The first Marvel movie of the year, "Black Panther" gives us something a tad different - an afro-centric story of a hidden kingdom and how its king decides to engage in the world outside his borders, combined with all the crowd-pleasing fights, stunts, jokes and wonders that Marvel fans have come to accept. And while Chadwick Boseman as the titular superhero is the lead, it's the women who tend to rule - whether it be Lupita Nyong'o as his former (and possibly future) lover, Danai Gurira as his head bodyguard and all-round warrior woman, Letitia Wright as his supersmart inventor sister or Angela Basset as his mother. The villainous ranks have Michael B. Jordan as the main baddie (unusually for superhero movies, he has a pretty well thought out plan, motivation and a generally rounded out character) and Andy Serkis as a bonus one (who's more a free-ranging agent of chaos).
Director Ryan Coogler gives this the usual glamorous sheen of the Marvel film, with a little bit of globetrotting to Busan for a casino confrntation and chase scene, in among the afro-futuristic world of Wakanda, the mythical kingdom where much of the action takes place. There's a strange mix of the familiar and the new here - afro-futurism hasn't exactly been a big movement onscreen before, and while, yes, there are somewhat heroic tropes here (and certainly, there are plot elements that may be very slightly weakened by the fact you've just seen a trailer for Infinity War and know who's sticking around for the next movie), never the less this confirms the Marvel trend towards fast moving, fun and exciting adventures, with just a little bit of a brain thrown in looking at themes of global engagement.
Definitely good solid Marvel fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment