Inspirational, Revolutionary and History Making Cinema
Getting to watch films, at the cinema or downloading, is a privilege that others don’t get to have so help these charities give kids the opportunity to see Black Panther.
https://www.gofundme.com/cause/black-panther-challenge
Black Panther follows the story of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) the Prince of Wakanda whose family is part of the Wakandian tradition of the Black Panther, the King of Wakanda gains the powers of the Black Panther. After T’Challa’s father, King T’Chaka, dies T’Challa must become the new King of Wakanda which means defending the hidden city of Wakanda from the outside world and villains like Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) and his unknown associate Kilmonger (Michael B Jordan) as Wakanda and it’s resources become more vulnerable than ever.
There’s a very simple way to explain how important this film is and it’s easy to say that Black Panther is this year’s Wonder Woman as the two films are two big turning points in Hollywood. For Black Panther there is a crucial stat that I can say without spoiling the film…there are only four white speaking roles in this film, and one of them is the Stan Lee cameo! That is how important Black Panther is, Marvel has taken one of their characters and pushed him into the spotlight for the world to see and instead of having one big origin story that will make the film slow and boring they have instead made a film that tells a crucial story, gives the viewer an important message and has a huge cultural impact on society.
I’m white as white can be, well I’m not albino but still, and I can see clearly enough that if you’re an African American comic book fan than you wouldn’t exactly have been completely impressed with Marvel’s line up of mainly white heroes. Every Marvel film so far has been the story of some white guy who gains powers and uses them to fight crime or loses powers and has to find a way to get them back. Black Panther is nothing like this as the film is solely based on the people of Wakanda and how their resources can have such a large effect on the lives of Africans and Black Americans. The main two sides of the argument are Black Panther vs Kilmonger where Kilmonger wants to use Wakanda’s resources to take control of the world and put the power in the hands of Black Americans and Africans. The other side of the argument you have this hero T’Challa who is a Black man in charge of one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world and who fights crime and corruption as the Black Panther. It’s a hero who has to choose the right thing to do and the right way to do it, he’s a hero who has a large effect on the Earth that is in the Marvel films and he’s a hero who will have a huge impact on African and Black American kids.
My whole life I’ve been given heroes to look up to on the big screen, I’ve always aspired to be like Peter Parker, I can’t even fathom how large of an effect this film will have on an African or Black American kid sitting in a theatre watching this hero choosing right from wrong and being a complete badass about it. It’s similar to the effect that last year’s Wonder Woman had and it’s crazy to think that Black Panther has that effect and more. Black Panther isn’t just a film for African and Black American men but for Women as well as the film is also filled with strong African women who are just as heroic and cool as Black Panther is. Around the world, people are raising money through charities (find them here) so that young African and Black American kids will have the opportunity to go and see this crucial film. The effect this film has on society will be a story never forgotten, it’s a story that will live on with the film for the rest of history and it’s a story that will be heard by Hollywood (Black Panther has sold the most presale tickets out of any MCU film yet).
At some stage I’ll actually have to talk about what is in the film and here goes, Black Panther is easily one of my favourite films in the MCU. Black Panther got his small origin introduction in Captain America: Civil War and that has helped it here because the story doesn’t feel slowed down by introducing who he is too much. The entire vibe of the film can be found in the trailers as the cool vibe the trailers have is present in the final product. It’s a film that uses colour, architecture, music, and language to represent a part of the world that isn’t normally seen in mainstream media. The fight scenes are some of the best and are more relatable to the good scenes found in the Marvel Netflix shows, they can be a little CGI heavy at times and I wished the film was actually filmed in Africa but it looks surprisingly good considering it wasn’t filmed there. The emotion in the film feels real and doesn’t feel too forced as the characters are all well made and important to the story. The film does, unfortunately, suffer from the fact that the Avengers: Infinity War trailer is already out so you can see who is there after the film but that’s just how Hollywood works now. The acting is also on point as you can see every actor and actress has brought their A-game for this crucial film, Michael B Jordan is as good as everyone is saying and Chadwick Boseman makes for a great Black Panther. If you’re not convinced to see the film yet, then you must be crazy but the vibe can also be found in the film’s steller soundtrack. The soundtrack is used very little in the film but it is replaced by a well-made score which further captures the true Africa style that director Ryan Coogler has captured.
Black Panther is many things, it’s a fantastic film, a film that will have a large affect on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a moment in time that will be remembered for a long time to come and it’s a film that could one day have an inspirtational affect on an African or Black American kid who hasn’t had the oppurtunity to see a hero he can truly relate too. Saying that Black Panther is inspirational is putting it lightly as words can’t describe how much of an affect this film will have, it’ll easily be one of the biggest films of this year and it will easily be one of most important chapters in the history of Hollywood. Change is happening now and Marvel has taken a big step to support change, one that should be celebrated by all. And it’s even an amazing film, thank you, Ryan Coogler, for giving us another amazing film!
Score: 4.5/5
Please support the charities trying to help kids go and see Black Panther, everyone should have the opportunity to see this film. https://www.gofundme.com/cause/black-panther-challenge