With Marvel movies working on all levels, the Black Panther movie rewards you with some amazing action scenes. One of the best scenes has to be the entire South Korean segment. With some breath-taking action scenes and great editing, this segment feels like a better James Bond movie. From the hidden nightclub scene, the movie goes into an explosive chase scene. These car chase scene also reminded me of the Captain American movies.
In addition, the idea that the Wakanda working behind the scenes of other nations with undercover agents is a nice little twist. This also leads into the bigger picture of Wakanda’s worldview. Should Wakanda help uplift the rest of Africa or keep itself isolated within its borders? It is an interesting commentary about intervention and expansion without it feeling preachy. Unlike Marvel Comics current trend, Marvel Studios lets the commentary and political ideas flow from the script and the universe. It doesn’t seem jarring or talking down to the audience.
These action scenes are all around cool with a compelling message about helping the world out.
-Martin Freeman is good as the out of his element CIA agent. He showed up in Civil War but has a bigger part in BP. Freeman is the outsider, but he also brings the humor to the movie.
-Letitia Wright as Shuri: Speaking of James Bond, Shuri is the Q of Panther. She invents all his “wonderful toys”. While BP is serious, Shuri is the young joking nerd that has a lot of fun inventing gadgets.
There are a few subplots that seemed to be short-changed probably due to cutscenes. M'Baku is an interesting anti-hero and I wanted more scenes with him. Klaue is another character that needed more screen time.
Other than that, BP feels like a nice action movie just like the last two Captain American movies. It is grounded in the mystical and in the real world because it all seems believable.
Black Panther is a nice combination between a spy and action movie. My favorite scene is the South Korean chase/fight scene. Once again, it is Marvel that proves it can tell an independent story but with deep connections to the overall Marvel universe as well. With some brilliant action scenes and great characters, Black Panther is worthy of the Marvel name. I can't wait for the second movie.
DC, when are you going to get your act together?
Grade: A-
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment