Black Panther was great. Just as Wonder Woman gave little girls a superhero to "look up to," little African boys (Yes, not just African American boys) have their own hero. But what was even better about this movie is that it was so much more. It wasn't a stereotypical Eddie Murphy or Whitney Houston movie. Even 5, 8 years ago, we wanted this to happen but this might have been just the right time. T'Challa is king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda that millennia ago became rich in a fictional mineral called vibranium that allowed them to become the most technologically advanced country on Earth. They decided to keep this secret, however, and disguised themselves with a cloaking shield and the guise of a "shithole country." (See? Relevance!)
Wakanda has reached a crossroads. Xenophobia is really no longer working. The villain of the movie, Wakandan by blood but certainly not upbringing, Killmonger, takes the throne in an effort to take the Black Lives Matter movement to a more violent direction by using Wakadan weapons for world domination.
World domination? That sounds like James Bond! And where would Bond be without Q his tech support? Enter T'Challa's sister, Shuri played by the relatively unknown actress Letitia Wright. (Yes! The "Man in the Chair" is a woman!) I really want to say she was the best character of the movie. Writer/Director Ryan Coogler says he consulted Donald Glover to punch up the comedic aspects of her character. Hands down an awesome call. (Side note on the tech: Why hasn't Q ever had the ability to remotely control any car anywhere in the world? With satellites, that doesn't seem all that far fetched...)
One thing that certainly could be further explained is how the Wakandan government and chain of succession works. I understand that T'Challa accepted the challenge by cousin Erik because he felt guilt over his father T'Chaka's decision to kill his brother, Erik's father, in order to keep Wakanda's tech secrets from the world but I can't help but picture the absurd notion of David Armstrong -Jones challenging Charles for the British throne. (Or William being challenged by cousin Beatrice...)
On a larger scale, Wakanda is comprised of 5 tribes; 3 of which don't seem to care the Panther tribe rules all the time. Hopefully, T'Challa "taking the country public" will shake that up in future movies...
One final note: I both love and hate the idea of "Battle Rhinos"...
Wakanda has reached a crossroads. Xenophobia is really no longer working. The villain of the movie, Wakandan by blood but certainly not upbringing, Killmonger, takes the throne in an effort to take the Black Lives Matter movement to a more violent direction by using Wakadan weapons for world domination.
World domination? That sounds like James Bond! And where would Bond be without Q his tech support? Enter T'Challa's sister, Shuri played by the relatively unknown actress Letitia Wright. (Yes! The "Man in the Chair" is a woman!) I really want to say she was the best character of the movie. Writer/Director Ryan Coogler says he consulted Donald Glover to punch up the comedic aspects of her character. Hands down an awesome call. (Side note on the tech: Why hasn't Q ever had the ability to remotely control any car anywhere in the world? With satellites, that doesn't seem all that far fetched...)
One thing that certainly could be further explained is how the Wakandan government and chain of succession works. I understand that T'Challa accepted the challenge by cousin Erik because he felt guilt over his father T'Chaka's decision to kill his brother, Erik's father, in order to keep Wakanda's tech secrets from the world but I can't help but picture the absurd notion of David Armstrong -Jones challenging Charles for the British throne. (Or William being challenged by cousin Beatrice...)
On a larger scale, Wakanda is comprised of 5 tribes; 3 of which don't seem to care the Panther tribe rules all the time. Hopefully, T'Challa "taking the country public" will shake that up in future movies...
One final note: I both love and hate the idea of "Battle Rhinos"...
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