Armor Bird Reviews: Black Panther

Subject: Armor Bird Reviews: Black Panther
Author: SkarmorySilver
Posted on: 2018-02-21 04:46:00 UTC

Heyo, it's been so freaking long since I've done a movie review! But in the wake of all the positive reactions, hype, and feels surrounding the Black Panther movie, I knew for a fact that I HAD to give it a review after seeing it this past weekend. I am so very glad that we got tickets in advance to watch it, because good golly, it is an absolute masterpiece. Word of warning, this review will be ridiculously spoiler-worthy - I know we've been good with spoilers, but I'll put one below anyway so you guys can use it for replies to this post.

IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO DRAG ME AWAY FROM YOU, THERE'S NOTHING THAT A HUNDRED MEN OR MORE COULD EVER DO, I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICA, GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAD... IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO DRAG ME AWAY FROM YOU, THERE'S NOTHING THAT A HUNDRED MEN OR MORE COULD EVER DO, I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICA, GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAD... IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO DRAG ME AWAY FROM YOU, THERE'S NOTHING THAT A HUNDRED MEN OR MORE COULD EVER DO, I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICA, GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAD... IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO DRAG ME AWAY FROM YOU, THERE'S NOTHING THAT A HUNDRED MEN OR MORE COULD EVER DO, I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICA, GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAD...

Starting things off with the writing and characterization, I have to say that almost all the characters in the film were enjoyable and engaging to watch, and there were plenty of great moments from everyone concerned. T'Challa, despite being the obvious star of the show, actually feels kinda stoic compared to the liveliness of quite a few of the secondary characters which I'll get to a bit later, but he still has a compelling storyline, and while I was worried that he'd remain somewhat static throughout the movie, there were quite a few gut punches that ensured that he'd grow as a person and also as a ruler. The movie did a good job of demonstrating that he had big shoes to fill in a metaphorical sense, and also that even if T'Chaka had tried to be the best example that he could be for his son, his past mistakes would still come to light eventually and force T'Challa to reevaluate his worldview. This is especially apparent when it becomes known that T'Chaka, when he had donned the Black Panther suit, had been forced to kill the Wakandan traitor whose son would grow up to become Killmonger. It was a split-second decision driven by the impulse to save the life of the other Wakandan spy present, but the urge to keep up appearances for the sake of the nation ended up having far-reaching consequences that would've resulted in far more unnecessary casualties if T'Challa and later M'Baku and his tribe hadn't intervened. That kind of split-second decision is mirrored in the story in general, when T'Challa's lack of information regarding Killmonger's origin story almost costs him the throne and even his life, only being saved by the intervention of M'Baku and his remaining allies' delivery of the last Heart-Shaped Herb. Eventually, after fighting his way back to his own kingdom, he's forced to deal with Killmonger using the only remaining option left after the failure of diplomacy and civility, through violence and possible death. This history essentially repeating itself is one of the biggest contributions to T'Challa's character growth, and also his decision to make Wakanda a more publicly open nation willing to use its resources to aid the world at large in the end. It shows that he's realized how much impact even very short-term decisions can have in a sort of ripple effect, as well as the major setback of trying to lock Wakanda as a whole behind figurative closed doors: that sort of isolationism prevents you from interacting with the world around you and, like it or not, making the kinds of mistakes needed to move forward.

Naturally, since T'Challa sets a pretty high bar, the secondary characters and antagonists kinda have to settle for being second fiddle, but they all have traits of their own that help move the plot forward. The main antagonist, the aforementioned Killmonger, is interesting among the other Marvel villains in that instead of the typical "KILL EVERYTHING" or "take over the world" MO (or sometimes both) without many reasons other than "MWAHAHA I'M EVIL", he actually has a rather valid and understandable reason for his actions. The recent instances of black people being persecuted simply for their color, even in the modern day and age, are a strong force of motivation grounded in a sad reality, although the means by which Killmonger was planning to achieve that goal - by waging war on every other race - were undoubtedly going to cause as many problems as they'd solve if not more. Another interesting factor is how Killmonger's rule essentially divides up the entire nation; while Shuri (whom I'll get to later) is loyal to T'Challa through and through, and goes out of her way to help him and his cause, other characters like Okoye (initially) and W'Kabi simply serve the man in the throne whether or not he's truly fighting for the force of good. This actually threatens to tear the nation apart during Killmonger's campaign, and again, it's only because T'Challa and M'Baku's tribe join forces to stop him that things don't escalate into all-out carnage. As a wise man once said, hate begets hate - whether you think it's justified or not, the total extermination of people who are different than you, even if a few gave you grief in the past, is the wrong way to act, and only makes you like those very people who attacked you first. I have to give props to T'Challa for not falling into the same trap that his father did and offing Killmonger directly; instead, he attempted to show mercy, as well as a Wakandan sunset like in the tales Killmonger had heard as a child, but rather than spend life in prison with his reputation in shambles, Killmonger chose to essentially commit suicide and end the cycle. Even if he nearly caused an all-out civil war within the Wakandan borders, Killmonger is still a tragic figure, and that makes a big impact on all of us.

My favorite character by far, however, has to be Shuri. It's established very early on that she's not only a child prodigy, but also a youthful, spunky teenager with a wholesome sense of humor (and in at least three instances, a penchant for memery, trolling, and cringe-inducing puns on almost the same level as Chibi Yang). While she seems to be a light-hearted comic relief, though, she also plays one of the most critical roles in the story - rescuing the Heart-Shaped Herb that would later be given to T'Challa for his second wind - and her humor is offset by a dedication to her responsibilities as well as her intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of the Black Panther role as well as his loyalty to T'Challa regardless of the situation. It's probably this that leads to her being so important in helping T'Challa recover, and I'm proud of her for being both the heart of the movie (T'Challa, of course, being the soul) and a nuanced and lovable character in her own right.

The writing of the movie is also quite well done due to the points noted above and much more. Racism, prejudice, loyalty, and the impact of even the smallest things are themes that are prominent throughout the entire movie. I was very concerned that the sole major white character, Everett Ross, would turn out to be a villain (though thankfully that wasn't the case, and he gets an awesome support role in the climax that Han Solo would be proud of), and Ulysses Klaue IS a secondary antagonist, but it's interesting that ultimately, the conflict is waged by blacks, among blacks. This ties into the concept that there is no such thing as reverse racism - even if it's blacks persecuting whites, it's still way over the line if it isn't in self-defense. The conflicting solutions proposed by T'Challa and Killmonger - coming to terms with the outside world and reaching out to lend aid to it vs. only looking out for your own and forsaking all others to keep them from harm - are an uncomfortable mirror to a lot of real-world politics in recent years, but in true MCU tradition, it's the idealistic approach that wins the day in the end, although as expected for a conflict as intense as this, there are still quite a few casualties at the end of it all, and unlike many other instances in the MCU and beyond, most of these are impactful and placed tactfully enough to move the story forward.

I dont' even need to say that the graphics and visuals of this movie are absolutely gorgeous. Wakanda as a city is stunning, the various African landscapes breathtaking, and the vehicle design and choreography as masterful as a Star Wars movie. The costume and character design as well are splendid, and it is at this point that I'd like to call attention to the costume designer for this movie: Ruth E. Carter, who's also done work for such films as "Malcom X" and "School Daze" - plus she's African, and has done extensive research for this movie's designs, drawing from a wide variety of African cultures. Really, this entire movie is a feast for the eyes and absolutely worth seeing for that fact alone. My one gripe is that the war rhinos seen early in the movie and then in the climax are notably CGI, and could've been improved with some animatronic work like in the first Jurassic Park movie (or heck, they could even have used real rhinos, but IDK how much hassle that would've resulted in), but that's a minor quibble that doesn't detract from an otherwise spectacular feature.

I'm well aware that complaints about this movie have had to be filtered extensively on RottenTomatoes to prevent Internet Racism(TM) from marring the reviews unnecessarily, but that's a can of worms I'm not going into for the sake of my dignity. On my own terms, however, I do have one suggestion for improving the movie: instead of murdering Klaue just halfway through the movie, Killmonger could've just as easily pounded him into submission and forced him to work for him as a sort of Dragon (in TV Tropes lingo). T'Challa and Ross vs. Killmonger and Klaue would've been interesting to see, especially considering how threatening Klaue was with his cyborg arm and what it could do to both T'Challa and those poor innocent vehicles involved in the car chase in Korea. He'd have made an interesting secondary antagonist that could've opportunistically interfered with the warring parties and stirred up tensions just to tear down Wakanda out of spite. I'm not about to suggest an "Everett vs. Klaue" scenario - which was actually what Everett was planning in the first place when he entered this movie - but giving Klaue a bigger role before he gets offed would've made said murder more impactful and karmatic after all he's done. That's largely splitting hairs, though - I'm sure there are people who instead feel that Killmonger getting rid of Klaue early prevents competition. Who knows?

On a final note, here are two things I really want to see in future MCU films: 1) a movie with a predominantly Asian cast and setting, and 2) a movie starring Devil Freaking Dinosaur. I'll admit that both of these are kinda self-centered, but the first one in particular is probably more desirable at large because there aren't that many Asian characters at all in the MCU (Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Colleen Wing from the Iron Fist TV show are probably the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, though I may have missed a few more), but one of the big things I'm noticing from the Black Panther release is that African-American and black children have come to look up to him as a hero in the same way that a lot of girls look up to Wonder Woman with the number growing since her own film release. A quick look at the Marvel Comics online archives presents me with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, who has actually joined the Avengers and would make a very interesting and cool addition to their MCU incarnation. As for Devil Dinosaur, I don't even need to explain why he'd become beloved if he ever shows up in a MCU movie, even as a minor character... just keep him away from the palaeo-discourse and he should be fine. XD

All in all, Black Panther isn't a perfect movie, but it's very close to being one and I'm so happy for its success. While there are a few minor things I feel would've been worth fixing here and there, I don't see any obvious faults and certainly none that detract from how amazing it is. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin - I can promise that you'll be in for a visual and auditory treat from start to finish.

Grading Scheme:
- 96 - 100: A+
- 93 - 96: A
- 90 - 92.9: A-
- 87 - 89.9: B+
- 83 - 86.9: B
- 80 - 82.9: B-
- 77 - 79.9: C+
- 73 - 76.9: C
- 70 - 72.9: C-
- 67 - 69.9: D+
- 60 - 66.9: D
- Below 60: E

Grades:
- Writing: 9
- Characterization: 9
- Pacing: 8
- Creativity: 9
- Consistency: 9
- Cinematography: 10
- World Building: 9
- Music and Sound: 10
- Effects: 9
- Engagement: 9

Final Grade: 91 (A-)

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Armor Bird Reviews: Black Panther by SkarmorySilver on 2018-02-21 04:46:00 UTC

doctorlit reviews Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by doctorlit on 2018-03-07 18:29:00 UTC Reply

(Heeeey Skarm. Sorry for tacking on again, but they are both MCU, eh?)

So to my mind, they are two halves to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's the half with all the good material, and there's the half with the two Guardians films and Ant-Man. Yeah. I know it's not a popular opinion, but those three are my least favorite films of the series. I've seen a lot of complaints lately that Marvel films have a problem with undercutting serious moments with out-of-place humor. Honestly, I think the majority of the films and TV shows are at a pretty good balance in that regard. Except for my disliked three. A-M and the the two GotGs put way too much focus on humor. A-M I didn't mind quite as much as the GotGs, mostly because I really liked Hank Pym, Hope and especially Cross. But the first GotG had basically nothing I really liked, apart from the mix tape's use as the soundtrack throughout the film. The constant lack of seriousness made it hard for me to reconcile that film as existing in the same universe as the Captain Americas and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.s, etc.

That said, I think the sequel was a big improvement over the first, though that same problem of overbearing, idiotic humor is still present. We got to know all the characters a whole lot better this time, other than Quill. I think that's fine, though—we got pretty much all we needed to know about Quill in the first movie. I'm glad they gave all the other characters chances to open up, especially Rocket, Yondu, and Gamora and her sister. I also liked the little scene between Dax and Mantis, where Dax is talking about his lost family members with a fairly neutral and expressionless face and tone. Then Mantis touches him, and immediately starts crying. It shows us that Dax really is as emotionally deep as the others can be, and just doesn't show it. Although that makes me wish he wasn't always used as an outlet for stupid jokes.

Ego was a fun villain, definitely an improvement over Ronin in the last film, who was basically just a personalityless vehicle to introduce another Infinity Stone into the series. The actor who played him whose name I can't be bothered to look up did a good job of playing up the self confidence of an immortal being. He's all powerful and very self-absorbed, but is confident enough about it that he doesn't feel any need to boast constantly. He knows he's powerful, and that's enough. His evil plan feels like a reasonable extension of his identity. It's the sort of inhuman thought process you would expect a creature like a Celestial to have. All around, I rather liked him.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the resolution between Gamora and her sister. The sister had been a fairly flat villain in the original, as well, and for a while, it looked like that was going to continue. She was threatening to kill Gamora at the outset, but then (and in an example of a moment of humor I did appreciate), she was satisfied with finally besting Gamora in combat. After that point, the relationship between them finally evolves past violence, and they start having the discussions they should have had all along. I wish the sister had decided to join in with the heroes in the end, but I'm sure they'll be reunited against Thanos during Infinity Wars anyway.

I really liked the one space dogfight in the beginning. The . . . choreography? of the ship movements was very different and cool-looking. The detail that the . . . gold people . . . were actually being logical and piloting their fighters remotely was both amusing, and fitting for that culture's characterization. Why should they dirty their hands with fighting out in space?

Although that does lead me to another problem that carried over from the original movie: too many alien characters look and talk like humans in face makeup. The entire race of gold people, the green lady, the handful of blue folks. And a lot of them have accents from Earth English dialects. It just makes them feel like they have no unique cultures out there in space, it's all just weird technicolor transplants of humanity. I am told the aliens in the original GotG comics are like that, so at least it's a faithful adaptation in that regard, but I still don't like it.

And yeah. Still way too much adolescent humor for me. I got enough of that nonsense back in grade school and junior high. It wasn't funny then, and it isn't funny now. I'm not really looking forward to the Guardians showing up in Infinity Wars, because then I'll have to put up with it even more. Joy.

—doctorlit, the token stick-in-the-mud MCU fan

"We're really gonna be able to jack up our spoilers if we're two-time galaxy savers." "We're really gonna be able to jack up our spoilers if we're two-time galaxy savers." "We're really gonna be able to jack up our spoilers if we're two-time galaxy savers."
Re: review (spoilers) by doctorlit on 2018-02-28 02:06:00 UTC Reply

I forgot to talk about Shuri in my own review! I super-duper love that the smartest character in the movie is a teenage girl—and let's face it, she's probably the smartest character in the entire MCU, considering the level of tech she's working with. Tony Stark, eat your heart out. But I also like that she does very much have a good heart, as well. Despite her cracks about Ross being a "white boy" and "colonizer," she was clearly more concerned about his welfare than stopping the weapons shipments during the final sequence, telling him to leave the simulation before the barrier around the lab could be destroyed. Actually, the fact that she remodeled the simulator to feel like a U.S. airplane is interesting too. She spent the moments leading up to the final battle in exile from her lab, so she certainly couldn't have made that modification in the instants before Ross needed it, nor could she have any knowledge that such an attack on Wakandan ships would be necessary. The only time she could have changed the program to have U.S. plane features would have been while Ross was recovering, which shows she respected his opinion and flight record enough that she wanted to show him the program after he healed, and ask his opinion on her programming. It also seems, from the final after-credits scene. that she has been responsible for rehabilitating Bucky Barnes. I wonder if he was removed from cold storage at her urging? Definitely a complex and strong-minded character.

I did notice the rhinos were rather poor CGI, but there was so much going on in the movie, I easily dismissed that purely aesthetic issue. Actually, come to think of it, there must have been some moments, like the car chase and the fight in the vibranium mines, where the panther suits themselves had to be CGI as well, but I couldn't tell at all while I watched, either because they looked that good, or because, again, the story was so gripping I was just too focused on it to notice the effects.

The one Asian character you missed in your list is Skye on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and her mother, but I don't want to say too much about them in case you aren't caught up yet. But I definitely agree it would be nice to see further diversity moving forward.

—doctorlit, realizing that the vibranium in Bucky's old arm seems completely unaccounted for in the timeline of "vibranium that has left Wakanda"

'The one Asian character' by Huinesoron on 2018-02-28 06:55:00 UTC Reply

There's also Agent May, and Wong the super-librarian from Doctor Strange. Plus various supporting characters around them, but they're fairly minor. On the flip side, I don't think you can count Mantis as an Asian character - that would be like claiming Jar Jar Binks as a black man.

I feel like one of the Iron Man villains was Asian? The Mandarin pretended to be, I think, but wasn't the guy with the whips from somewhere on that continent?

Anyway, yeah, we don't have an Asian-heavy MCU film any more than we have a woman-centred one (and it should go without saying that 'only one' isn't the solution here!). Captain Marvel may start to address the latter point; do you have any ideas for Marvel comics/characters who either are or could be Asian-centred? (Doc Strange and Iron Fist don't count, at this point.)

hS

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I am the dumbest dumb. by doctorlit on 2018-02-28 22:50:00 UTC Reply

I have no idea how I overlooked Agent May. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Forgot about the librarian, too. And, let's see. I think season one, maybe two, of Agents had that episode with the fire-powered Japanese guy, but he got killed off. And Daredevil had some villains, Lady Gao (though I'm not clear yet whether she's really human or not), and the entire Hand, plus the Black Sky child. I believe that plotline gets picked up in Iron Fist from what my brother has said, but I haven't gotten there yet. As for the Mandarin, I'm not sure what that character was supposed to be, even in-universe. I think the actor was going for "generically scary foreigner." Not sure why they didn't cast Killian as Asian, if they were going to give him that big "I AM THE MANDARIN" line at the end, anyway. Whiplash was Russian, though. Oh, and one of Thor's warrior friends in from that Japan-inspired realm, but again, that's the "Asian character" vs. "alien character that looks like and is portrayed by an Asian actor" weirdness.

I don't really know the comics that well. If they ever adapt Morbius's side of the Spider-Man canon, they could make him Romanian/Transylvanian like he was in the very excellent 90s Spider-Man cartoon, which is sort of arguable west-Asian, but I suspect they'll stick with the comics canon of making him Greek. I also randomly know of this Fin Fang Foom, an eastern-inspired dragon who would almost certainly be CGI, but ought to at least have an Asian voice actor. One should hope. And I've just come across mention of this Shang-Chi, which sounds like it could be a legitimately Asian culture-focused movie in the same way BP was for Africa.

—doctorlit really wants that Morbius-and-Blade movie, now that he's thought of the idea
Alas, Whiplash was Russian. by Scapegrace on 2018-02-28 22:28:00 UTC Reply

However, the entire Hand clan is east Asian, so that's... something? Maybe? Probably not.

doctorlit reviews Black Panther (spoilers) by doctorlit on 2018-02-27 20:06:00 UTC Reply

(Hope you don't mind me tacking on, Skarm?)

My brother wanted to see Black Panther in theaters with me, but the only night we could do so this month was Saturday, in the middle of my work week. So Sunday was a terrible, slow day for me, and I didn't get as much done as I wanted. But the payoff was Monday, when I happened to be driving past a certain service gate in my golf cart when a radio call went out that an ambulance was coming to attend a zoo guest who had had a seizure, and that someone needed to open the service gate immediately. The ambulance arrived less than half a minute later. I have to wonder, if my brother hadn't had me out past my bedtime Saturday, and ruined my productivity Sunday, would anyone else have been close enough to that gate on Monday to let the ambulance in immediately? I don't know, but I do know this has been a Wildly Off-Topic Spoiler Block.

So yeah, Black Panther is amazing, and I barely know where to start. As usual, I won't really know characters' names, because I'm terrible at catching characters' names while I'm watching something on film, and I'm not going to look them up to avoid having outside information affecting my initial reaction. Of course, this initial reaction is based on notes I took two days ago, but uuuuuh

The way the designers made Wakanda appear on-screen is incredible. The mix of futuristic, modern technology, and the uniquely shaped skyscrapers, mixed with all the costuming, body paint, weaponry and names make Wakanda entirely distinctive from any other setting, ever. I love that it combines science fiction, comic book technology with traditional African aesthetics and values. It really gets across how Wakanda has kept itself sheltered over the millennia, developing new technologies at its own pace, and without outside influence undermining its traditions.

Maybe it just seems this way to me because I don't watch a whole lot of movies, but the plot of BP feels incredibly unique to me. I can't think of another story to compare it to. The use of royal bloodline interaction to fuel the conflict not only reinforces Wakanda's heavy reliance on tradition, but causes the plot to advance in a way that made the whole story feel unpredictable and engaging. The characters' motives and restrictions were a bit foreign and outside my ability to understand at a glance, so it forced me to stay captivated and follow along with the action. The battle sequence at the end, too: what movie about a fantasy culture features a civil war at the end, with fellow citizens turning on each other to push different ideologies forward? That part actually made me feel bad, seeing people who should have been allies attacking each other, but it reinforces the idea that I was observing aspects of a foreign culture.

Speaking of conflict, I really liked both major villains in this movie. Killmonger is such a memorable figure because you can see the logic to both his motivation and goals. His aims are violent and destructive, but you can sympathize with him through his history and the real life plight of the disenfranchised around the world. I also liked the contrast between his calculating mind, planning abilities, and combat skills, and his stereotypically "punkish" speaking mannerisms. It defies the way movies normally portray characters with those traits, which made Killmonger an incredibly fun and active character to watch on screen. I also really liked Claue's constantly excited, almost manic attitude to . . . anything, really. I don't remember him being lack that back in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I don't know if it's due to different writing/directing, or just because he got overshadowed by Ultron at the time (also a fun-to-watch-and-listen-to villain). The drawback to me liking both villains so much is, of course, that they both got killed off. I'm actually getting pretty tired of the MCU writing out its villains that way. Aside from the socially problematic, and media-wide, issue of constantly portraying conflicts as solvable only with violence and life-taking, it sucks when you like a villain, and know you're never going to get to see them again in this very long movie series. (Who else really liked Yellow Jacket in Ant-Man? Literally no one but me? Okay.)

The soundtrack was cool. I think it's definitely the most memorable MCU soundtrack to date. I don't usually take much notice of the music in a movie while I'm watching it, but in this one, I especially liked the traditional vs. modern motifs that represented T'Challa and Wakanda with African tribal music, and Killmonger with hip-hop.

As we left the theater, my brother said he "hated all the white-shaming." Well, uh. I thought the "white-shaming" was freaking hilarious. Honestly, I like how the usual roles of white and minority characters got reversed in this. Goes to show that Hollywood's perceived "appealing to the majority/baseline" is garbage. Everett Ross, in particular, was interesting. I didn't expect we would even see him again after his purely bureaucratic role in Captain America: Civil War. I now remember he was in the trailers for BP, but I had forgotten that when I started watching the movie, and was surprised to see him appear. I was further surprised that he joined in the ensuing shootout, and again at the end when he was forced to put his piloting skills to use in the final conflict. It fits back in with what I said earlier about Killmonger, taking a character who was presented as a pure dialogue dispenser in his previous appearance, and allowing him to show off other traits and skills that one wouldn't expect to see in his character archetype. I also love that Ross's last push to stop the weapons distributions required T'Challa's sister to instruct him in making a Wakandan arm gesture. Very appropriate!

—doctorlit will totally respond to Skarm's review a bit later today, wanted to get this down before the movie faded too much from his mind

"They're sitting on an entire mountain of spoilers, and they've been mining it for centuries." "They're sitting on an entire mountain of spoilers, and they've been mining it for centuries." "They're sitting on an entire mountain of spoilers, and they've been mining it for centuries."