Black Panther and The Phantom Menace

When I saw the first trailer for Black Panther, I was so excited. It looked great, I couldn't wait for an MCU movie with more of a sci-fi setting. But as the release approached, my expectations started to fall as the film received glowing review after glowing review. I just had a hard time believing that Marvel, after 10 years of making films, had finally released one that was a true work of art. I went in to the movie with an open mind, but expecting nothing more than an average Marvel movie.

Let me start by saying that the movie does a lot of things very well. The set design is great. There is great juxtaposition between the high tech and low tech facets of Wakandan life. All of the actors gave great performances, especially Michael B. Jordan as Killonger. The film showed great restraint overall, not only by not being overtly political, but the plot feels grounded. Killmonger isn't a big bad guy who wants to shoot a laser into the planet and destroy it. It's primarily a character driven story and there aren't a lot of over the top set pieces that distract from the story.

The movie does have flaws though, and I don't think its fair to give this movie glowing reviews solely for doing new things within the MCU while ignoring its weaknesses. People seem too quick to dismiss any criticism of this movie, much in the same way that Star Wars fans did after the release of The Phantom Menance. I think that Black Panther is a much better movie than The Phantom Menance, but a lot of the response to the movie seems to be coming from a similar place.

I don't want to spend this review solely nitpicking. So let me get my minor complaints out of the way first. Parts of the film have really bad CGI (extras standing on the cliff in the first waterfall scene). The "one shot" fight scene doesn't conceal cuts very well so I don't know why they didn't use more traditional cinematography. The fight scenes throughout the movie were difficult to follow.

I haven't read the comic books so maybe someone can explain this to me, but I don't understand why the Wakandans had better weapons if they didn't fight in wars and were completely isolated from the outside world. If they didn't need weapons, why would they develop such advanced weaponry? If they did need the weapons, what did they need them for?

My largest issue with the movie overall is something that has been common with most of the Disney movies that have been released in the past few years, the tone. Ever since Guardians of the Galaxy released in 2014, Disney has been trying to recreate the magic that made that movie so great, without understanding why it was so great in the first place. Some critics have as far as to call Black Panther the "first Marvel movie for adults". I thought the your mom jokes in Star Wars were bad enough, but Black Panther has multiple moments throughout that took me right out of the story in an effort to get a laugh from the audience. There is one scene in particular that is completely jarring. While our main characters are having an important and emotional conversation, another character interrupts to pretend to snore and ask if our main characters are done yet. Then T'Challa starts talking to the same character who just made the joke and he gets very serious. Maybe some people enjoy that kind of comedy, but I don't think it has a place in a movie like Black Panther that is trying to be more serious and say something about the world we live in.

Spoiler Warning

The final battle mirrors the final battle of The Phantom Menace almost perfectly. There are three things going on at once: a large land battle, ships dogfighting in the air, and a personal confrontation between our protagonist and antagonist. If this wasn't similar enough, the final fight between T'Challa and Erik matches almost perfectly the final confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. Both battles antagonists have killed the protagonists mentor figure earlier in the movie and the battle is continually paused by a barrier between the two combatants that still allows them to see each-other. I think both movies do this intentionally so that the audience leaves the movie on a high note. Rogue One did the same thing a year ago, and that movie has certainly not aged well either.

In terms of Killmonger, I'm conflicted. I understand the character's motivation and Michael B. Jordan gives a great performance, but I still don't think he is a great villain. A great villain by Marvel standards? Yes, but that isn't saying much. Killmonger was getting very close to entering James Bond villain territory for me. The largest problem is his introduction, its a lot harder to be sympathetic to a character who our first interaction with is watching him kill numerous innocent civilians. But Erik's arc is not only one of the best arcs we have gotten to witness as part of the MCU, but one of the best character arcs in the MCU period. Erik's last words in the film, "bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage," are what cements the character as Marvel's best. It shows in one sentence where his motivation comes from, his differences with T'Challa, and why he can never be at peace.

Overall I think Black Panther is a good film. It has a great story but doesn't nail the execution. The strength of the characters and restraint shown by the director are what separates this from past MCU films, but it doesn't completely fix the tonal issues that have been characteristic of MCU films. Black Panther isn't the most groundbreaking superhero movie to date, but it is the best Marvel movie to be released in recent years, nearly as good as Iron Man or Guardians of the Galaxy but not quite as organized.

I'm interested to see how well this movie ages. I think it is better than The Phantom Menace but there is no denying that the audience reactions to the films are eerily similar and both movies have very similar finales.