Black Panther
Published June 16, 2018
Film info
- Title Black Panther
- Director Ryan Coogler
- Year 2018
- Run time 2hrs 14m
- Genres Adventure, Action, Science Fiction
- Tagline Long live the King
After the death of his father, the king of Wakanda, young T'Challa returns home to the isolated high-tech African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful enemy reappears, T'Challa's mettle as king – and Black Panther – is tested when he’s drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, he must release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:24 | I thought the strongest substance was what they put in Wolverine. |
| 2:16 | Loving the improvisation for a basketball hoop. |
| 6:28 | Dramatic start! |
| 14:49 | “Just because something works, does not mean it cannot be improved.” |
| 21:50 | Love these ceremonies. How does everyone know what to do? |
| 30:11 | Quite enjoying the amount of purple we’ve seen so far. |
| 33:08 | “You are a good man with a good heart, and it is hard for a good man to be king.” |
| 35:02 | That wooden fence is not going to stop a rhino. |
| 37:50 | This just took a turn for the bunkerific. |
| 38:28 | She’s Q! She’s the most awesome Q! |
| 39:11 | Wait, is she talking about Back to the Future? Who else has automated shoes? |
| 47:27 | This is not so much keeping a low profile. |
| 50:33 | Toyota versus Lexus. |
| 56:57 | “It makes my arm cannon look like a leaf blower.” Not a sentence you hear every day. |
| 1:11:40 | Martin Freeman has improved his American accent drastically. |
| 1:18:29 | Those waterfalls though. How does anyone get anything done? |
| 1:34:17 | I feel like she’d have been better off grabbing the whole plant. |
| 1:45:18 | Armoured rhinos are TERRIFYING! |
| 1:54:33 | She not scared of rhino. |
| 2:01:36 | The sister is the absolute best. |
Thoughts
This was SO GOOD. Great story, fabulous actors, a new spin on the superhero tales we’ve seen so many times now. It does, unfortunately, suffer from being part of the Marvel universe in that we just can’t remember anything anymore and all the nuances are lost. But that aside, as a standalone film, it’s incredible.
Everyone was really good in it, I fell in love with the sister, and it was fun to see Andy Serkis’ actual face.
The director said of the film: “At the heart of Black Panther, it’s really about a man who’s accepting his role in society, coming into his own. It’s a film about family, about responsibility, about culture, but at the end of the day it’s a film about what it means to be human.”
I would disagree that it’s not that last thing, I don’t really see where it addresses ‘what it is to be human’ but it’s plenty enough to be looking at the other issues. I really thought the concept and conflict presented by the ‘should we risk opening ourselves up to the outside world’ debate was fascinating.
There really weren’t any flaws in the film, although Mr C thought long and hard about it. He could only conclude that it’s silly for a virtual car to drop you onto the floor with a hard bump just because you’ve crashed the real version. It could just stop, or let you down gently. Someone’s coded themselves some pain for no reason, there. But for the rest of us non-nerd viewers, 100% top notch movie.
Revisited - May 2021
Totally agree with my previous thoughts, with only the addition of this: so far the Marvel movies are about super science or tech nerds, or about superhuman or god-like creatures. Wakanda offers up some science fiction somewhere in between - Black Panther has advanced powers, but most of what makes them successful if the advancement they’ve made in futuristic technology. It’s like Iron Man but enhanced so much further. Really strong viewing.
Rating: 5 / 5
