Black Panther

Once again, a very fresh comic spectacle. Almost all of it takes place in Africa, so the design is, as expected, wonderful and the viewer gets to see a lot of great ideas on how to combine folklore with science fiction. Moreover, everything is helped by Ludwig Göransson's perfect music - quite possibly the most imaginative soundtrack of all the Marvel films. T'Challa was sufficiently presented to us in Civil War, so the story can follow that film smoothly, and although it actually tells the story of the origin of another superhero, it does it at least fairly uniquely, it’s own way and with great actors. (02/16/2018)

All the blackness aside, it's actually a pretty typical Marvel creation with all the slow waxing of boredom and laziness over generic visuals and impassioned speeches. I guess it's understandable, since young black folks would also like to have a hero they can identify with in the Marvel universe, so they really only had to do the same thing they did before, except in inverted colors. Fine, but it's still a chore and I can't stop marveling at how little it takes to satisfy people. Namely, the protagonist has no character, he functions like a hero in FPS video games so that as many people as possible can project themselves into him. It pretends to be a humanistic story, but the whole thing is an elitist quest where members of the nobility solve their problems somewhere in a country we know nothing about because the film has no interest in telling us about it. This detachment from reality is probably already just a projection of the real detachment of the filmmakers, who only know the outside world from Facebook, so we can at least entertain the fact that whenever the camera decides to go somewhere down among the working people, there are always farmers' markets on that street, whether we're in the US, South Korea, or Wakanda. It's great how this builds up the illusion after the fact that while the main characters, who never eat and always look worried, have to worry about the big problems for all of us, while the everyday people down below are actually doing nothing but shopping and idling. And these are things that I might not have needed to think about if, at least in my eyes, the expectations of a comic book blockbuster had been met and there hadn't been only two and a half action scenes (of which only one is actually any fun anyway) for 134 minutes of running time. But the five white swans always fly reliably between the buildings in the panoramic scenes. So my advice: watch the first two installments of Blade and instead of the third, which sucks, watch Django Unchained, and then you'll understand what a properly fearless African-American should look like. And I'm advising you from the proven position of a European white guy with mixed Jewish blood and a not-so-bad salary, so you can't go wrong. If you have a problem with that, I can hire a black man to say it for me. Nudge nudge wink wink wink. (05/17/2018)

I hope I won’t be called a racist if I express my contentment with a film where the only white guys are two Hobbits ;). The rather serious and the comment-on-world-problems style suits the Panther, it is clear that the roots lie in the Civil War which reemerges here. Coogler knows how to take the right stance and Michael Jordan’s Killmonger cashes in on this in an interesting variation on the anti-hero. Boseman just reinforces his position after his great debut in the third Captain and his T’Challa scores him points at his home (the great storyline about his sister). A leisurely start up with an excellent chase in South Korea easily beats the opulent fight in the finale, which maybe unnecessarily relies on the tried and tested. It certainly won’t disappoint – it just won’t surprise. The visuals are fantastic. Wakanda is fantastic and I can’t wait to take another look at her. The music by Ludwig Göranssonon is a chapter in itself, bristling with Africa and beating to modern black rhythms. Luckily there is just a bare minimum of rap and generally don’t disturb. WAKANDA FOREVER! (02/15/2018)

You know the rhetoric. A Marvel fanboy yells at a DC fanboy for his heroes being anchored in reality. It is impossible to root for someone who is as rich as Bruce Wayne or as divine as Diana of Themyscira. Then, all of a sudden, the Marvel fanboy now has an African Atlantis starring the royal prince. Hmm. (12/29/2018)

Black Panther surprised me. I was worried it would be a scruffy hybrid of the Avenger's colourfulness and mandatory ethnic lecturing to a wider (two billion-strong) audience, but it ended up being one of the MCU's most accomplished entries. The story has a brisk pace, the viewer is thoughtfully introduced to the new world and its possibilities, the balance between serious approach and momentary lightness works perfectly, and above all there is a great and reasonably motivated villain, whose gradual involvement in the game, when he gets to speak at the expense of the previous numero ono villain, is flawless and unparalleled in the Marvel universe. Two hours flowed like water and if there's anything I didn't like (and I did), it's rather small things – namely a few plot holes (the heavy simplification of the capture of Ulysses, who had been on the run for about 30 years; the implausible psychological transformation of W'Kabi; the transparency of the plot despite a narrative based on explanatory flashbacks). Otherwise, though, high blockbuster quality with a couple of witty James Bond references, good actors (especially Serkis, Jordan and, again, the entertaining Freeman), clear action often in long takes and a likeable script that presents Wakanda not as a sexy bimbo introduced for a brief appearance in Infinity War, but as an immersive backdrop to a self-contained plot whose rules the viewer willingly accepts and is swept along by (the duel for the throne is the most emotionally powerful in a long time). Bring in the sequel. 80% (09/06/2018)