Although Black Panther released in theaters almost two months ago, its box office continues to rise. It recently broke Titanic's record of $659 million to sit behind only Avatar ($893 million) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($992 million). Its current grossing box office is $666 million and is only continuing to climb.
With its cinematography alone, this film was entirely captivating. With its beautifully portrayed Wakandan landscape, to its sci-fi mastery, to its seamless blend of animation and reality, I could have watched it simply for the imagery, without any score or cast or plot. But add in the score and cast and plot, and I was blown out of my reclining, leather, theater lounger.
A score completely innovative. Mixing classical African culture vibes and generic and modern movie score themes with heavy rap and rhythm, a sound cloud of unique imagination was brought to life. I will immediately be downloading the score into my music library.
A cast tried and true. Chadwick Boseman, the male protagonist, was a star and brought so much emotion to and respect for Tachalla, the Black Panther's human ego. Michael B. Jordan, one of the male antagonists, absorbed the role in a pleasantly surprising way. From his previous character in Creed, this angsty, begrudging, delinquent of a man was new territory for viewers to observe him exploring. But he took the reigns with full force and did not hold back, showing no mercy to the other characters (and other actors for that matter) with his fully-committed performance. Lupita Nyongo and Danai Gurira definitely stood out, as strong females regarding both physicality and moral character. They meshed well with the male leads and only heightened the magic of the film. The cast was predominately black, but the film would not have been the same without Andy Serkis as Klaw and Matt Freeman as Everrett Ross. One villain and one ally, these men rounded out the cast list.
A plot never-boring. While Marvel movies have the reputation of lengthy runs, this film managed to hold my attention throughout the entire duration. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, this is one of Marvel's shorter films, but still on the longer-than-average side of movies in general. The plot was easy to follow, but just when a viewer thinks she can relax in attention because she understands, a turn in the road is approached. These twists and turns were balanced out nicely and the film peaked at the perfect moment, ending with questions answered, but setting up for Marvel's next endeavor: Avengers: Infinity War.
With raw (but not over-done) action scenes, evenly dispersed humor, delicate romance, and scandalous rivalries, Black Panther certainly lives up to its hype. If you have not seen it yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. You will be missing out otherwise.
