Black Panther **** (2018, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis) – Classic Movie Review 8171

Bohemian Rhapsody proved to be the big winner of Oscar night 2019, taking home four awards, but then Black Panther, Roma and Green Book all took home three Oscars.

Black Panther won for Best Achievement in music written for motion pictures – Original Score (Ludwig Goransson), Best Achievement in Production Design (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart) and Best Achievement in Costume Design (Ruth E Carter).

Director Ryan Coogler’s dazzling Marvel cinematic universe movie is set in a beguiling alternate universe reality of a fictional African country, the hidden but rich and advanced kingdom of Wakanda, which prospers like Shangri-la without the attentions or interference of the rest of the world.

Chadwick Boseman gives a magnetic performance as Prince T’Challa, who returns home to Wakanda to serve as his country’s new king. But then two enemies conspire to destroy Wakanda, and T’Challa, also known as superhero Black Panther, must team up with CIA agent Everett K Ross (Martin Freeman) and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces to fight back.

Michael B Jordan stars as the villain, Eric Killmonger, in the 2018 box office smash Black Panther.

Great though Boseman is, he gets strong competition from Michael B Jordan as his rival Erik Killmonger, the film’s main villain. Lupita Nyong’o is striking as the tech-savvy Nakia, and Angela Bassett impresses too in a regal turn as the queen motherly Ramonda.

The only downsides of the film’s cast are the miscast Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis as the South African bad guy Ulysses Klaue, neither of the British actors at anywhere near their best. With their slack performances, they stick out like sore thumbs. Unfortunately there is quite a lot for both of them to do. But the other performances, plus the movie’s sense of style and grandeur, as well as its vibrating action scenes easily compensate.

With its magnetic premise, Black Panther is brilliantly set up, though the story and plotlines struggle a bit to focus, cohere and command attention, as usual with comic book movies. But above all it is a thrilling, visually stunning movie, with memorable characters and equally memorable sequences, both on the personal and action fronts (particularly the show-stopping edge-of-seat casino action scene).

The generally smooth and expert screenplay is by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The Production Design (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart) and Costume Design (Ruth E Carter) are both truly marvellous, worthy of their Oscars, and the Original Score (Ludwig Goransson) is a real winner, also a worthy winner in a year of not many worthy Oscar winners.

Marvel have spent a fortune on the movie ($200,000,000), and it shows, but it shows up there on screen in terms of excitement and value. And, just when comic book movies have started to become samey and ten a penny, they have manage to create something a bit different this time, unusual, rich and quite rare and valuable. No wonder it connected with audiences.

If Marvel were worried about the cost, they need not have been. It took more than its cost back on the opening weekend in the US: $202,003,951 (16 February 2018). The US gross was an astounding  $700,059,566 and the cumulative worldwide gross was $1,347,071,259. Triumphs don’t come much bigger than this.

Chadwick Boseman stars as Black Panther.

Chadwick Boseman (born November 29, 1976) is known for his portrayal of the superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War (both 2018), and the 2019 Avengers: Endgame.

RIP Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer at age 42, on August 28, 2020.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8171

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