Entertainment Reviews

Black Panther: Review

Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is so refreshing. A predominantly black cast with familiar and unfamiliar faces was greatly appreciated. In a time where #OscarsSoWhite is trending on Twitter, this masterpiece is breaking Hollywood. Earning $72.2 million at the box office and 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this is clearly a must-see movie.

The fresh music gave me the urge to dance, if it were not for a dark and filled cinema, I probably would have. I couldn’t complain about the Kendrick Lamar theme either. It gave the whole movie a cool vibe and paralleled with the lavish, formidable place that is Wakanda. Coogler didn’t shy away from the reality in America or try to paint a pretty picture about the way most African-Americans live. The Black Panther’s soundtrack will be on my favourites for a while.

Although, it was hard to concentrate in some scenes, at first, I thought I needed a new prescription but realised that some of the scenes weren’t that clear or stable. The colour gold was consistent throughout, it was very notable and paralleled the African Culture that was demonstrated, giving scenes a beautiful and exciting look. To be thrown into a different culture besides the mainstream American and British culture which is dominated in films was refreshing.

Coogler laced the film with humour which wasn’t overdone and had the cinema laughing out loud, the adaptations of ‘meme’s’ and videos from social media was appreciated by my generation in the audience. The moment Shuri cries out ‘what are those?!’ to T’Challa’s Sandals was hilarious and the room burst out laughing.

Most Marvel films are weighed down by the sexuality and romance with female characters, although there were hints at romances and confessions of love I wasn’t distracted by any of this because they weren’t thrown in my face. This gave the film a chance to keep a consistent and strong plot and not rely on too much romance or sex appeal.

I think this is a step in the right direction for the film industry and Hollywood but I do think this film has set the bar high. I can’t wait to see what Marvel do next.