Alright, letâs talk about the actual plot of the movie. There will be spoilers.
A friend of mine compared the movie to The Lion King, and the comparison certainly has its merits on a surface level. But The Lion King is about Simba and his journey and what he learns, and I would not say the same about Black Panther and TâChalla.
Letâs go back to the discussion on science fiction from my earlier post on Annihilation. I was discussing The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (TMiaHM), a scifi novel about lunar colonization and AI. Itâs not about Mannie (the main character) or any individual. Similarly, I might actually classify Black Panther as a science fiction movie that proposes the country of Wakanda, or more generally, a hidden but advanced African nation. The movie explores the motivations behind the isolation and the peopleâs feelings on the plight of black people around the world, and it uses this exploration to form a political commentary. Using the fictional country of Wakanda, the movie actually criticizes stringent immigration and refugee policies in countries like the US by condemning Wakandaâs past for keeping to themselves and hiding their technological wealth. At the same time though, it condemns reverse racism pretty heavily; Killmonger is repeatedly deemed mad for bloodthirsty plans.
Note that none of this is at all subtle. In fact, if there is one complaint I have regarding this, itâs that there doesnât really feel like there is much to discuss afterwards, because itâs all stated pretty clearly. Wakanda is not doing the right thing with its isolationist policies. Killmonger is right about that, but his ideas are also quite awful. TâChalla learns (from Killmonger and Nakia) and incorporates his learning into a new vision for Wakanda. I suppose one could debate the merits of the first statement more - is it really wrong for Wakanda to isolate itself? But the movie itself doesnât lend much credence to the other side, in my opinion, nor does it seem like people are debating it; if anything, people are questioning whether or not Killmonger, who wants to overthrow the world in bloody conquest, is actually a villain... hm.
Nonetheless, it is still impressive that they were brave enough to discuss such ideas in what could have otherwise been a standard action superhero film. Iâll take a brief sidetrack in to a discussion on the MCU; I just want to say, I think they have been very brave in tackling aspects of American politics and really elevating the superhero film genre (even as DC tries to drag it down...). I posted this link a while back, which says pretty much the same thing:Â https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/26/17029572/black-panther-marvel-politics.
However, also as noted in the article, Black Panther gets distracted in the end from its message, much like many of the other MCU movies. The brawl at the climax basically ignores the main political debate of the movie, and I honestly felt a little uninvested in the fight.
Admittedly, there were a number of minor script flaws that led to that feeling. Let me list some of those flaws (not all of which are related to the climax):
1) Itâs unclear why WâKabi attacks TâChalla at the end. Itâs clear that the ritual is not yet complete (âI did not yield, and as you can see, I am not dead!â), so Killmonger is not the rightful king, but WâKabi still likes him more because he... brought Klaueâs body in? Even though he was the one who freed him..?
2)Â âWould you really kill me, my love?â (WâKabi to Okoye) - uhh, you just tried to kill TâChalla, did you not?
3)Â âWakanda needs a king! It does not need a warrior right now.â There is no evidence that points either way, so the statement just kind of sits in a vacuum. Is she right? I donât know.
4)Â âItâs hard for a good man to be a king.â What does he mean by that? Hearing this in the trailer, I thought TâChalla was going to have to face more difficult decisions where he has to choose the good of the country, but nothing like that happened for him that I can think of. I did wonder if perhaps the movie was saying that TâChaka was wrong, and one must actually be a good man to be a good king. I feel like some ideas were wasted here.
5) Did Killmonger really commit the cardinal sin of villainy of not killing the protagonist when he had the chance? I mean, really. The script couldâve even avoided this by choreographing the fight a little differently so TâChaka fell off the cliffside and Killmonger didnât actually have the chance to kill him, for example.
Sorry, Iâm nitpicking again. But thatâs the thing with this movie: I feel like itâs so good in so many ways, but itâs really held back by these details here and there. Still, I have to state once again that I am impressed with how this movie continues to elevate the idea of what a superhero film can be and their bravery in tackling these ideas in such a prominent pop culture movie. Overall, it really is an amazing movie.
Note: I said I would be talking about the characters, but I realized I didnât actually have much to say. The characters are all interesting and fun, but thereâs nothing subtle to discuss there really. I think Iâll be doing one more on the fights though.