BLACK PANTHER (Malaysia, 15 Feb 2018)

Genre: Action / Adventure

Running Length: 2:14

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker

Director: Ryan Coogler

Screenplay: Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole 

It's a good thing when days after I watched BLACK PANTHER, the things I remember most about this movie is not the usual superhero movie stuff but its characters and the film's political message.

What's the movie about?

T'Challa/Black Panther rises to the throne of Wakanda after his father's death. But his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider.   

What I like about it?

• The villain. The protagonist is only as good as the antagonist. If it wasn't for Killmonger (played passionately by the intense Michael B. Jordan), our hero Black Panther would carry on leading Wakanda like how his father and his father's father would lead the nation. Killmonger's ambition forces our hero to make very difficult decisions which would break traditions and ultimately risk his country. 
• The hero's journey. It's great to see our hero questioning what he has always known and witness him struggling through it. 
• Its immersive-ness. The filmmakers really went to great lengths to create an immersive African movie; the language, the culture, the folklore,  the music and just the nuances. I didn't feel like a "tourist". It was just like the recent animated Coco which was steeped in Mexican tradition.    
• The cast.  The filmmakers have assembled a group of today’s best young black actors and actresses, with a few veteran black performers thrown in. The director (Coogler) has successfully drawn the best out of them in such an ambitious movie. The two white actors (Serkis and Freeman) were memorable too.
• Good balance of character building, action and a political message. Although it doesn't go deep, Killmonger's motive and brand of politics are thought-provoking. 

What I didn't?

• The CGI. It was terrible especially the final fight. Our hero pouncing around in the streets reminded me of the bad effects of Spider-Man swinging from building to building. It looks fake. 
• It took a while to warm-up. As much as I like the initiation ceremony and introduction to the Wakanda universe, I felt that the whole hunt down the bad white guy in the first half of the film took up too much time. I was waiting for Killmonger to show up again quickly after his brief charismatic introduction at the beginning. 

RATING: 8.5/10