#i fucking love my country...we have a wonderful mix of cultures and beautiful scenery

[bookgeekconfessions]

Black Panther

5 Stars Reviewed by Naomi

Directed by: Ryan Coogler Written by: Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole Starring:  Chadwick Boseman,  Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. 

Official Synopsis:

After the death of his father, T'Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T'Challa's mettle as king -- and as Black Panther -- gets tested when he's drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people.

I have been to Wakanda and it is beautiful. I don’t just mean the beautiful scenery of Africa — and Africa is beautiful. Visiting there is like going home.  It’s not just the costumes and African dress - designed by a Queen named Ruth Carter —  that shined like diamonds. It’s not just the skin color ranging from caramel to the deepest chocolate because the cast of the “Black Panther” is splendidly black.  No, I have seen Wakanda - a place untouched by colonization. A nation whose children were not ripped away in chains. A people who can trace their ancestors without the use of take-home genetic tests.   A country that was allowed to thrive and grow and invent with their natural resources being taken away.  In Wakanda, we are gifted with a beautiful mirage -  a glimpse of all we could have been if not for Europeans.

This is an important framework because T’Challa is not Luke Cage, Black Lightning or even Blade. He doesn’t have the baggage that you’re forced to carry as a black person in Europe, South Africa, the Caribbean or America. He doesn’t know what it means to live in a disadvantaged neighborhood. He has not felt the power of the N-word. He has not been racially profiled by the cops.  He hasn’t been followed in stores.  He doesn’t write his last name and know that it is a name made up or forced upon his ancestors. Whether it is selfish to the rest of the world or the right thing for his people, T’Challa is a King whose people have flourished without outside influence.

But times are changing. While Wakanda may be the most technologically advanced country in the world, the rest of the world is catching up.  Wakanda is on the edge of discovery. As Chadwick Boseman’s captivating T’Challa mourns the loss of his beloved father and steps into the mantle of the Black Panther, he must decide how the world will turn under his reign. It’s a heavy choice for any king, but certainly for a new ruler whose first job must be the stability of his kingdom.  

When westerners backed by the mysterious and lethal Erik Kilmonger, played by the hypnotic Michael B. Jordan, get their hands on vibranium, the most powerful metal in the world, T’Challa knows that it is his duty to retrieve it and so begins the epic journey that is Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther.”

One of the main themes of the film focuses on Wakanda’s responsibility to the rest of the world. They are advanced and yet they hide all of their advancement and inventions that could help make the world a better place, but there’s the risk that other nations would do evil with the power of vibranium.

This movie is everything. Like the stand-alone films of Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America, “Black Panther” follows the making of a legend. It’s got many elements of the traditional Marvel  Films - it’s an origin story, a mystery, an action film and it questions whether or not picking up the mantle of a hero is what the world needs.

But “Black Panther” is so much more than the films that came before it because it does not hold back punches. It is unapologetically black in a way that is devastating and beautiful and everything the world needs now.  The film doesn’t ignore colonization and the disfranchisement of black people all over the world.  But it also doesn’t wallow in it. It is a celebration of history and the trials and tribulations of our ancestors.

Along with Pixar’s “Coco,” “Black Panther” is a perfect mix of fantasy and culture.  It also manages to perfectly depict black lives and black culture in the midst of the magic that gives T’Challa the power of the Black Panther.

T’Challa is not an army on to himself. He is a king with generals, royal councils, soldiers, friends, and most importantly family. The kings of Wakanda are very much like black men all around the world, they surround themselves with strong black women.  

As a dark-skinned black woman who attends Comic-Con,  hangs Tardis lights above her bed, drinks out of BB-8 cups and happily wears Batman socks - the representation of powerful, complex, smart, complicated, beautiful and strong black women is something I have literally waited my entire life to see. When I first saw the trailer for the film I immediately noticed Lupita Nyong'o and wondered why an academy award winner would just play the girlfriend… well, probably because Nakia is not just T’Challa’s love.  She’s integral to the team, to the story and to T’ Challa’s journey. More importantly, she has a journey of her own and the film could not come to it’s well wrapped ending without her.

Letitia Wright’s Shuri is probably my favorite character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only is she fierce, loyal and protective, she is a fucking genius.  Her quick wit, her amazing inventions and her ability to not only battle but to communicate and command others made her insanely fun to watch.

I don’t watch “The Walking Dead” and so I knew nothing about Danai Gurira. She is a fucking QUEEN. Okoye isn’t T’Challa’s general. She’s Wakanda’ general and watching her struggle between her loyalty to T’Challa and what is right for Wakanda was a joy to watch. All of these women have urgency, are funny, and complicated and strong in a way that is brand new and yet reminds you of your mother, your grandmother, your aunt, your sister, your cousin and all the women in your life who have your back.

Back to culture, Ruth Carter’s costumes aren’t just beautiful and steeped in African culture - the use of it in the story is so brilliant, it was beautiful to watch costume become weapon and weapon become integral to the story.

I honestly could gush about so much. I cried and laughed and cheered and shipped and cried some more.  Honestly, the only way to understand the beauty and the majesty of Black Panther is to go and see it. Now.