Movie Review: Black Panther (Rating: 4/5)

This film is about the origin of Black Panther, who first appeared in the Avengers movie - Captain America: Civil War. The story not only explains the background of Black Panther (played by Chadwick Boseman) , but also describes the challenges of his country, which has obvious references to many of the current events in the real world.

The story starts by explaining to us how the fictional African country (i.e.: Wakanda) come across an unique resource, giving the country the technological advantage for all kinds of development, such as the high-tech suit Black Panther is wearing and his fancy stealth aircraft. Although the country is extremely resourceful, it has hidden its real capabilities from the outside world, so that Wakanda is just another third-world country in the eyes of outsiders. But due to some mistakes made in the past, an outsider is planning to take control of the country for revenge.

First of all, this film is so beautiful just for watching. From the extremely colorful costumes for different tribes to all the nature elements depicted for the country of Wakanda, the visual imagery is simply stunning. Plus, the car chasing scenes and action sequences are also well done. Especially on the way that one of the main actresses fights with the long spear, the fluidity and the strength shown are clearly the result of some substantial martial-arts directions.

On the cast performance, putting aside the occasionally-too-much African accent, the performance is pretty solid as a whole, and there is no doubt it is refreshing to see a full African-American cast in a superhero movie.

But I think the best part of this film is, how the script is able to relate people and issues in real life. Basically, there are no completely good or bad guys in this movie, not even the “villain” - the outsider coming to take control of Wakanda, or the general refusing to help Black Panther after his throne is overthrown, it all depends on the point of view you are taking. 

Moreover, if a country leaves its people or allies behind (say) after a war, those individuals will naturally become one of the country’s worst enemies. The “villain” in this film is created by his own country for this reason, and in the real world, the United States is having similar issues now after all the previous wars in the Middle East. 

The film also touches on the issues/ideas of immigrants. Although in the movie Wakanda has finally decided on revealing its true capabilities to the outside world and not worrying about having immigrants, in real life it is easier said than done. For instance, the German Chancellor almost lost her re-election last year for her initiative on helping the immigrants/refugees from Syria.

To sum up, this film is not the usual superhero movie with totally fictional issues and shallow characters. The movie makes you think about what you would do in the shoes of the characters, and reminds us there is no perfect person or world in reality.