By: Grant Skipworth
Black Panther was supposed to change the comic book movie genre, supposed to be the serious point in the ever growing “fun” Marvel Cinematic universe, and take the world by storm. Did Black Panther hit all those marks? Well, no.
Black Panther did take the world by storm having the second best opening weekend at the box office in history, almost toppling the seventh Star Wars installment. It has grossed over one billion at the box office, reached its fourth straight number one spot, and is the seventh top grossing film of all time (domestically). It took itself serious at times, especially with its overarching theme which was helmed magnificently by Ryan Coogler. It also had some humor, which we will touch on in a second. Overall, Black Panther was a disappointment. It was a good film, don't get me wrong, with a well told story, good direction, and good performances across the board. With that having been said, this movie had the potential of being a Dark Knight or Logan and becoming something more than just another superhero flick, which is a bar it just did not reach. Black Panther missed the mark on fulfilling its full potential, and while being a good film, it is a tragic one (not in the Shakespeare essence) in regards to what it could have been.
There are some really incredible aspects of Black Panther that truly work. The whole cast is pretty well acted, with Michael B. Jordan stealing every scene he was in as the film's antagonist Erik Killmonger. I mean, should we expect any less from that guy at this point? The look and art design of the fictional nation Wakanda is quite breathtaking along with the rest of the film which really draws you into this world. The theme is there and works within the context of the film explains many of the character's motivation.The theme of what is the right thing for a country with the most powerful resources, whether to help out other countries or not. It completely works within the film and relevant to today’s conversations. The film’s tone is serious and is treated with attention at times. Otherwise, the film tried to blend the
usual Marvel humor with the overall serious status. It shows, yet again, that Marvel does not trust its viewers with real drama and gravity. This is an overarching problems in most Marvel movies, and they do not quell the unnecessary humor but it should have been minimized, especially here. It does not work and that is where this film really starts drift back in the plain ole superhero movie. There is a fine line between the cheesiness of Sam Rami’s Spider-Man films and Marvel humor. In the Spider-Man films, the humor fits the tone and the is central to the character. In Marvel films, the humor is just there to have humor and nothing else. There is a “What are those?” joke, and I just have to ask, why? There is no point in shoehorning a pointless joke to establish that this is still the Marvel humor we become used too and basically treating the audiences like children in an otherwise serious flick. I can understand a joke being implemented in this scene being used to show the relationship between T’Challa (Black Panther) and his sister or something that is actually relevant to the film. This joke, which appears shortly after the first act, is the starting point of this movie failing to reach its potential. There is more unneeded humor in here with the decision of N’baku to break up a heavy moment between a family. The decision is despairing because it inserts that pointless joke because Marvel does not think we can handle a serious moment. It takes an established character that has shown to be intimidating, turns him into yet another funny guy (he almost killed T’challa minutes earlier). The humor and the reason to substitute in for real drama contradicts every idea or thought the movie had, flattening the serious themes that should have replaced this mindless dialogue. This means that the film is oddly paced, which leads to the awkward and anticlimactic third act. The second act feels just like a regular Marvel movie until Michael B. Jordan shows back up on screen, who needed more screen time. Then if the third act was supposed to save the potential, it failed. It descends further into the most stereotypical big-giant-superhero-movie fight with no meaning behind most of these characters except some are supposed to be good and the others are supposed to be bad. The final fight between Killmonger and T’Challa fails to do their rivalry any justice with lack of meaningful action that did not back their decent dialogue. Yes, Black Panther is a tragedy that never quite grasps the potential it could have had.
This film is right in the middle of being a good film and being a great film. It did not bring a significant change to the Marvel brand which it represented, it failed to grab the overall serious tone that it should have, had some messy acts and failed to reach the potential. I know I repeated the word potential quite a bit, and for good reason. Black Panther was hyped to the masses and one of the first review slated it as “A cultural phenomenon,” which just shows the different scales with which Marvel and DC films are graded on. While the film was fine, Wakanda deserved a more aptly told tale, for one could see the moving gears of the film waiting to turn into the next great superhero story. But it wasn’t.
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