'Black Panther' Review

Hayden's Overall Grade: A

The newest installment in the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe has arrived to theaters and it's called Black Panther. This movie was really exciting for Marvel as it has the first black actor to lead a movie in their slate. This a huge deal for Marvel as they had been criticized for being too straight-laced with their acting choices. With Avengers Infinity War gearing up in just a few months, I feel like Black Panther was flying under the radar on how well it would do. Well don't worry Panther fans because this movie delivered on all accounts.

The movie really shined in my eyes and I felt like it had a really great pace to it. It had a very simple but elegant story that was easy to follow but also never really got too boring. The flow was great and there was never a boring, slow stretch where I lost interest.

The visual effects were so well done and it made the fictional world of Wakanda seem like a real place. I loved the way they used a mix of high-tech material and old world traditions that made Wakanda feel unique and something new.

It was great to see Chadwick Boseman back in the role of T'Challa. He was one of the great new additions, along with Spiderman, that showed up in Civil War and it's nice to see him get his own time to shine. He really just ushers an aura that just makes everything he does cool and meaningful. He talks with such a gentle voice but then goes and takes people out. He makes the character his own and contains the kind of charisma that Iron Man has, but shows it in a different way. It is amazing to watch his performance and it was really nice to see him get some levity after he had to be so serious in Civil War. Overall, a great performance and I'm excited to see his role extended to the 'Avengers' franchise.

The supporting cast was amazing as well. Michael Jordan finally found redemption in a Marvel movie with his take on Killmonger. He brought a real ruthless outlook on life that hits home with what people are going through today in the real world. You could understand where he was coming from but in the end he took his viewpoint to unethical levels. Both Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman shined in their returns to the MCU. Serkis played the role of Klaue to amazing levels and it was nice to get an expanded backstory on Freeman's Everett Ross after his brief appearance in Civil War.

The women of the Black Panther universe all shined as well. Lupita Nyong'o shined as Nakia as a strong-minded female lead and also the love interest of T'Challa. She stands for what she believes in and does not just fall in line with tradition. Lupita plays the role perfectly and really adds that strong female voice to the film. Letitia Wright was the breakout star for me in Black Panther. She shined in every scene she was in and brought much of the humor into play as T'Challa's little sister Shuri. She was clearly the smartest member of the family but also brought a teenage attitude and humor to every piece of dialogue she had. I'm looking forward to her role being expanded in future movies.

Overall, this film is in the top tier of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Since Phase 3, Marvel has produced four amazing movies and I believe that Black Panther tops them all. Black Panther is the kind of movie we need in a time of racial strife and I'm so glad that Marvel knocked this movie out of the park.

Recommendation — If you're a Marvel fanatic, then this has been on your calendar for awhile, but if you're a more casual moviegoer, then this is a great movie to go see, superhero or not.