So today I had the luxury of finding a flight on Qatar Airlines - a company that I quite like if the flight is less than 10 hours (simply because there is no such thing as a good 10-hour flight in economy class.) Unlike most of the airlines that I usually travel with, they have a large selection of films in the seat movie thinger and Black Panther, a film I did not have the opportunity to see in the past due to where I live, was one of the choices.
pretty sweet cover art too
Now, keep in mind that I am not a huge Marvel Universe fan. I didn't even see the last 2 Avengers films because I am just not that interested in superhero films despite the fact that I still have a relatively massive comic book collection from when I was a teenager (I preserved them, I need to have a look and see if I have any valuable ones.)
I tend to not like the Marvel stuff because it is normally visually appealing yes, but well, they are all incredibly predictable and since you already know what the ending is going to be, it is just a question as to how the various characters are going to get there and which couple of minor leads are going to get killed in the process.
The story is based around Wakanda, a nation that has kept its highly advanced technology a secret on purpose in the middle of what appears to the rest of the world to be a very poor and undeveloped African nation. They are actually far more advanced than the rest of the planet due primarily to the existence of an element called "vibranium," which they have in abundance but the rest of the world isn't even aware of the substance's existence.
The story is actually a bit slow-moving in the beginning as it is focused around a new king's rise to power in the Wakandan nation. Once they get that out of the way the real story starts to emerge and the coolest character in the movie named Killmonger appears on the scene because he wants revenge on the Wakandans for not righting the wrongs of the world with their technology oh and also to avenge the death of his father. There is not a great deal of backstory given as to how he is aware of the true nature of Wakanda when the rest of the world doesn't know, but he is a badass and I originally thought the actor was a member of the Wayan family.
seriously, he looks like a Wayan doesn't he?
Turns out he is an actor named Michael B. Jordan, and I believe he is the highlight of the film. Perhaps because I like villains.
The action sequences are fantastically done in this movie but I do find it a bit frustrating that vibranium is invulnerable to pretty much everything and people know this but still fire regular weapons at it endlessly in vain. I could have done without the hokey battle-rhinos too as I don't think they really added much to the film.
I would say that this one is one of the better Marvel films of late and is definitely worth seeing. Just don't expect any sort of mind-blowing plot twists
7 / 10