Marvel movies have been disposable. They’ve been designed to be the same. And even the best ones have only shown glimmers of the personality behind the camera. All that changes with “Black Panther.” In fact, so much has changed with this film. It signals not just a new step forward for Marvel, but a shift in the modern blockbuster’s ability to be political and current, and it’s an absolute leap forward in what we should demand from black cinema.
That’s in part because this very clearly is a Ryan Coogler film. “Black Panther” starts and ends in Oakland in the early ‘90s, as personal a setting as you could get from Coogler. And though Black Panther’s native African nation of Wakanda may not be real, the story Coogler is telling is certainly rooted in reality.
That fictional civilization itself is alive with culture, and all of it speaks to a metaphor black people will recognize all too well. An asteroid containing the powerful metal Vibranium crashed down in Africa, and the Wakandans built a secretive El Dorado among the mountains and trees, a nation prosperous with technology and color. But knowing the metal’s capabilities, they kept “the truth of their power from the world.”
That wording is no accident. “Black Panther” is about the untapped and unrecognized achievements and gifts of an entire group of people. King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and his heroic alter ego Black Panther are both diplomat and superhero. And yet Coogler still inserts images of how the rest of the world views African nations as desolate, backwards and war torn. This movie aims to change perceptions.
Following the death of his father in “Captain America: Civil War,” T’Challa now returns home to Wakanda to be crowned king. He ascends to the throne in a glorious, ritualistic battle against a would-be challenger. This scene is marvelous. The nation of Wakanda has gathered on the ridges of a massive waterfall, each of them dressed in colorful formal African attire. Ruth E. Carter deserves an Oscar for imagining the vibrant earrings, hooped neck braces and even ornate lip discs that make Wakanda feel like it has its own heritage and not just a fantasy world.
But the action takes place in a water basin just below the cliff face. A shirtless T’Challa faces off with sword, shield and fists in a punishing, and for the first time in a Marvel movie, bloody brawl. Coogler and cinematographer Rachel Morrison (Oscar nominated for “Mudbound” last year) make it to be sunny and clear yet visceral and mobile, not unlike the invigorating fight scenes in Coogler’s own “Creed.”
As King, T’Challa is faced with a decision that speaks directly to the Trump era. He and every generation before him has vowed to keep Wakanda safe, and thus stay isolated from the outside world. But T’Challa’s former love Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) believes they should give what they can to people outside their borders, to be leaders in the world.
Coogler finds a way to make this isolationist political debate more than just subtext. Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) is the film’s villain, but we come to sympathize with his roots, how he’s been wronged by society and why he wants to see Wakanda open its borders. His methods turn out to be evil, not his reasons.
The moment where Killmonger is introduced might be Marvel’s best scene ever, as well as framed with its best shot. Killmonger is standing with his back toward the camera amid an all white museum in London. His blackness is defiant. We notice how he’s dressed down, his hair in dreads and tied in a small bun. A clerk, white, comes to greet him and give details about some of the ancient African items in their collection. He finds a hatchet that catches his eye and says he’ll be taking it. These items aren’t for sale, she says, but Killmonger pushes back. Didn’t her ancestors steal these artifacts away from his? And hasn’t she had a half dozen security guards watching him like a hawk the moment he stepped into the gallery?
Marvel’s villain problem has finally been solved, and it can’t be said enough how fantastic Michael B. Jordan is in the role. He might be the first super villain with actual swagger. He has a fashion sense and an air of overzealous confidence rather than just menace. Jordan even gives Killmonger sexuality as he demands to challenge T’Challa for the throne, speaking bluntly and powerfully. This is an immense performance.
All this doesn’t even scratch the surface of all that “Black Panther” does right. It has a chase scene in Korea that looks like something out of “Skyfall” and a final battle that looks like something out of “Lord of the Rings.” And its supporting cast of women steals the show. Danai Gurira is a ferocious warrior goddess, Angela Bassett is an elegant presence, and the film’s true breakout, Letitia Wright as Black Panther’s tech-wizard Shuri, brings humor, surprise and warmth to the film. She’s Q to T’Challa’s James Bond or what Lucius Fox is to Batman, and she’s a bright face in Marvel’s future.
Ryan Coogler’s film feels like a watershed moment. He’s taken liberties on what we’ve come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but there’s no doubt that he’s done all of this firmly under Marvel’s banner. A movie like “Get Out” proved you could make a movie about being black in America within a genre, studio framework. But this is a statement film by Marvel and by Coogler. They know millions will see “Black Panther.” And it announces that the truth of black power won’t be kept from the world any longer.
4 stars