BLACK PANTHER REVIEW ... SO SPOILERS
WAKANDA FOREVER!
There were the two post credit scenes, the first one in the United Nations, and the second one with Bucky. Click on the image below to learn about those in depth.
It is time for the Black Panther spoiler review, where we will discuss the plot of the film, and what worked and didn't work in the film. So, if you have not seen the film, please read the non-spoiler review. But, let's get on to the recap of the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In 1992, Oklahoma, we find T'Chaka (Atandwa Kani), as the Black Panther confronts a Wakandan man who was planning an armed robbery. Back in present day, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), and Okoye (Dani Guriri) head off to rescue Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), a Wakanadan undercover operative. After saving Nakia, the three head back to Wakanda where T'Challa is about to be crowned king, a week after the death of his father, T'Chaka. In London, a man named Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) teams up with Ulysses Klaw (Andy Serkis) to steal a Wakandan artifact. Back home, T'Challa's mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), prepares T'Chall for the ceremony. At the ceremony Zuri (Forrest Whitaker), takes away the power of the Heart-Shaped Herb from T'Challa, taking away his powers as the Black Panther. T'Challa is prepared to battle for the throne from a member for each of the five clans. M'Baku (Winston Duke), comes forth to battle T'Challa, however losses, with T'Challa spearing his life.
Back in the city, T'Challa is celebrated as king of Wakanda. When learning that a thief of Vibranium, Klaw, is spotted, T'Challa brings an entourage of Okoye and Nakia to South Korea to catch Klaw. Metting Evertt Ross (Martin Freeman) in a casino, T'Challa learns that he is going to take in Klaw as well. Queue the Stan Lee cameo, all hell breaks loss, T'Challa suits up in his new Kinetic energy absorbing, suit, courtesy of his younger sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), to take down Klaw in a high-speed chase. Capturing Klaw, Evertt interrogates Klaw who tells Evertt about Wakanda. Questioning T'Challa about Wakanda, Erik Killmonger breaks Klaw out of the containment cell. About to chase after him, T'Challa sees that Killmonger is wearing the same ring he has.
Saving Nakia's life, an injured Everrt Ross is transported to Wakanda is get treated by Shuri. When telling the leader of the border tribe, W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), that they were not successful in capturing Klaw, there is a small divide. T'Challa questions Zuri about Killmonger who reveals to T'Challa that his father killed his brother, N'Jobu (Sterling K. Brown) Killmonger's father. After killing Klaw, Killmonger heads to Wakanda, where he is purposely captured. Claiming his rights, Killomger fights T'Challa for the throne at the waterfalls. In the fight, Zuri is murdered by Killmonger, T'Challa gets injured and is thrown off the waterfall. Ramonda and Shuri quickly get away, as Killmonger is the king of Wakanda. Knowing that there are Wakandans over the globe who are oppressed, Killmonger prepares to send out weapons for Wakanda to take over. Going into a Heart-Shaped Herb dream, Killmonger sees his father and learns that he wanted to take him to Wakanda one day, to see the sunset. Awakening from his dream, Killmonger burns down the garden of the heart-shaped herb, however, Nakia grabs one of the plants, and Evertt and meets up with Ramonda and Shuri.
Knowing the horror that could await, Shuri, Ramonda, Nakia, and Evertt head to M'Baku's tribe to ask him to challenge Killmonger for the throne. Denying their offer, M'Baku tells them a "life for a life", as he brings them to T'Challa's still alive body he found. Ramonda creates a potion from Nakia's heart-shaped herb and feeds it to T'Challa. In the spirit realm, T'Challa talks to his father, T'Chaka (John Kani), and confronts him about killing N'Jobu. T'Challa gets advice from his father and learns that he has to be both a good man and a good king. Awaking, T'Challa, Nakia, Shuri, and Evertt head back to the main city of Wakanda to confront Killmonger, with Ramonda staying with M'Baku. Nakia gives T'Challa his suit as he suits up to confront Killmonger, who also suits up in a gold Black Panther suit, with his dagger, while he is sending out Vibranium weapons. Okoye gets the Dora Milaje to attack Killmonger, teaming up with T'Challa. W'Kabi get's his tribe to fight the Dora Milaje. Shuri and Nakia suit up with new gear to help in the fight. Meanwhile, guided by Shuri, Evertt gets into a remote-controlled aircraft to take down Killmonger's transports.
W'Kabi brings in his rhinoceros to fight the Dora Milaje. Outnumbered, the Dora Milaje and Black Panther are outnumbered, however, M'Baku and his tribe join with the Dora Milaje and T'Challa to fight W'Kabi, creating a fair fight. Building up Kinetic energy, T'Challa creates large blasts taking down his opposition. Seeing Killmonger attack Shuri, T'Challa chases after Killmonger and the two fall into the Vibranium mine where they continue fighting on the monorail tracks. Evertt takes down all the transports in the sky, as Okoye manages to stop the rhino's and get W'Kabi and his men to surrender. As instructed by T'Challa, Shuri switches on the Vibranium sonic dampeners. With the effects of Vibranium not working. T'Challa and Killmonger have a fight. T'Challa manages to roll under a mine cart, with Killmonger on top, grab the dagger, that Killmonger had, and stab Killmonger under the heart. With the battle over, T'Challa brings Killmonger to the top of the Panther statue outside the mine as the two watch the sunset. Killmonger takes the spear out of his heart and dies in front of T'Challa.
Back in the city, T'Challa is celebrated as king of Wakanda. When learning that a thief of Vibranium, Klaw, is spotted, T'Challa brings an entourage of Okoye and Nakia to South Korea to catch Klaw. Metting Evertt Ross (Martin Freeman) in a casino, T'Challa learns that he is going to take in Klaw as well. Queue the Stan Lee cameo, all hell breaks loss, T'Challa suits up in his new Kinetic energy absorbing, suit, courtesy of his younger sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), to take down Klaw in a high-speed chase. Capturing Klaw, Evertt interrogates Klaw who tells Evertt about Wakanda. Questioning T'Challa about Wakanda, Erik Killmonger breaks Klaw out of the containment cell. About to chase after him, T'Challa sees that Killmonger is wearing the same ring he has.
Saving Nakia's life, an injured Everrt Ross is transported to Wakanda is get treated by Shuri. When telling the leader of the border tribe, W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), that they were not successful in capturing Klaw, there is a small divide. T'Challa questions Zuri about Killmonger who reveals to T'Challa that his father killed his brother, N'Jobu (Sterling K. Brown) Killmonger's father. After killing Klaw, Killmonger heads to Wakanda, where he is purposely captured. Claiming his rights, Killomger fights T'Challa for the throne at the waterfalls. In the fight, Zuri is murdered by Killmonger, T'Challa gets injured and is thrown off the waterfall. Ramonda and Shuri quickly get away, as Killmonger is the king of Wakanda. Knowing that there are Wakandans over the globe who are oppressed, Killmonger prepares to send out weapons for Wakanda to take over. Going into a Heart-Shaped Herb dream, Killmonger sees his father and learns that he wanted to take him to Wakanda one day, to see the sunset. Awakening from his dream, Killmonger burns down the garden of the heart-shaped herb, however, Nakia grabs one of the plants, and Evertt and meets up with Ramonda and Shuri.
Knowing the horror that could await, Shuri, Ramonda, Nakia, and Evertt head to M'Baku's tribe to ask him to challenge Killmonger for the throne. Denying their offer, M'Baku tells them a "life for a life", as he brings them to T'Challa's still alive body he found. Ramonda creates a potion from Nakia's heart-shaped herb and feeds it to T'Challa. In the spirit realm, T'Challa talks to his father, T'Chaka (John Kani), and confronts him about killing N'Jobu. T'Challa gets advice from his father and learns that he has to be both a good man and a good king. Awaking, T'Challa, Nakia, Shuri, and Evertt head back to the main city of Wakanda to confront Killmonger, with Ramonda staying with M'Baku. Nakia gives T'Challa his suit as he suits up to confront Killmonger, who also suits up in a gold Black Panther suit, with his dagger, while he is sending out Vibranium weapons. Okoye gets the Dora Milaje to attack Killmonger, teaming up with T'Challa. W'Kabi get's his tribe to fight the Dora Milaje. Shuri and Nakia suit up with new gear to help in the fight. Meanwhile, guided by Shuri, Evertt gets into a remote-controlled aircraft to take down Killmonger's transports.
W'Kabi brings in his rhinoceros to fight the Dora Milaje. Outnumbered, the Dora Milaje and Black Panther are outnumbered, however, M'Baku and his tribe join with the Dora Milaje and T'Challa to fight W'Kabi, creating a fair fight. Building up Kinetic energy, T'Challa creates large blasts taking down his opposition. Seeing Killmonger attack Shuri, T'Challa chases after Killmonger and the two fall into the Vibranium mine where they continue fighting on the monorail tracks. Evertt takes down all the transports in the sky, as Okoye manages to stop the rhino's and get W'Kabi and his men to surrender. As instructed by T'Challa, Shuri switches on the Vibranium sonic dampeners. With the effects of Vibranium not working. T'Challa and Killmonger have a fight. T'Challa manages to roll under a mine cart, with Killmonger on top, grab the dagger, that Killmonger had, and stab Killmonger under the heart. With the battle over, T'Challa brings Killmonger to the top of the Panther statue outside the mine as the two watch the sunset. Killmonger takes the spear out of his heart and dies in front of T'Challa.
With the day saved, T'Challa and Shuri go to Oklahoma. They look outside at the building that T'Chaka killed N'Jobu, and T'Challa tells Shuri that he bought the building, and he wants Shuri to a Wakanda embassy, so they can open up to the world. A nearby kid asks T'Challa who he is, and T'Challa smirks.
There were the two post credit scenes, the first one in the United Nations, and the second one with Bucky. Click on the image below to learn about those in depth.
So to start off, Black Panther is absolutely amazing. There were so many great things about the film, but I have to say that the way Wakanda was built was a highlight of the film. With simple camera shots of the daily lives of the people of Wakanda, we get a sense of the technologically advanced society, however yet simple society, of Wakanda, to the citizens on the ground. With creating a CG spectacle, we see the scope of this nation, and I wish we explored it more. We did see some great scenes from the ground of Wakanda, however, I really could have done with more action scenes on the ground of Wakanda, but it seems like we can see that in the sequel.
The tone of this film was great. It was a little more serious than the past three Marvel films, and it was great seeing a change. In saying that, Black Panther still felt like a relatively light-toned film, from the jokes an the quips showing us a lighter side to our heroes and villains. Also from the colorful costumes to the bright sets, this film had a positive vibe tied to it visually. With the themes it dealt with, T'Chaka killing N'Jobu, there were dark themes in the story. Black Panther balanced the tone of the film perfectly, creating a neat blend of light an darkness.
Speaking of costumes, this film had some of the most awesome costumes we have seen in the MCU. With the different distinctive colors that the tribes of Wakanda had, there was a rainbow of colors on screen at once. The film showed us some new suits for Black Panther himself. There was the returning suit from Civil War, which had the same highly detailed silver engravings. The new suit looked more polished in color, an almost looked more like a cloth suit than the previous suit. When the purple kinetic energy came on the suit, we saw more details of the suit that was hidden, and it was great seeing that. Killmonger's golden jaguar suit was absolutely amazing. I loved the detailing of it. The gold on the suit made for a great symbolic message, with it almost representing that he is king. But I have to say one of the coolest suits in the film was T'Chaka's gold Black Panther suit in the 1992 flashback, that was so awesome to see on screen.
Now let's talk about some of the best scenes in the film. The trial to be king of Wakanda was awesome. We saw the colorful background which was the uniting of the tribes of Wakanda, and the action of the unpowered T'Challa was great. I loved the effect that was given to T'Challa when he drunk the anti-heat herb. The action scene with M'Baku versus T'Challa was a great start, and it showed how powerful T'Challa is even without powers, which was great to illustrate, especially with a hero that is recognized seen in action with the suit, or with the herb. The second waterfall scene was great. We had T'Challa versus Killmonger. That was such an epic fight. Seeing the contrast in the fighting styles of the two upbringings were very interesting to see together. The only complaint I had about this was that there it appeared I was supposed to feel something when Killmonger threw T'Challa off the cliff. I saw that Killmonger was a killer, which was demonstrated before, but I felt nothing that T'Challa was thrown off because we all know he is alive. The ending to the scene was played up a little too much.
The dream sequences with both Kilmonger and T'Challa were amazing. I have to say that it was some of the best character work I have seen in the MCU. The scene with Kilmonger in the Heart-Shaped herb dream was possibly the best scene in the film. We saw the way that Killmonger acted with his father, N'Jobu, and how he admired him. The use of the younger Kilmonger, played by Seth Carr, was great in the scene as well. Bringing a sense of innocence to the character and making you feel for the character of Kilmonger making his plan and story that much more compelling. Not only was the story great in the dream sequence, however, the visuals were great. The purple sky looked amazing, and I love the idea that the dream takes place in the mind's most comfortable place was great, especially in terms of Kilmonger's story.
The third act battle scene was a really great one this time. We are used to the standard hero versus army, or hero versus villain scene, so it was great seeing a civil war in a country. Where we had one side protecting the isolation of the country, and one side fighting for the country to invade. The Dora Milaje was great in the end scene, and it is cool to see them use their spears. Shuri and Nakia I thought could have had a more extensive role in the end fight. The Rhino's in the end fight was such an awesome surprise. It was great seeing animals involved in the fight scene, in such a large capacity. The Black Panther versus Kilmonger fight scene did get to the standard CG fight. It was mainly because of the character work that I was invested in this fight, but it looked cool. My only disappointment with this fight was the way it ended. It felt a little abrupt and was a fulfilling ending to what was an awesome scene.
The cast of the film is what made Black Panther an enjoyable film. We had, of course, Chadwick Boseman in the lead, he was great of course. We saw the arch of the character in the film, not prepared to be king, to wanting to be the best king he could be. I loved the way Boseman played the character on screen, bringing more charm to the character than we saw in Captain America Civil War. Michael B. Jordan was, of course, great in the film, being the villain, possibly being the best villain in the MCU to date. I also loved Danai Gurira as Okoye, she created this nice mix of being stiff and formal, to adding her own personality to the character. Letitia Wright was great as Shuri in the film, I will do a character discussion of Shuri, Kilmonger, and Black Panther in the next few days. The rest of the cast in the film was exceptional in the film. Starring in Black Panther was Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa/ Black Panther), Michael B. Jordan (Erik Killmonger), Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Angela Bassett (Ramonda), Forest Whitaker (Zuri), Martin Freeman (Evertt K. Ross), Winston Duke (M'Baku), Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaw), Daniel Kaluuya (W'Kabi), John Kani (T'Chaka), Atandwa Kani (young T'Chaka), Seth Carr (young Killmonger), and Sterling K. Brown (N'Jobu).
In conclusion. Black Panther is an absolutely amazing film that is enjoyable to watch. Thanks to the spectacular directing efforts of Ryan Coogler, the film constructed the nation of Wakanda in a compelling way, showing us the lives of the protagonists, and the culture of Wakanda. With great film techniques, this film is a true marvel. Injunction with the acting efforts of the cast of the film, this is a film with loveable heroes and villains, who all have compelling stories which were interesting to see on screen. Black Panther is one awesome Marvel film which I will give an 8.5 out of 10. Please, please, please, comment below your thoughts on Black Panther, what were your favorite or least favorite scenes, characters, anything, I would love to talk about this film, comment below. There will be more Black Panther this week, so subscribe to get that. As always thanks for reading, Wakanda Forever...
The dream sequences with both Kilmonger and T'Challa were amazing. I have to say that it was some of the best character work I have seen in the MCU. The scene with Kilmonger in the Heart-Shaped herb dream was possibly the best scene in the film. We saw the way that Killmonger acted with his father, N'Jobu, and how he admired him. The use of the younger Kilmonger, played by Seth Carr, was great in the scene as well. Bringing a sense of innocence to the character and making you feel for the character of Kilmonger making his plan and story that much more compelling. Not only was the story great in the dream sequence, however, the visuals were great. The purple sky looked amazing, and I love the idea that the dream takes place in the mind's most comfortable place was great, especially in terms of Kilmonger's story.
The third act battle scene was a really great one this time. We are used to the standard hero versus army, or hero versus villain scene, so it was great seeing a civil war in a country. Where we had one side protecting the isolation of the country, and one side fighting for the country to invade. The Dora Milaje was great in the end scene, and it is cool to see them use their spears. Shuri and Nakia I thought could have had a more extensive role in the end fight. The Rhino's in the end fight was such an awesome surprise. It was great seeing animals involved in the fight scene, in such a large capacity. The Black Panther versus Kilmonger fight scene did get to the standard CG fight. It was mainly because of the character work that I was invested in this fight, but it looked cool. My only disappointment with this fight was the way it ended. It felt a little abrupt and was a fulfilling ending to what was an awesome scene.
The cast of the film is what made Black Panther an enjoyable film. We had, of course, Chadwick Boseman in the lead, he was great of course. We saw the arch of the character in the film, not prepared to be king, to wanting to be the best king he could be. I loved the way Boseman played the character on screen, bringing more charm to the character than we saw in Captain America Civil War. Michael B. Jordan was, of course, great in the film, being the villain, possibly being the best villain in the MCU to date. I also loved Danai Gurira as Okoye, she created this nice mix of being stiff and formal, to adding her own personality to the character. Letitia Wright was great as Shuri in the film, I will do a character discussion of Shuri, Kilmonger, and Black Panther in the next few days. The rest of the cast in the film was exceptional in the film. Starring in Black Panther was Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa/ Black Panther), Michael B. Jordan (Erik Killmonger), Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Angela Bassett (Ramonda), Forest Whitaker (Zuri), Martin Freeman (Evertt K. Ross), Winston Duke (M'Baku), Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaw), Daniel Kaluuya (W'Kabi), John Kani (T'Chaka), Atandwa Kani (young T'Chaka), Seth Carr (young Killmonger), and Sterling K. Brown (N'Jobu).
In conclusion. Black Panther is an absolutely amazing film that is enjoyable to watch. Thanks to the spectacular directing efforts of Ryan Coogler, the film constructed the nation of Wakanda in a compelling way, showing us the lives of the protagonists, and the culture of Wakanda. With great film techniques, this film is a true marvel. Injunction with the acting efforts of the cast of the film, this is a film with loveable heroes and villains, who all have compelling stories which were interesting to see on screen. Black Panther is one awesome Marvel film which I will give an 8.5 out of 10. Please, please, please, comment below your thoughts on Black Panther, what were your favorite or least favorite scenes, characters, anything, I would love to talk about this film, comment below. There will be more Black Panther this week, so subscribe to get that. As always thanks for reading, Wakanda Forever...
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