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Black Panther - Movie review by Rouén Robinson
By Rouén Robinson
Feb 22, 2018 - 2:57:13 PM

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Black Panther

Hero. Legend. King.

A compelling superhero movie that focuses on the theme of responsibility to the memory of those who have passed on vs the need to adapt to a modern global landscape.

After the death of his father a prince must take on the mantle of king of his isolationist and technologically advanced nation. When an enemy from his nation’s past reappears, the new king must prove himself to his people as he is drawn into a conflict with the potential to put the nations of the world at risk.

T’Challa is the new King of Wakanda and also the new Black Panther with a sworn oath to protect the interests of his isolated nation from those who would use its advanced technology for evil. Shuri is the princess of Wakanda and the current head designer of its technological tradition of incorporating the alien metal Vibranium into every aspect of their cutting-edge way of life. Okoye is the head of the Dora Milaje who serve as the all-female special forces of Wakanda and the personal bodyguards of whoever sits on the throne of the country. Ulysses Klaue is a South African black-market arms dealer and smuggler wanted for crimes against Wakanda, who uses an advanced Wakandan mining tool as a weapon in his prosthetic arm. Erick Stevens is a U.S. black-ops soldier known as Killmonger in league with Klaue but with ties to Wakanda that could threaten their heritage of isolationism.

Black Panther is a superhero film that feels like a force of nature with all the hype that is surrounding it and I can confidently say after watching it twice that this is an awesome film but not the greatest of all time. This movie is groundbreaking for the scale of immersion it is attempting in a comic book based cinematic event and that is why I am happy to report that it is successful in making this theatrical release a cultural phenomenon. Chadwick Boseman, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright do solid jobs as the core team on the side of good that makes this film feel like Marvel’s version of James Bond. On the side of the bad guys we have Andy Serkis and Michael B. Jordan who make the villainy into a track and field relay race as Klaue hands the baton of badness to Killmonger to finish off the sprint to overthrow Wakanda and distribute their vibranium infused weaponry around the globe. Ryan Coogler is able to give this entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe a unique vision that only a director with his tremendous talent could achieve. The Afrofuturism art style used in the film is a wonder to behold and brought to mind the style of Tron Legacy brought into the warm light of day. If I had to say anything bad about the film it would be that the climactic battle at the end of the film did have elements of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, John Carter of Mars and Spider-Man 3 but were able to take the best bits of those flawed films to varying degrees of success. I could go on and on with the milestones this motion picture was able to set on an emotional level as I am aware that praising it will only add to the expectations of those who have not yet experienced it but I trust that anyone watching it with an open mind will find something to enjoy just as Disney intends lol. I rate this film a rating of 4 & 1/2 out of 5.

P.S.
There is one mid credit scene that is an epilogue to the main narrative of the film and one end credit sequence that connects to the film we previously saw Wakanda briefly featured in which leads us into Avengers: Infinity War, so don’t leave your seat or you will miss them.


In Theaters

Black Panther


See other reviews by Rouén HERE.


Rouén Robinson has been an avid moviegoer since childhood and has been critiquing motion pictures for almost a decade. He has been a film critic for The Cinemas on Tempo and was a judge for FLIFF On Location: Grand Bahama Island, an off shoot of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF). Rouén lives in Grand Bahama and can be reached at redr1976@icloud.com and on Twitter @thereelrouen



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