Review: Black Panther

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

During the course of any year, I often find myself complaining about the overabundance of comic book movies and how they've taken over mainstream moviegoing. Then, something like "Black Panther" pops up - albeit once per decade - and I can see some potential for the genre. It helps that, much like Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" movies, this film has an auteur with vision at its helm. Ryan Coogler brings his thematic interests to the table here and it makes for a richer-than-average superhero movie.

In fact, the film's opening scene - which is set in 1992 in Oakland and involves a character who wants to rise up against America's oppression of African Americans - reminded me more of Coogler's debut, the powerful "Fruitvale Station," than your typical comic book picture. The film's intro tells the story of two brothers, both from the fictional African nation of Wakanda, who foresee different ways of battling injustice. This leads to a fraught moment, resulting in the death of one of the two men.

We cut to the present, where the noble T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is set to take over Wakanda following his father's death in a previous Marvel installment. He has the support of his mother (Angela Bassett), former flame (Lupita Nyong'o), spunky and technologically proficient sister (Letitia Wright), best pal (Daniel Kaluuya) and a man named Zuri (Forest Whitaker), who was an old friend of T'Challa's father.

But on the other side of the world, a vengeful man named Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who was present during the opening scene in 1992, steals a Wakandan artifact from a museum, brutally slaughtering the museum's staff with the help of a South African psycho named Klaw (Andy Serkis), and makes plans to visit the African nation, with the intention of taking over as its leader.

One of the things that we learn about Wakanda - which one character says is the actual lost city, rather than Atlantis - is that it is situated on a mountain filled with vibranium, a powerful metal that the Wakandans use for all manner of technology and weaponry. Not surprisingly, their kingdom is hidden away and most of the rest of the world believe it to be impoverished. This is one of several themes running throughout the film that turns a mirror on our own world: Should Wakanda engage in isolationism or take a leading role in the world?

"Black Panther" is unlike any comic book movie you've likely seen. The film is set primarily in Africa and there are only two white characters - Klaw and a secret agent played by Martin Freeman - of any relevance. No other Marvel characters - thankfully - pop up as cheap marketing ploys as they have in previous "Avengers" or other Marvel movies. And the characters in "Black Panther" have more depth than the archetypes exhibited in most comic book movies. This is the richest and best superhero movie since "The Dark Knight" and the best Marvel movie ever.

It also helps to have such a terrific cast - especially Wright as T'Challa's sister and Danai Gurira as a  warrior who leads the kingdom's army - and such eye popping cinematography. Yes, the film engages in the typical battles you'd expect from the genre, but the ones in this film tend to make the viewer care more since the characters are better drawn. With "Black Panther," Coogler proves that he is a filmmaker who can adeptly handle both low budget indie dramas and blockbuster films. I hope he's brought back for the inevitable sequel.