Marvel have really been nailing it when it comes the the MCU movies, every film just gets better and better and after Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok being two of my favourite movies in the franchise I was really excited to see the full debut of the King of Wakanda, T'Challa AKA Black Panther.
The film starts with the story of how Wakanda was founded when five African tribes joined together on the site of a vibranium meteor that crashed there centuries ago. We then fast forward to 1992 in Oakland, California where King T'Chaka visits his brother, who is undercover, and the King accuses him helping Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) steal vibranium from Wakanda.
Jump forward to present day and it's the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War and (now) King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to Wakanda to assume the throne and complete the coronation ceremony but he is challenged by M'Baku, the leader of one of the tribes, for the throne. T'Challa wins after a short fight and is crowned King.
Next we meet the main protagonist Erik Stevens (Michael B Jordan) who we later find out is a former US Black Ops soldier with the code name 'Killmonger'. He is working with Ulysses Klaue to sell vibranium on the black market. In South Korea T'Challa takes Okoye, the General of his army, and his ex-lover Nakia (who is a Wakandan spy) to caputre Klaue and get the vibranium back. T'Challa meets CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) who is also trying to get the Vibranium. A shoot out ensues and then car chase and Klaue gets caputred.
Killmonger breaks Klaue out of CIA custody and we find out he has a bigger plan though as he travels to Wakanda, reveals he is really T'Challa's cousin and wants revenge for his fathers death and challenges to T'Challa for the crown and the mantle of Black Panther.
Enough of the plot though, you can find out what else happens when you go and see it for yourself. I really enjoyed Black Panther, it didn't hit the heights of the last few MCU movies but it was still a solid film and really fleshed out the Black Panther character (I didn't really know much about this superhero before now).
The main characters are portrayed well (especially Michael B Jordan) but I think it's the supporting cast that really shine. Letitia Wright as Shuri, Black Panther's younger sister is my favourite character as a sort of Q to Black Panthers James Bond. Lupita Nyong'o is also great as Nakia as well as Winston Duke as M'Baku.
Although Black Panther isn't the first black superhero (that goes to Blade) I think he is the first African Superhero. This film really is a celebration of Africa with many scenes portraying the music, clothing and culture of Africa. When I was very young me and my family lived in South Africa and although I was too young to have any memories of that time I have always had a soft spot for African culture and loved seeing it shown in such a high profile film.
There is also a strong anti-colonialism theme that runs through the film with T'Challa trying to protect Wakanda's resources from outsiders and Killmonger wanting to use Black Panther and the weapons Wakanda has to punish those who benefited from slavery and the theft of Africa's natural resources. Music also plays a big part in the film with Kendrick Lamar producing an amazing soundtrack which weaves it's way though each scene in a way that made us want to listen to the album as soon as we came out of the film.
Mrs. Cool noted that it was one of the most violent films she had seen recently that has a 12A rating, I didn't think the film is overly violent and we took out 7 year old to see it too and he was fine about it but maybe we're desensitised to it by now. I'm looking forward to seeing Black Panther again as I want to find out more about this marvel hero and see which other allies and villains he will encounter. I'm also really excited to see Avengers: Infinity War.
Well, that's all for now.
S
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