Or an “oh yes, I also saw this joke echoing around twitter for the past two weeks” button.
Damn, Reddit is slow. I only saw it last week.
Taking my kids and their friends to see this on Sunday AM. Our religion is Black Panther.
Way more excited about this than the Avengers this Spring (although that should be awesome as well).
I can’t contain my excitement… I’ll probably see this twice, and I am saying that before I see it the one time.
All right this is probably a dumb question, but given how interconnected the whole Marvel universe thing is, am I going to be at a loss if I see this without having seen Ant Man, Civil War, Dr Strange or the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie first?
I’m about to see this in a couple of hours. I adore Creed and Fruitvale Station, so I hope Coogler’s first foray into blockbusters works as well for me as it has for others.
No, not at all. Where events from other films are referenced (rarely) there are flashbacks.
You won’t be lost, but you should see Civil War first, as that movie introduces the character and the beginning of this movie deals with the ramifications of events in that movie, so it’s important.
None of the others are necessary for Black Panther. If you do see Civil War, however, it does feature Ant-man, who was introduced in his own movie. None of the other movies relate in any way.
Is this by the same director as Creed? I have moved from Marvel Fatigue ti Moderate Excitement for this.
Yeah what Desslock says, you should probably see Civil War first. I’m sure Black Panther will bring people up to speed, but I’d rather see the introduction of the character first there.
Yes, it’s the same director, which is why I’m going to the theater on opening day! Marvel movies aren’t usually my favorite thing, but I was quite surprised by how enjoyable Thor Ragnarok was last year, and I love everything Ryan Coogler has released so far, so I’m optimistic about Black Panther.
Have you seen Fruitvale Station? It’s my favorite of Coogler’s and definitely one of Jordan’s best.
How come there’s no White Panther? What’s up with that? #RacistMarvel
Going to see this Sunday morning while grandma babysits… my wife’s super excited to finally see it!
This was a blockbuster with a strong personal stamp. I think Michael B. Jordan’s the best antagonist of any Marvel film, Black Panther’s sister, Shuri, provided great comic relief, and the ultra-stylized sets and bright costume designs were simply badass. It was interesting to see a massive studio film change it up by having an essentially token white supporting performance, Martin Freeman and his unconvincing American accent, for once. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Local news affiliate here in lovely SW Ohio posted about the movie and that was the dominant reply.
Not seen it, will put it on my list. Thanks!
Slight spoilers:
I liked it. I think I would have liked this more if the movie had tightened its focus. Black Panther the movie features many, many subplots and a handful of allegories. There’s James Bond-style expeditions into foreign lands. There’s multiple accessions to a throne. There’s intertribal squabbles. There’s sins of the father visited on the son. There’s a family grieving for the deceased. There’s a travelogue of a beautiful country with almost as many biomes as Zootopia. There are jaunts into the afterlife. There’s cool scifi tech to drool over. There are disputes about miraculous natural resources and people who have it and guard it, and people who covet it. There’s a romance between two people that is nice but does not influence the plot, and there’s a romance between two other people that does influence the plot. There are wise advisors that are heeded and advisors that are ignored. There are spies and soldiers and kings that need to perform as spy and soldier. There is a one-man revolution and an awful civil war. There is a struggle for a nation-state to find its place in the present day, and a member of an ethnic group looking for racial vengeance for centuries of crimes, and a member of the CIA in the background because the CIA loves to keep tabs on foreign countries. There are appeals to patriotism and philanthropy and loyalty and idealism and adventurism and order and tradition. I think Boko Haram might have shown up in there too. This could have been spread out over two or three seasons of a Game Of Thrones-style epic. Instead it’s all jammed in less than two and a half hours. It was drinking from a fire hose.
(And as overstuffed as it was, I wanted more: more interactions with the increasingly established Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more interactions with regular folks on the city streets or rural farms of Wakanda. How are they reacting to the historic, momentous events sweeping and wracking their nation?)
It’s good, certainly, but it’s a lot to take in. The acting is great. The casting is fantastic. The production is fabulous. The action scenes get the job done, and some are pretty good.
I think I engaged with it the most as seeing Wakanda as an allegory for a superhero. It is a land like many others. Through accident or fate, it was given a tremendous gift. It is now asymmetric: it can punch far above its weight compared to nations of similar size and population. It is a superpower, and could compete with other superpowers, if it chose to. What does it choose to do with its power? Will it be a hero or villain? Will it get into two-fisted punch ups or try to maintain law and order? This movie is the origin story of this superhero, who is related to but distinct from the actual superhero-slash-king that is the putative protagonist.
More, please, but let it breathe.
I’m saving more-detailed comments until later, but I expected to like it, and then I REALLY liked it! There is definitely a lot to take in, but I would place it in the top tier of Marvel movies. It’s always a good sign when you can see how the villain’s argument makes sense. Really happy with how this turned out, and I hope it makes a ton of money!
Really good observations, I think I agree. I really like your point on Wakanda as an allegory for superheroes, make sure to send that into the guys for the podcast!
I have a big old spoiler of complaint:
Two excellent villains, Killmonger and Klaue, and we lose them both! With as bland as Marvel’s villains can be, it’s a shame that we won’t see more of either of them—especially the delightfully crazy Klaue.
In a way that’s as much a compliment as a complaint, but definitely a spoiler either way.