Classic Film Review #6: Black Panther (2018)
Available on: Disney+
Black Panther may not demonstrate a willingness on the MCU’s part to deviate away from its tried and tested narrative conventions, but can rightfully be viewed as a game changer in the representation of black characters in mainstream cinema.
Kevin Feige’s typically savvy directorial choice sees Ryan Coogler - acclaimed for his work on both Fruitvale Station and the Creed franchise - take the creative reins of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1966 creation who, prior to a cameo in Captain America: Civil War, was relatively alien to the casual Marvel fan.
This is a challenge that Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole seem to relish, with the fictional country of Wakanda and its governmental traditions used as a metaphor for the complex history of Africa and its descendants - both living and deceased - and the effect this has had on the black experience. Black Panther asks challenging questions about the value of tradition in the modern world and whether pacifism is an effective philosophy for a contemporary ruler to govern by, all while celebrating the vibrancy of ancestral rituals by way of several set pieces made all the more effective by Rachel Morrison’s stark cinematography.
The late Chadwick Boseman and Eric B. Jordan are effective in the lead role of rightful kings with opposing ideologies but are pleasingly outshone by a series of strong female performances, giving Coogler’s film another distinguishing characteristic from which it can be identified as something ‘other’ in the context of the 21st century box office. Of those performances, it is those of Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright that are most rewarding and leave you eager to see more developed female characters in the MCU over its next ‘phase’ of films.
Indeed, the success of Black Panther and (to a lesser extent) Doctor Strange can now be viewed as critical to facilitating the more culturally diverse superhero ensemble that is now taking shape through Marvel’s seemingly endless big and small screen releases. One can only hope that filmmakers of Coogler’s intuitiveness continue to be granted a platform from which they shape a more inclusive and holistic popular culture.
