Let me get this out of the way -- I did enjoy Black Panther but I did leave the theater a bit disappointed. The critical fanfare for this movie has been off the charts with some reviewers describing this as a paradigm shift for superhero movies. Apparently I didn’t see the same movie they did. While It was good and one of the better Marvel films, much of this movie felt like parts that were recycled from other superhero films.
I understand the cultural relevance of the film, but that doesn’t improve on or detract from the quality of the film itself. Black Panther was fun, well-shot, expertly directed, featured amazing production design and had many great performances, but the hype and 97% Rotten Tomatoes score led me into the theater expecting the greatest superhero movie of all time. It wasn’t and it wasn’t even the best Marvel superhero film. Here’s some of the things that left me disappointed with this movie.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD
OK, let's get into it:
Unnecessary early subplot
While it offered some of the best action in the film, the spy mission to Korea felt out of place and unnecessary. The same information we learned from that part of the movie could have been relayed much more efficiently and while I found Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Klaue to be a much better villain than Michael B Jordan’s Killmonger, they should have stuck to one villain or the other.
Poor visual effects
There were many shots in this film that looked like the the visual effects were 10+ years old. With the amount of amazing CGI we’ve been spoiled by today, some of the effects looked on par with the 15-year-old Lord of the Rings films.
Disappointing action scenes
While Black Panther was energetic and exciting in his debut in Civil War, the fight scenes in this film were overwhelmingly shot too close and shaky to follow the action. Black Panther’s opening battle was great, at least from what I could see since it was so darkly lit. The chase sequence in South Korea was fantastic, but the hand-to-hand combat that preceded it was underwhelming and there simply wasn’t enough action in the film. I wanted to see more of Black Panther tearing through waves of bad guys with power and agility — most of what we saw was him defensively fighting other characters more powerful than himself.
Wakanda wasn’t believable
For a country sitting on tremendous wealth and technology, that seems to not have trickled down to the people. While the royals lived in high tech palaces, the people still lived in poor, dusty neighborhoods. I’d expect this nation that’s been advanced far longer than the rest of the world to have highly advanced cities where its people lived. Outside of the hidden capital city, Wakanda seems no different than modern Africa.
Lack of humor
One thing that every Marvel film has had in spades is humor. From Ant-Man to Thor, the films manage to work in a lot of humor and fun. Black Panther was severely lacking in this department and the jokes that were here felt forced, like the producers pointed to the script and said “the movie is too serious, stick a joke in here and here”.
Uneven villain
While the main villain was more complex than most Marvel movie baddies, it seemed that they couldn’t decide if they wanted to portray him as sympathetic or ruthless. While his backstory fleshes out the character and you can understand his motives, he bounces between being a strong ruler for his people and maniac who wants to burn the world to the ground and kill people around the world who oppose his vision.
Boring final matchup
Marvel has a history of its villain being a mirror image of the hero. Iron Man vs. Iron Monger, Iron Man vs. Whiplash, Ant-Man vs. Yellowjacket, Hulk vs. Abomination. These fights seem like cookie-cutter finales where the hero has to find a cheap or clever way to defeat a more powerful version of himself. It’s stale and boring. I want to see the hero fight someone other than a clone. This comes back around to my preference for Ulysses Klaue as the villain; a character that exploits the hero’s weaknesses rather than simply a stronger version of the main hero.
OK, after all my complaints I have to reiterate that I did enjoy this movie. I’ve already got a spot on my shelf reserved for it when it hits blu-ray in a few months. However, it was simply built up too much by critics and the media. It was good, but far from being worthy of that 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Did you see Black Panther? If so, did it live up to your expectations or underwhelm? Let's discuss!
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Cover Image Source: Verdict