An Honest Review of the #BlackPanther Movie — Part 1

“It seems inconceivable that there could be such an advanced country in Africa like they’re depicting in “Black Panther””. Yup! Somebody said this to me.

I have seen the Black Panther movie twice now and oh my word!!! #WakandaForever! I’ve been gushing about it for days! It was a wonderful experience both times. I’ve only gone to see one other movie more than once at the cinema. Yes! You guessed it! The Force Awakens! I saw Black Panther alone the first time and then with friends the second time.

I’m going to be as honest as possible and tell you what I think despite my limited film knowledge. Here goes nothing!

1

Setting: I think I caught a glimpse of Table Mountain (Cape Town) but I can’t be too sure about that. I though the stage designers did a good job. The CGI creations reminded me of Star Wars cities. The village or township shots were really good as well and I did catch a glimpse of people eating behind Lupita as she and Chadwick walked through the “market place”. But like I said on my Instagram: “I wish there was a scene involving the King eating African food” (African food is an important part of African culture! We need the solids palish, eba etc!). The waterfall scene was very very nice. Apart from the allusions to the transatlantic slave trade, water is a prominent symbol of life in some African cultures. And this is were some gods come from, hence the term “Riverine gods”: for instance the goddess of Osun (google if you want more info). So once again the ‘what if’ theme is present, “what if the slave trade and colonialism didn’t happen?”. See, the water presents that thought, life before and or after something. Water also represents possibility: fertility goddesses are mostly water based. I can say so much more here but maybe I’ll dissect this later on in greater detail. So what if the water didn’t bring in colonizers and would the African way of life — uninterrupted — develop Africa into a continent of first world nations?

2

Plot: This is one thing I think Ryan (the director) took his time with and did right. The prologue itself could stand alone as a film short. The surprise reveal of betrayal was a nice twist and once again this has significant thematic import. How was slave trade facilitated? Through betrayal. African leaders have been corrupt and selfish for a long time and they are still predominantly self-involved till date. The irony of it is that Atwanda betrays his own family to serve his country. How does he betray his family by doing the right thing? Well, Africans are very sentimental, I speak especially for my tribe. We base most of our actions on pleasing family. This has also resulted in corruption; once a person gets elected into a political seat they ensure their family members are employed into positions they are usually not qualified for. So, there you go Africa, you’ve been called out. Doing the right thing might hurt your family but you should do the right thing “without question” (Denai saying that before almost fighting her lover was epic!!!!!).

3

Mood: I don’t think I’ll do characterization yet. That might have to stand on its own because boy do I have loads to say about that! I liked the switches between the serious lines and instances of humour. The movie was serious and raised important issues and did not take away from this with comic relief. One major brilliantly orchestrated mood transition was at the museum. Michael Bae (Yes, yes I’ve loved him since Creed) says some profound stuff about the taking of African artefacts from Africa without reparations and then shortly afterwards Andy comes in and tells the security guy to go and then shoots him in the back. That was a smart mood and tone switch, but it didn’t take away from the moment or statements Bae made, the rhythm and tempo of the plot progression did not fall but kept on a steady incline. I also loved how the underlying love story was not given too much time. It was just enough to provide comic and emotional relief. Emotional because it makes no sense for Chadwick not to be in a relationship. Also! I loved the fact that they played House music at Letitia’s lab, I heard “Wololo”, I almost shouted “Wooza!” in the cinema and I thought I heard “Gobisiqolo”. It was a good interlude between Chadwick’s administrative and active duties as king. That was an excellent touch!

4

Themes: I’ve heard the question: “Why didn’t Idris Elba act as Black Panter?” Well, he’s too big. The inner Zen strength vibe that Chadwick channelled wouldn’t have been as prominent with a big guy like Idris. The Idris thing is as a result of his brilliant performance as Mandela, aparently he does the accent is better than Chadwick. But a major theme is: you don’t need super powers to do the right things. And ladies will agree that being a big tall guy is a super power. Chadwick is the right size to drive home that point. Then I’ve been asked “Why didn’t Africans get lead roles?” My first thought is “Are you bent?”. African-Americans feel animosity towards Africans! And with good reason, we sold them out (though technically we were all sold out by our own relations, even during colonization), and then we didn’t take part in slavery and we didn’t save them! These are legitimate thoughts, which are made worse because Africans are still migrating to the states and so on. They don’t know where they come from and we that do are going into their turf. So yes African-Americans need this too. Plus, there were some Africans in it — Lupita!

I’m glad this movie is unifying black people! If we could only love one another the world would be a better place!

I have a lot to say about this and I’ll get to it! but for now Pambili!