Black Panther Review

The only superhero film that can rival the cultural significance of Black Panther is Wonder Woman, and for good reason. Both of these films were the first to portray marginalized groups as heroes worthy of their own stage. Wonder Woman showed a woman in power helping out the world of men at a time where they had no respect for her. Black Panther’s significance comes from the nearly all black cast and the way that it portrays a fictional African culture.

The story follows King T’challa as he tracks down the murderous Ulysses Klaue. King T’Challa is rivaled by the villain Killmonger, who has been working with Klaue in order to find a way back into Wakanda. Without giving too much away, once M’Baku reaches Wakanda, things change for the worse.

The film is well directed, acted, scored, and is visually astounding. However, its action is inconsistent at best. In a superhero franchise as reliant on fight scenes as the MCU, bad fighting derails films that are, at their heart, about warriors. There are multiple instances of horrible camera work in the film, including shaky cam and jump cuts. Overall, the action is confusing and headache-inducing.

The best part of the film is the villain Killmonger, portrayed excellently by Michael B Jordan. In his own eyes he is a freedom fighter, but is marked as a terrorist as is the case during the film.

All the performances are strong, as is the directing and the visual effects. Unfortunately, what could’ve been a great film is dulled by bad editing, and a generic story.

6/10