Black Panther

Year: 2018
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown


Plot: After the events of Civil War, T'Challa returns to Wakanda to assume his late father's place as King, but the emergence of the ruthless Erik Killmonger, a violent man with a score to settle, threatens his rule.


Review: The best new character to come out of Civil War was Black Panther. Most MCU fans will say it's Spider-Man, but for me, T'Challa, the crown prince of Wakanda who sought justice for his slain father, was the real show stealer then.

Now Ryan Coogler, the acclaimed director of Creed, puts his stamp on the MCU with his take on Black Panther. While the film does begin with a brief history of Wakanda and the origin of the Black Panther, the story really is about Wakanda's changing role in world affairs, and how a personal vendetta threatens to upend T'Challa's rule before it even begins. In this sense, Coogler deserves credit for developing the film's villain, Erik Killmonger as extensively as he does for the hero. Unlike the throwaway villains of previous MCU entries (a fact most critics love bringing up) such as Kaecilius, Yellowjacket or Zemo, Killmonger is an equal to T'Challa in nearly every way, and proves to be a genuine threat to him. He's probably the best MCU villain since Loki.

Some have said that this film is Marvel's version of James Bond, and they're not wrong, with T'Challa using high tech gadgets designed by his Q-like sister Shuri, while being assisted by strong female fighters such as his lady love Nakia and his chief bodyguard Okoye. In fact, in certain parts of the movie, these women damn near outshine our illustrious hero.

Speaking of our hero, Chadwick Boseman plays T'Challa as a fair man, brave and steadfast, and sympathetic even to his arch nemesis. Boseman is a natural for this role undoubtedly. Michael B. Jordan is equally superb as Killmonger, a man with an axe to grind and something to prove. You can almost understand where the man's rage is coming from, which makes him more than just a standard baddie. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o and The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira all score as Shuri, Nakia and Okoye respectively. Wright is perfect as the occasional comedic relief, Nyong'o makes a sultry love interest and Gurira is superb as a lady not to be messed with.

Despite the lack of Avengers here (which in hindsight is more of a blessing really), we still have Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis showing up as Everett Ross and Ulysses Klaue respectively. Serkis' unorthodox portrayal as Klaue is very interesting, he ought to do more live action performances in the future.

Most of the action sequences were well shot, especially the waterfall duels between T'Challa and Winston Duke's M'Baku, and Killmonger later, and the car chase sequence you've seen in the trailers. But some of the CGI, especially when it comes to the flying spaceships, look a bit poor, and the final fight between T'Challa and Killmonger was too brief. But Coogler makes up for this by giving every character their time to shine and make an impact, including the supporting ones played by Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown and Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Black Panther, and barely felt the 134 minute running time pass by. If you've been following the MCU movies till now, there's zero reason to not go see this. Recommended.

P.S.: As usual, stay for the post credit sequences. (8.5/10)