Black Panther

After Black Panther first appeared in Captain America: Civil War, people were hyped for his solo movie, and after two years it’s finally here.

WARNING: SPOILERS

The general story of Black Panther is that about a month after the events of Civil War, T’Challa returns to Wakanda to be crowned as the next king after the death of his father. Shortly after becoming king, T’Challa embarks on a mission with Nakia, his sort of ex-girlfriend, and Okoye, the leader of the king’s personal guards, to apprehend or kill Ulysses Claue. Claue is an arms dealer that stole some vibranium from Wakanda, then detonated a bomb killing a large group of people to escape when T’Challa’s father was still king. Unfortunately, T’Chaka was never able to catch Claue, but now T’Challa has a chance to. After causing a bit of a scene in a nightclub trying to stop Claue from selling stolen vibranium to CIA Agent Everett Ross, a high-speed car chase through the streets of South Korea results in Claue’s capture by T’Challa and Ross. However, after a short interrogation where Claue reveals to Ross that Wakanda is secretly a technological marvel instead of the third-world country it appears to be, Claue’s associates show up just in time to save him.

During Claue’s escape, T’Challa is shocked to see one of his grandfather’s rings around the neck of one of Claue’s men. After returning to Wakanda in failure, T’Challa confronts his close family friend Zuri to learn the truth. Zuri reveals that shortly after Claue stole the vibranium, T’Chaka went to America to check on his younger brother, N’Jobu, who Zuri had secretly been spying on under the guise of N’Jobu’s friend James. It was then revealed that N’Jobu had helped Claue steal the vibranium by giving him information. Once this is all revelaed, N’Jobu attempts to shoot Zuri, but T’Chaka saves his friend and kills his brother. T’Chaka and Zuri then returned to Wakanda, leaving N’Jobu’s young son behind. Meanwhile, Erik Killmonger, N’Jobu’s son, betrays Claue and kills him. Killmonger then brings Claue’s body to the Wakandan border where he convinces W’Kabi, the leader of the tribe that guards the border, to let him in. W’Kabi lets him in and brings him to T’Challa, because W’Kabi wanted Claue dead after he killed W’Kabi’s parents during the vibranium heist and T’Challa’s failed to capture Claue. After appearing before T’Challa and the elders, Killmonger reveals his true identity and royal blood and challenges T’Challa to ritual combat for the title of king and Black Panther.

The battle ends with Killmonger winning and T’Challa’s supposed death. Once Killmonger ascends to the throne, T’Challa’s sister and mother, Nakia, and Agent Ross all escape and go to M’Baku, the leader of the one tribe that lives in the mountains of Wakanda and govern themselves, for help. They try to offer him the one remaining plant that would give its users the power of the Black Panther. M’Baku declines, but only after revealing that his tribe found T’Challa and have been keeping him alive. Relieved, his family revives him with the herb and his sister gives him his suit back. Now, T’Challa and his allies return to defeat Killmonger and reclaim the throne, which they do after a long battle.

First and foremost, I thoroughly enjoyed Black Panther. I was a little dubious going in just because I knew how much hype there was around it, but I feel that it delivered. Something else that’s interesting to note is that Black Panther is noticeably darker than the other recent Marvel movies. For example, Thor: Ragnarok was pretty light-hearted for the most part, but Black Panther returns to a style somewhat similar to the first Iron Man, meaning it does have some moments of humor, but none are particularly forced, other than the cringe-worthy “What are those?” joke, unlike Ragnarok. Black Panther also deals with heavier and darker themes than a lot of the other Marvel movies.

Before delving into the deeper themes and analyzing them, something that I really enjoyed in Black Panther was how many of the characters were further developed. I briefly remember Claue appearing in Age of Ultron and Ross was in Civil War, but they get quite a bit more development in Black Panther, as does T’Challa. I find that this development is very important, especially because Ross and T’Challa are going to return in Infinity War.

The primary theme present in Black Panther is that of racism. Killmonger’s primary motive is to arm the oppressed all around the globe so that they can overthrow those in power. This motive was identical to that of his father. At first T’Challa refuses to help those in need, but by the end, he decides to reveal the power of Wakanda to the world so that he can work to change it. While accomplishing the same goal, each is accomplished differently. Killmonger’s method is violent, hateful, and overall evil. The reason he supports it is because he’s seen it in the past. He has seen so much hate and evil in the world that he’s convinced that only hate and evil can fight it. This is something I really like about his character. I frequently find myself sympathetic to the villains (it’s the costume design I swear), but sometimes the villians just doesn’t have a motive. Not only does Killmonger have motivation, he has good motivation. Because of this reasoning and his past, I find him to be a somewhat sympathetic character. He also serves as a great foil to T’Challa.

T’Challa’s method of helping the oppressed is much more peaceful. By revealing Wakanda’s true nature and resources, he can help all those around the globe, while also encouraging other powerful governments to do the same.

Something that I think people sometimes forget is that a movie can have message and it can be social commentary. Books, TV shows, even video games can all send a deeper message than good vs evil while presenting an entertaining narrative. A wildly popular and successful movie franchise would especially be able to do this. I’m not trying to push a political view or agenda, and I don’t think that Black Panther is either. But still, I think that it does have some valuable points that the world could benefit from. Overall, I really enjoyed Black Panther and I’d highly recommend it, easily giving it an 8/10.