"Black Panther"

I don’t know how to put this. I did not like it. I think it was over exemplified because a black superhero has its own movie. I’m all for diversity, I truly am. I am very glad that there were a number of strong characters in this movie, characters that children can look up to.

Hold up, let’s talk about that. I remember when this movie was playing in theaters, a lot of people were petitioning to screen it for free to young black children. A lot of people were killed in this movie. Okoye had her throat slit open (I rewatched the movie and found that I'm a white racist motherf*cker. Let's just move on.). Zuri was stabbed in the gut. Sterling K. Brown was speared in the chest by his brother. Gollum shot a man in the back while he was running away. And you thought it was okay to let hundreds of kids watch this?

One other impressive thing the movie does that’s lesser known is that they crammed all 17 movies into one. I mean come on, the guy is a black Tony Stark, a black Dr. Banner, a black Thor (the main plot hit this one hard), their community is a black S.H.I.E.L.D., the final battle ripped off Civil War, Gollum turned into Peter Quill in this one demanding music in the chase scene, and the Hobbit is a more likable Agent Coulson. Yeah, I said it.

Borrowing from Spider-Man: Homecoming, T’Challa, ahem, comes home to assume the Wakandan throne. As king, he searches for Gollum to bring justice to Wakanda. Instead, he interferes with Agent Ross from the CIA and unearths a secret past that his late father is a black Odin. Well, a reverse black Odin that is. Instead of stealing a child and making him a black Loki, he abandons him, which turns him into a black Loki anyway because he came for the throne. After defeating Killmonger, T’Challa borrows from The Winter Soldier script in spilling Wakanda’s secrets. Sort of. We think. We only have some white boy’s remarks on the country’s appearance and the look on T’Challa’s face. But all I can say is SHUT UP, WHITE BOY!

I watched the HISHE review on Black Panther, and Daniel Baxter made some pretty decent points. He says T’Challa’s role was to decide on whether to keep the old ways or expand out and be open to the world. This has got be hard for the most unchill character in the MCU. The movie shows his maturity to prove he is fit to be king, unlike his white counterpart, and everyone is being given memorable lines, like “WHATTRETHOSE?.”

A few more questions that were bothering me. When T’Chaka dies in Civil War, T’Challa emerges as the Black Panther to avenge his father. In this movie, his powers are stripped by drinking some natural serum and he had to prove his strength. Did he have the Black Panther powers all along? Was he just standing by in case the previous Black Panther dies? Can there be two Black Panthers? Could T’Chaka still be a Black Panther in his old age? We’ll never know on that one. Can there be a lady Black Panther? We almost had this possibility when Mama suggested Nakia take the herb. The movie did try very hard to give female characters better roles, but they still do all the work.
There was a lot of praise for Killmonger being the best villain Marvel has to offer so far. No, no he's not. He wanted to revolutionize and rule the world. Maybe he's the best because he manages to persuade T'Challa to modernize Wakanda, that's it. There is nothing else that separates him from the rest.
My mother felt the movie was racist towards white people, calling them colonizers. I understand her anger, but after centuries of calling black people all kinds of names, we really don't get a right to complain. 

Eighteen movies in, and I think we’ve forgotten how to tell a proper story. So, now we’re just borrowing the other movies and trying something new. At this point, it might break Marvel if it tried to actually make an original story from the comics.

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Really random thought, I’m sorry. I woke up in the middle night and I thought about this. I tried very hard not to look before seeing Infinity War, but memes are EVERYWHERE! Tony crying over Peter’s dissolved remains made me think of a theory I’m sure somebody else already beat me to. Is Tony Stark Peter Parker’s illegitimate father?

Think about it. In Iron Man 3, an old girlfriend resurfaces, who has a twelve-year-old son. She was working for, um <gulp>, The Mandarin, and she gets killed, leaving a child behind. I know her name was Hanson, but what if Peter assumed Parker when he moved in with Aunt May? By the time Peter Parker shows up in Civil War, he’s the appropriate age. Even his brief appearance in Iron Man 2 made sense. He was the right age then, too. The Homecoming has another meaning other than what we know. Tony is reconnecting with his long lost son.

My theory is probably dangling by a thread, but it sure adds depth to what lies ahead.

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Released On: February 16, 2018
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman 
Director: Ryan Coogler
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.4/10

Awards

Golden Globes

• Best Motion Picture Drama - Nominated
• Best Original Song "All the Stars" - Nominated
• Best Original Score Ludwig Göransson - Nominated

Grammy Awards

• Album of the Year Black Panther: The Album - Nominated
• Song of the Year "All the Stars" - Nominated
• Record of the Year "All the Stars" - Nominated
• Best Rap/Sung Performance "All the Stars" - Nominated
• Best Song Written For Visual Media "All the Stars" - Nominated
• Best Rap Performance "King's Dead" - Winner
• Best Rap Song "King's Dead" - Nominated
• Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media Ludwig Göransson - Winner

Academy Awards

• Best Picture - Nominated
• Best Original Score Ludwig Göransson - Winner
• Best Original Song "All the Stars" - Nominated
• Best Costume Design Ruth E. Carter - Winner
• Best Production Design - Hannah Beachler & Jay Hart - Winner
• Best Sound Editing - Benjamin A. Burt & Steve Boeddeker - Nominated
• Best Sound Mixing - Peter Devlin, Steve Boeddeker & Brandon Proctor - Nominated

(Click to view more awards for "Black Panther".)

Videos
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Black Panther in 17 Minutes Or Less
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers - Black Panther
How It Should Have Ended - How Black Panther Should Have Ended - Animated Parody
How It Should Have Ended - Black Panther - HISHE Review (Spoilers)
Saturday Night Live - Black Jeopardy with Chadwick Boseman - SNL