the Marvel Cinematic Universe was going to make a film about the company’s first black superhero then now would certainly be the time to do it. Circumstances have aligned to make Black Panther a good deal more relevant than it would have been previously.

There is a cultural momentum working in favour of this film and it would be almost impossible to take against it without seeming, at least, churlish. It will undoubtedly be over-praised and much virtue will be signalled in the process, however it is a good enough film to live up to at least some of the hype.

Black Panther is the story of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who has succeeded to the throne of Wakanda, a technically advanced African super society which hides itself from the world. He has also, if he survives the challenge, to assume the mantle of the Black Panther, a heroic, super-powered character whose duty is to guard and protect the people of Wakanda.

T’Challa’s reign, and his non-interventionist policy, is threatened by Killmonger (Michael B.Jordan), a distant relative who is determined to use Wakanda’s phenomenal wealth and fabulous technology to lead anti-colonialist insurrection and revolt throughout the world.

This is essentially a good, and interesting, story. It has themes of cultural identity, foreign aid, interventionism, and isolationism which all have a contemporary resonance. Yet at the same time it seems to shy away from really exploring a lot of these issues and relies on the old MCU trope of ‘with great power/wealth comes great responsibility’.

Similarly the execution is fairly safe. There are some serious third-act issues and, despite the talents of director Ryan Coogler, there are not many boats being rocked here stylistically. This is, to all intents and purposes, a Marvel movie with all the attendant traits and tropes. It may be the first film I can recall which borrows from both Frederick Douglass and Pope Francis but essentially this is a by the book Marvel origin story.

There is always a lot riding on these mega-franchise films, where the release date is set before a word of the script is written, and there are a couple of moments which remain unpolished, presumably because of pressure of time and budget. One or two ‘jungle scenes’ have the look of the sound stage while some of the crowd CGI seems a little poorly rendered. Still, it does feature armour-plated combat rhinoceroses which is not something you see every day.

In a strong cast Boseman is a little po-faced and reactive as T’Challa; he’s not as imposing as he should be. Jordan is much better as Killmonger, the best Marvel villain in ages, who is dynamic, and exciting, and seems to have a proactive purpose. Elsewhere Angela Bassett does a nice job as the Queen Mother, and Forrest Whitaker pops up as a tribal elder while Lupita Nyongo is a spy and T’Challa’s love interest.

Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman are the token white characters: now that’s a phrase I don’t get the chance to write very often.

There are a lot of scenes which seem to be heavily influenced by The Lion King on stage and screen, or even the Tarzan movies, and the film takes itself so seriously at times it doesn’t seem aware that its sincerity is veering close to parody. In the end though it is saved by its own good intentions,

I came away from the film thinking that, for me, the most interesting and lively character in the film is Shuri (Letitia Wright). She is T’Challa’s sister and apart from being smart and rebellious, she is also a scientific wizard. A smart, intelligent, funny, independent, strong woman of colour – not something you see every day in the movies.

In the comics Shuri succeeds T’Challa as Black Panther. If they were really serious about being transgressive in the MCU then that would be the way to go next. Somehow I doubt it.






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