AT THE MOVIES

by Isy Jordan

Black Panther
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Forest Whitaker, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, and more.

T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake.

Black Panther is the latest movie in the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU), but in this reviewer's opinion, one of the very best movies of the franchise. It follows/coincides with the events of Captain America: Civil War where the father of the titular character is killed and T'Challa becomes King of Wakanda. To the outside world, Wakanda is a third world, agricultural country with little perceived value to share with the world.

Unbeknownst to anyone outside Wakanda, it's a place of peace, power, and technology that would mystify Tony Stark himself.

Our story begins with T'Challa taking his father's place as king just in time for an old enemy to resurface. Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) stole a massive amount of vibranium, a precious resource only found in their country, from Wakanda during the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron and seems determined to come back to take even more. This time he has help in the form of Erik Killmonger, a young man whose interest in Wakanda is a mystery until a crucial mistake years ago by T'Challa's father is revealed. The stage is then set for one exciting rollercoast ride.

Fans of the MCU will be delighted with the amount of action, well-choreographed fight sequences, humor, and eye candy -- on both sides. This movie doesn't disappoint and instead of giving us a new Avenger to keep up with, it gives us a rich, new character to be emotionally invested in as the universe moves forward. It's important because we will probably see some losses when Infinity War lands in May 2018.

The majority of the cast was black and the movie makes several social statements about the current state of racial equality but does so in a way that had the packed audience where I saw the film applauding and cheering, murmuring agreements at the right moments. It was very well done and an important commentary at this time. The actors were amazing. Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan were incredible as T'Challa and Killmonger, The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira as Okoye was amazing, as were Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, T'Challa's ally and former lover, and Letitia Wright as Shuri, T'Challa's Tony Stark-level genius sister made the movie a delight.

The film is 134 minutes and over way too fast. It's rated PG-13 for violence, fighting sequences and more.

This reviewer will probably go back and see it again just for the experience of seeing it in the theatre again. I highly recommend this film to MCU fans, lovers of action films, and anyone looking for a great movie to see. It's done in a such a way that it's not necessary to see the other films to understand. See it today!