Black Panther

My reaction to seeing Black Panther was the same as my reaction to Spider-Man Homecoming. My reaction wasn’t

“That was disappointing”.

It wasn’t “Oh that was awesome”. 

It wasn’t “It was all right.”

It was “That was different.”

    Marvel does not produce cookie cutter superhero movies. They are all different and unique.  They focus on different aspects of life, culture, and people. We have Myth in Thor, The Mystical in Dr. Strange, Sci-Fi in Guardians of the Galaxy, Espionage in Captain America, Teenage Life in Spider-Man, Criminal Life in Ant-Man. Of course a lot of these heroes are rich men with super strength or super tech.

I re-watched Civil War before going to Black Panther to get a feel of the new character whose solo movie I was going into. Black Panther came into Civil War as a mysterious guy whom baffled all the other hero’s whose movies movie’s we’ve all seen before (except Spidy at the time).  It showed us a different culture and society right here on our own planet. A fictional country in a real place that has a different culture then what we are used to in America. African Culture. It was the first Marvel film where a country had a secret identity and not just a single hero.

Here are some Likes, Dislikes and observations I made while watching the film.

DISLIKE: Close up fight scenes. I hate this in any movie. I want the camera to pull back so I can see what is going on.

LIKE: Black Panthers tech savey cool younger sister Shuri. She’s the kind of person you would want to hang out with and talk about life. The gadgets in this movie are way cool. Driving a simulator car or ship  that drives the real thing in real life. Way cool.

Like: The Hobbit Fed guy Everett K. Ross who gets in on the action in Wakanda.

Reminder: There were scenes and plot points that reminded me of The Phantom Menace, The Incredibles and Wonder Woman.

People: I can’t remember anybody’s African name in the film.

RETHIcNK: Perhaps Wakanda should rethink how their nation elects their king.

ENJOYED: The history and mythology of Wakanda. It’s interesting that Black Panther’s powers come specifically from the land of his country in his specific role of king and protector of his nation.

Moral Questions: The film raises specific questions on what role a person or nation has in helping others with superior skills or technology. Is protecting a secret worth it if prevents you from helping other people who need your help? 

Faithful: Women prove to be more faithful to the true king then Men.

I liked Civil War the 2^nd time around better than the first. I haven’t re-watched Homecoming yet but believe I would like it better on a 2^nd try and I believe I might like Black Panther better on a 2^nd try. It does make feel more excited for Infinity War. I think that Black Panther will add some good to the coming battle. The best thing about the film is that I used some AMC movie passes to take out some friends who don’t normally get a chance to go out to the movies too often. In that case Black Panther was a film worth seeing on the big screen.