2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanded on a tradition that had existed since 1927. It increased the number of potential Best Picture nominations from the usual five to a potential maximum of 10. It was a move to inject more blockbusters into the Oscar mix and to give movies like Avatar, Inception, and Toy Story 3 the recognition of Best Picture that they deserved. But in essence, this was The Dark Knight rule. This 2008 film, the most incredible superhero movie ever made, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two (Best Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger, Best Achievement in Sound Editing).
I’ll start by saying that I didn’t love Black Panther. Still, I am glad that this film will forever be recognized as the first Best Picture superhero nominee since the expanded rules unjustly eliminated The Dark Knight from receiving this recognition. While a nearly flawless film, it is not The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight was dark. It was gritty. It developed multiple characters like no other superhero movie ever had. It was unique. It did not follow a formula. Black Panther was none of those things. It followed the same cookie-cutter recipe that dozens of Marvel and DC superhero movies developed, tested, and perfected before it. When you take a look at it, Black Panther is no different than Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Thor, heck, and even Ant-Man followed this method that has been tried and true. To me, there was nothing unique about the origin story, the character development, the conflict, the action scenes, the resolution, the score, the acting, etc.
Before this 2018 release, more than 20 movies in the last decade followed this exact blueprint and succeeded. However, that doesn’t take away from the merits of Black Panther. I look at it more negatively because I have seen all these other movies. But if you take the handful of movies I listed above and 15 or so others out of the equation, meaning you either pretend you never saw those or never saw those, you get a near-perfect movie. Because I see so many movies, it’s hard to separate Black Panther from the others in terms of originality and the other considerations listed above. But this is a fine film. It also features the first black superhero to have a feature film based around their story, which is really, really cool. And it is neat to say that the first movie ever nominated for Best Picture is also the first movie to feature a black superhero at its core. Really cool.
There are categories of films that I won’t review because I don’t have anything intelligent to say about them. There are two categories. There are more like live-action and shorts, but I don’t even watch those movies, so they wouldn’t necessarily fall into that category. Animated movies (that I watch with my nephews) and documentaries are two movies that I can’t say much about. I like acting, character development, and plot. Documentaries don’t offer that, and while animated movies do, my brain is greater than that of a nine-year-old, and I find myself bored by just about every animated movie I see. Sorry to Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, etc. But I was never, nor will I ever be, their intended audience. I watch animated movies with my nephews (just like I did with my now 30-year-old nieces) to instill a love of movies in them. One day, I will watch movies with them that I enjoy. But that is a different story for a different day. In any case, my reason for mentioning that I don’t feel like I have much to say about animated movies or documentaries is that I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t have much to offer superhero movies. They are similar and, frankly, not much fun to write about. I’ve probably reviewed ten superhero movies, and they don’t include my three favorites, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, or Iron Man, as those came out before I began reviewing movies in 2010, and I haven’t yet found the desire to go back and review those. The three best superhero movies I’ve reviewed are Captain America: Civil War (amazing), The Dark Knight Rises (amazing), and Logan (excellent).
Black Panther tells the story of T’Challa (the excellent up-and-coming Chadwick Boseman – Draft Day, Avengers: Infinity War), who at 41 years of age is still getting into the movie portion of his career yet as already portrayed Jackie Robinson (42), James Brown (Get on Up), Thurgood Marshall (Marshall), and Black Panther. What’s better than that? He crushed each of those rules. In Black Panther, T’Challa becomes the somewhat reluctant king of the hidden African nation of Wakanda after his father is killed. Much like other superhero movies, there are protagonists and antagonists. In this case, we have an excellent antagonist in Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan – Creed, Fruitvale Station), a ruthless black ops soldier who intends to become the king of Wakanda himself. The challenge for supremacy goes far beyond these two men, who are cousins. We learn that T’Challa’s father killed Killmonger’s father, obviously making the feud even more intense. His plan to dethrone T’Challa is to distribute Wakandan weaponry to operatives and mercenaries worldwide. He takes down T’Challa, but T’Challa is revived in the form of Black Panther, and that’s when we get the action we crave from our superhero movies.
Coogler gives many of his characters the depths they need to succeed. Jordan’s Killmonger might be the most complete antagonist since Christopher Nolan’s Joker (Heath Ledger) in The Dark Knight. It certainly helps when you have the acting prowess of someone like Jordan. We could see Killmonger in all of his glory and the reasons for his anger, deception, rise to power, and influence. He makes T’Challa all the more likable. Unfortunately, in a year when the Best Supporting Actor category was particularly weak, Jordan was snubbed of an Oscar nomination. Black Panther was nominated for seven Oscars (I think it will win two), but none for acting. Boseman and Jordan were the best but weren’t the only two standouts. Oscar winners Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, The Crying Game) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) and Oscar nominees Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood) and Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Widows) join a fantastic ensemble.
It’s a fun movie. The action is excellent. The music is top-notch. The costumes are fantastic. And most importantly, it digs into the heritage of an albeit fictional African nation. In one scene, in particular, near the film’s start, the leader is openly challenged, and a physical confrontation occurs while many other significant players watch from the side. It showed me how Black Panther showed the cultural roots that most, if not all, other superhero movies either neglect entirely or do a poor job of displaying. Superhero fans will love this movie. I am glad this is the movie that featured the first black superhero as its lead. Coogler, the cast, and all those associated with editing, production, etc., created a film we can be proud of.
Plot 8/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 8/10
Universal Relevance 8/10
88.5%
B
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- Logan
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