First Take: Black Panther- Wakanda forever

Spoiler free as usual. Because this really is a big deal.

SYNOPSIS:

T'Challa, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king.

Opening nights for films like this are always an important occasion, they always come with an air of mystique for Marvel fans as to where the future of the Cinematic Universe is heading- but tonight, for this film, it felt bigger (especially as my local cinema has sold out for all screenings today), and that is a damn good sign, as Ryan Coogler’s latest effort may be the biggest step forward not just for Hollywood, but for the MCU itself.

Coogler’s direction is on fire throughout the film, using the skillset he honed working on films like Creed, and while it may suffer from the usual Marvel 3rd act pacing issues, this 2 hour 14 minute epic will resonate with audiences around the world through characters lovingly adapted from the comics by himself and Joe Robert Cole, and add to that the usual Marvel humour, some great cinematography from Rachel Morrison, a score from Ludwig Göransson that uses the tribal heritage that inspired the film so well (alongside the soundtrack curated by Kendrick Lamar) and a story that ties up a few loose ends while leaving many questions open to interpretation as we await the finale of Phase 3 this April.

Performance wise, Chadwick Boseman once again steps up to the mark, taking the character he played in 2016′s Civil War and giving the right emotion and depth needed to drive a solo film like this excellently, and paired with some heavyweight supporting talent including Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett and returning MCU favourites like Andy Serkis, the entire cast are able to make this film stand out from its fellow entries to the Marvel canon- and considering the times we live in, releasing this film now has absolutely worked in their favour.

THE VERDICT

As a friend of mine who works at the local cinema quite rightly alluded to, this really is a big deal not just for Marvel, but for the wider film industry because of the representation it gives to the often under-looked ethnic minorities. Black Panther embraces the cultural elements that it depicts so well that not only is it a nice change of pace from the usual superhero film, but it also fittingly serves as a beautiful final image before the carnage and destruction that April’s Infinity War will bring.

RATING: 5/5