Why ‘Black Panther’ Matters

RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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ONE SENTENCE SYNOPSIS: After the death of his father, T’Challa returns to Wakanda to become king of the hidden nation only to be challenged for the throne by his lost cousin, Erik Killmonger.

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I have been anticipating this film since I saw the first trailer about nine months ago. Each new trailer looked as good as the next, and these trailers were not lying: Black Panther is an awesome film. It’s about community, the black experience, and power. Nothing is black and white; the villain, Eric Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), and the hero, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), are the products of their surroundings. Killmonger is only the villain because of the racism and discrimination he experienced growing up in the U.S., and he allows this to drive him to radical methods. T’Challa is only the hero because A) he grew up in royalty and B) lived in a culture of equality and progress. This battle between what could have been and what is plays out in various ways throughout the film.

Besides the importance of having a predominantly black cast in such a big film, we get the chance to see women represented in ways other than sex-symbols. T’Challa may be king, but women run Wakanda. T’Challa’s younger sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), is basically the Tony Stark of Wakanda, introducing advanced technological improvements to the already advanced country. Not to mention, she creates a badass Black Panther suit and an even cooler suit for Killmonger. While the women in this film can do cool things, they actually seem like human beings. They are not reduced to stereotypes based on their gender or race. They laugh, protect, save, decide–they are real.

The titular character is equal to his subjects and this is reflected well. We often see the reactions of Wakandans to battles and rituals, which helps establish the strong sense of community that Wakandans have. Also, unlike most superheroes, T’Challa doesn’t do anything drastic or unnecessarily courageous. He is constantly being advised by his family and army, and he listens to them like a rational human being.

Visually, this film is, for the most part, great. There are one or two fight scenes with T’Challa that are hard to watch just because the editing and framing is disorienting. The direction and acting are good. The soundtrack is great. There really isn’t much to complain about in this film. More often than not I was surprised (in a good way) with the turns the plot takes. Sure, there are expected fight sequences and “suiting up” scenes, but the film uses these for the development of the unfolding story. There are several funny moments in the film. Perhaps, they stand out to me because of hardcore drama of the majority of the film. They definitely had me and the audience laughing.

Black Panther truly is a game changer not only because the lead is black but because it managed to flip the superhero genre on its head.

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