Black Panther *Spoilers*

[k von doom]

Could just be he caught a piece of shrapnel in the wrong place, or was closer to the blast

Wakandan tech would probably be able to save him, right?

[vitruvian]

When I was watching Black Panther,

I was thinking

with a highly technologically advanced society like Wakanda is, they could have helped stopped the African slave trade as well as the European colonization of Africa

This issue has actually been dealt with in more recent runs of the comic book, including the question of whether they bear any guilt over opting for a more isolationist than interventionist policy towards the rest of the world, including on their own continent. Of course, you also have to ask yourself precisely how far ahead of the rest of the world they were, even with vibranium, back when the Atlantic slave trade had its beginnings. If they already had sonic weapons, or even an advantage like rapid fire firearms while everyone else was still using black powder, maybe they could have taken on the world despite a disparity in numbers, but perhaps not.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Killing Killmonger was not only correct, it is vital for the plot. Sure he is likeable, sympathetic, and charismatic, but none of these outweigh the importance of his death to T’Challa and the plot.

Agreed. Otherwise you end up with another Loki. A defanged bit of comic relief that used to have believable motivations.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Wakandan tech would probably be able to save him, right?

He wasn't wounded. He was dead. Their miracle tech can't reverse death. Being at the epicenter of a large explosion is like jumping off a skyscrapper and landing belly first, with all the hideous force and pressure distributed evenly throughout your body at a faster rate of speed than falling. You could say that the fact that T'chaka's corpse was still intact was proof enough of his superhuman durability in life. Any of us would have looked a good deal messier.

[Twickster]

The one bit regarding Wakanda as a hidden nation I found a bit odd was the way it was hidden. It seems to just be cloaked somehow. How does that stop folks from getting to it? Or more specifically keep its secrets...secret? I can understand covering it up in ancient times but given all the countries it presumably neighbors and it's considered an average third world nation...wouldn't more people be trying to get to it? Even if only to see what it's like or to pass through it for one reason or another? Or should we assume that the outer rural edges of "Wakanda" is the "real" Wakanda the world has seen until now? In that vein does that mean people who go to Wakanda or try (regardless of intent) have been killed to maintain the secret?

Wakanda appears to maintain some form of potemkin existence outside of its cloak, which is manned by the border caste (the guys in blue). They stay outside the cloak and pretend to be horsemen and shepherds and what not. If any outsider strays into Wakanda, they see the shepherds and are satisfied of its third world condition, or are driven off. Nobody ever cares to go deeper into the "real" Wakanda, which is impossible to access anyway given that the entire thing is fully cloaked and appears to have no accessible means in and out.

[Username taken]

I finally saw this.

Loved it. The only weak part was the CG heavy ending apart from that, the movie hit all the right notes.

8.5/10.

[Chessboxer]

One of the best Marvel movies ever made in my opinion. Definitely in my top 2 along with Winter Soldier.

Just brilliantly executed movie. The sad irony, in that T'Chaka killed his brother to save Wakanda and T'Challa ultimately has to kill his own cousin to save Wakanda, slaying the dragon his father created.

The very existence of Killmonger, shapes T'Challa ideology as king because he sees how different Killmonger could have been if Wakanda had a different philosophy towards the outside world.

Great pacing, cinematography, superb acting, intense action and impressive world building. Oh, and the score is incredible!

[Gridde]

One of the best Marvel movies ever made in my opinion. Definitely in my top 2 along with Winter Soldier.

Just brilliantly executed movie. The sad irony, in that T'Chaka killed his brother to save Wakanda and T'Challa ultimately has to kill his own cousin to save Wakanda, slaying the dragon his father created.

The very existence of Killmonger, shapes T'Challa ideology as king because he sees how different Killmonger could have been if Wakanda had a different philosophy towards the outside world.

Great pacing, cinematography, superb acting, intense action and impressive world building. Oh, and the score is incredible!

Well said. Even the cultural significance aside, I thought BP was a very well-plotted and excellently executed Marvel film. Some people have pointed out dodgy CGI but I didn't notice it, perhaps because the fights and settings generally weren't too over the top anyway, so any less-than-perfect CGI didn't really stand out.

I went in to the cinema with a very cynical mindset, as I fully expected another Wonder Woman scenario (ie an average-at-best film, critically bulletproof because of its subject matter), so was really pleasantly surprised that it was a great movie that just happened to also be a cultural milestone. I personally can't think of a bad thing to say about the film, except -grasping at straws a little- maybe that Ross' character was entertaining but largely unnecessary to the overall plot.

I did notice that not all of the humour necessarily landed with the audience in the screening I attended; Shuri in particular had a lot of quips but I think maybe half of them didn't get reactions from the audience. Not even sure they were supposed to (Shuri was great; maybe her lines were intended to just reflect her youthful and energetic character rather than be straight-up comedic), but after Doctor Strange (which had numerous incidents where characters delivered lines that were clearly meant to draw laughs but generally fell flat) I'm just a little more aware of this. It didn't detract from the film at all and could also be easily attributed to a dead audience watching the movie at 10am, but did anyone else experience anything like this?

During the final battle, when T’challa’s diminished forces were surrounded by the opposing army with shields, where did M’Baku come from? It looked as though he suddenly appeared in the middle of the surrounded women.

I initially thought this as well, but the battle took place on quite hilly terrain; there were numerous shots where (from the combatants' standpoints) you couldn't really see what was happening further away/downhill. The approach of M'Baku's clan (and the rhinos) could easily have gone unnoticed until they clambered over the rocks/jet wreckage.

[Foxy]

Saw it yesterday and really liked it. One of my favourite MCU movies, even though I think it is being a bit overhyped like Wonder Woman was. My favourite MCU movie is still The Winter Soldier.

Killmonger was a great character but I thought he wasn't in the movie enough in the first half. Andy Serkis was great too.

What I noticed when settling into my seat was that although people tend to call MCU movies formulaic, there is also something reassuring about them. I fully trusted to be well-entertained and the movie delivered.

[RikWriter]

I saw it last night and I enjoyed it. Well-acted and well-written, though the pacing seemed a bit off, but not so much that it detracted from my enjoyment of it. The main problem I had with it was the CGI, particularly in the South Korean car chase. It was just plain bad, cartoonish, like 2002 Spider-Man bad. Given the budget of this film, that's nearly inexcusable.

[JKtheMac]

I personally can't think of a bad thing to say about the film, except -grasping at straws a little- maybe that Ross' character was entertaining but largely unnecessary to the overall plot.

The first thing my wife said about the movie as we walked out:

"Do you think Freeman was supposed to be the 'token white guy?'"

She meant that wryly as if it was a considered choice and commentary on tokenism.

I am not quite so sure. When you analyse it he was basically an exposition enabler. Exposition is really important in a movie like this, and the trick is to sprinkle it around liberally but not too concentrated, so he does have a vital role. In the climax he did something that was only necessary because the plot bent over backwards to give him a job. There he probably meets the token label more clearly.

[JKtheMac]

I saw it last night and I enjoyed it. Well-acted and well-written, though the pacing seemed a bit off, but not so much that it detracted from my enjoyment of it. The main problem I had with it was the CGI, particularly in the South Korean car chase. It was just plain bad, cartoonish, like 2002 Spider-Man bad. Given the budget of this film, that's nearly inexcusable.

Actually the budget wasn't that high, (on a par with Last Jedi) and there is a whole load of CGI that is used to enhance the normal fight scenes and the look and feel of the environment, so they had to spread the money around quite thinly. Those costumes don't come cheap either. Clearly they didn't have the budget to make the CGI better than they did.

Another problem is highly illuminated CGI is not ideal. Hence a part of the climax was down in the dark, away from the African sun.

I really wasn't bothered by the car chase. That seemed fine and on par with any Marvel movie. It was also in the dark.

[RikWriter]

Actually the budget wasn't that high

I read reports of $200 million. That's fairly high.

I really wasn't bothered by the car chase. That seemed fine and on par with any Marvel movie. It was also in the dark.

I was. It seemed subpar for a Marvel movie, particularly given how well they did Panther in Civil War. The body movements looked unnatural and it took me out of the movie for a few minutes.

[JKtheMac]

I read reports of $200 million. That's fairly high.

As I had just added its about on par with Star Wars Last Jedi. Location shooting probably explains why both of these movies are around 20-50 million higher than some comparable movies.

I was. It seemed subpar for a Marvel movie, particularly given how well they did Panther in Civil War. The body movements looked unnatural and it took me out of the movie for a few minutes.

I am never "in the movie" so I never have that problem. I don't get immersed like that, its just the way I am. It means I really hate most action movies.

[JKtheMac]

What I find fascinating about the budget is that Marvel decided to put that much investment into it. Now it looks like a smart move. A couple of months ago that looked like a huge gamble. They released this in February! That is not the time to be taking gambles with big budget movies. There isn't a lot of space in the release schedule this year for a superhero movie, but it still feels like a huge risk just paid off. The recent state of cinema has not been buoyant enough to support a huge movie in February. There are a lot of very happy cinema managers right now.