 Tagline: Long live the king. Centuries ago, five African tribes war over a meteorite containing vibranium. One warrior ingests a "heart-shaped herb" affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first "Black Panther". He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. The Wakandans use the vibranium to develop advanced technology and isolate themselves from the world by posing as a Third World country. -- In 1992, King T'Chaka visits his brother N'Jobu, who is working undercover in Oakland, California. T'Chaka accuses N'Jobu of assisting black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue with stealing vibranium from Wakanda. N'Jobu's partner reveals he is Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, and confirms T'Chaka's suspicions. -- In the present day, following T'Chaka's death, his son T'Challa returns to Wakanda to assume the throne. He and Okoye, the leader of the Dora Milaje regiment, extract Nakia, T'Challa's ex-lover, from an undercover assignment so she can attend his coronation ceremony with his mother Ramonda and younger sister Shuri. At the ceremony, the Jabari Tribe's leader M'Baku challenges T'Challa for the crown in ritual combat. T'Challa defeats M'Baku and persuades him to yield rather than die. -- After Klaue and Erik Stevens steal a Wakandan artifact from a museum, W'Kabi, T'Challa's friend and Okoye's lover, urges him to bring Klaue back dead or alive. Storyline: After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T'Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country's new leader. However, T'Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war. Written by Editor Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, May 9, 2018 Black Panther was a special production for many involved in its construction, representing not just another movie about a fictional hero capable of great feats but standing as a symbol as the first superhero of African descent. The character debuted in the 1960s, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the United States and has become one of the most beloved icons of the Marvel, and indeed the greater comic book, universe. The character was introduced to moviegoers in the fantastic Captain America: Civil War and is now the focus of Director Ryan Coogler's (Fruitvale Station, Creed) third feature film. Black Panther is a rip-roaring Superhero film steeped in culture and tradition while simultaneously presenting cutting-edge technology and modern-made excitement. The film's arcing plot line is a little stale, but it's a fine, fun flick that performs well above most of its cliché-riddled parts. The king is dead, long live the king! The African nation of Wakanda, thought to be well behind the times and poverty stricken by the outside world, is actually a technologically advanced society thanks to the fortuitous arrival of a meteorite made of the alien metal "vibranium" some years ago. It has transformed Wakandan society, a transformation the people and leadership have kept secret for many years. In line to lead the nation is T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who fends off a tribal challenge to take his rightful seat at the nation's head and assume the identity of the Black Panther. He is immediately tested when it is revealed that an old enemy, a man his father could not defeat named Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), has stolen a valuable vibranium sample for a museum that did not know what it had in its possession. Aiding the longtime Wakandan nemesis is N'Jadaka (Michael B. Jordan), a radical with his eyes set on a bigger prize than even the valuable vibranium. Black Panther soars as a production steeped in its characters' culture. The film is set in the fictional nation of Wakanda, a landlocked country said to be isolated form the world and believed to be a poor, struggling third-world nation. However, the people hold a secret that has provided them radical advancements in technology, including medicine and weapons. The filmmakers have done a wonderful job of effortlessly blending together colorful, carefully considered culture and radical, but not unbelievable, technology into the film's world. It's an oftentimes breathtaking display of new and old, of characters expressing themselves, battling, and caring for one another in ways that highlight both ends of the spectrum, and that they so effortlessly, and believably, maneuver through both with nary a hiccup along the way is a testament to, certainly, their skills as actors but also the writers' vision for the world and how and why it works. For the audience, it's a dazzling display, quite unlike anything that has ever been on the screen before, and even as the film plods through a story that's as cliché as the world is visionary, the structural support carries the film beyond the crudities of its basic arc. The film elevates considerably once the action is truly set into motion, after core story arcs begin to take shape, and character motivations and secrets are revealed. Action scenes are exciting and well choreographed, even if they often stem from fairly trite, stale dramatic circumstances. A car chase partway through the film is exceptionally well crafted, with several unique ideas executed to perfection while the sequence yields enjoyable mayhem. But the film thrives more on its character construction and less on its action, more on its arcing story and less on its point-to-point scenes. It's a film that's by-and-large predictable in execution, even as it takes a difficult dramatic turn at the end of its second act to which the characters react remarkably well and help create a sense of panic, sadness, and darkness at the new realty before them, but even still there's not much of an element of surprise at how the movie will resolve thereafter. But it's fun. It's crafted with passion on both side of the camera, the production values are everything one could want in a movie of this type, and even if the characters maneuver through stock ebbs and flows, they do so with conviction. The cast is fantastic all-around, each primary absorbed into the character and buying into the blend of traditional-meets-future. Michael B. Jordan is the film's standout as the cocky and powerful villain. Black Panther is not a bastion of narrative creativity, but it's done well, it's exciting, it's well acted, and it's beautifully and passionately crafted. Action, costumes, and conviction make up for a fairly linear storyline that has precious few surprises up its sleeve. It's not the best entry into the MCU, but it's a lot of fun in its exploration of one of the most interesting worlds and engaging characters on the Marvel roster. Disney's Blu-ray is packed with extras, features excellent video, and audio is fine if one cranks it up. Highly recommended. (Based on Comic Book ) -- (Marvel) [CSW] -?- . [V4.5-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box Cast Notes: Chadwick Boseman (T'Challa / Black Panther), Michael B. Jordan (Erik Killmonger), Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Martin Freeman (Everett K. Ross), Daniel Kaluuya (W'Kabi), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Winston Duke (M'Baku), Sterling K. Brown (N'Jobu), Angela Bassett (Ramonda), Forest Whitaker (Zuri), Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), John Kani (T'Chaka), David S. Lee (Limbani). IMDb Rating (10/27/12): 8.3/10 from 481,461 users Top 250: #105 IMDb Rating (01/04/10): 8.3/10 from 247,169 users Top 250: #103
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