Black Panther Review

"Wakanda forever!!"


NO SPOILERS!!


Black Panther is the latest entry into the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. After ten years of Marvel films based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe we finally get to see Black Panther take centre stage after his appearance in Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther was directed by Ryan Coogler, and has an exceptional cast including the likes of Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis. The film follows T'Challa (Boseman), after the death of his father, the king of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated technologically advanced nation of Wakanda to succeed the throne and take his rightful place as king. 

When it comes to Marvel films being released into the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans have high expectations for every new release, whether that be from a continuing franchise like Iron Man, Captain America or the Avengers franchise to the newly introduced heroes in recent years such as Doctor Strange, and Black Panther certainly continued this phase and was surrounded by an extreme level of hype and excitement from the fans. Well the question is does Black Panther deliver I here you ask?.... well it certainly does!. Black Panther has to be one of the most mature and character driven story lines that we have seen so far in the MCU (it really is!!). One of the strongest aspects of the film is its incredible ensemble cast. Normally Marvel films have strong and memorable performances by a couple of individual main characters, but Black Panther truly delivers a film that the whole cast gives fantastic performances. Chadwick Boseman is excellent as Black Panther (a continued excellent run from Captain America: Civil War), Micheal B Jordan, who plays Erik Killmonger (what a name!) gives a great performance as the villain of the film, and truly gives us one of the most fleshed out and three dimensional villains that we have ever seen in a Marvel solo film (what a back story!), but for me the standout character is Letitia Wright who portrays Shuri (T'Challa's tech genius little sister), Wright literally steals every scene she is in and really challenges Tony Stark in terms of her ability to invent new technology and of course her wit. The film is also visually stunning, with shots of the plains of Africa, to the city landscape of Wakanda, a true mix of African heritage and high tech futuristic transport and building design. You really leave the cinema feeling that you have discovered a new place enriched with history and culture, and really leaves you wanting to see more of Wakanda (and I hope we do in future films).

Whilst the film certainly delivers, there are still some small nitpicks that stop the film from truly being great. At times during the film, the film suffers from a clash of tones, for example jumping from Wakanda to the outside world, whilst this does help to establish how isolated Wakanda is to the outside world, I personally would of preferred the film to stay in Wakanda. Wakanda was executed perfectly on the big screen and it would of been nice if the entire film was set in Wakanda (just my opinion), there are some scenes set in the outside world that work really well in setting up the villain of the film, but some work better than others, and that is probably where some of the most noticeable tonal clashes happen. The film also has some strong and exciting action set pieces through the film, but on occasion some of the set pieces and general CGI could have been a bit sharper in places. Whilst the CGI to create Wakanda is absolutely stunning (so beautiful!), at times during a set piece for example, we are left with a sequence which looks more noticeably animated then it does actual look real. Whilst these are definitely not major problems with the film, and they certainly won't be a problem for the majority of audiences seeing the film, but it is certainly for me something worth mentioning.

Overall I really enjoyed Black Panther, the film truly has some exceptional performances, some beautiful visuals, oh and a great soundtrack to top things off, and I would highly recommend this film. If you are a fan of the MCU and all its films, then you will absolutely love Black Panther and I can't wait to see the character again in Avengers: Infinity War (not long now!!!)

* Remember to stay for those post credit scenes!*


Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars