Some thoughts on the biggest Marvel blockbuster yet.
James Joyner
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Saturday, February 24,2018
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1 comment
The girls and I are back from Black Panther, which we all enjoyed. Thankfully, we saw it in IMAX format with reserved seating because, despite waiting, as is our custom with blockbuster movies, to see it in the second weekend it was packed. Which is perhaps not surprising: this is the biggest Marvel blockbuster to date:
Granting that non-adjusted numbers are rather silly, that remains an impressive launch. Not only has the comic book film genre become rather over-saturated at this stage but Black Panther isn’t exactly the best-known property. It was, however, the first big-time superhero project with not only a black lead but virtually an all-black cast.
Jamil Smith for TIME (“ The Revolutionary Power Of Black Panther “):
Carvelle Wallace for NYT Magazine (“ Why ‘Black Panther’ Is a Defining Moment for Black America “):
Tre Johnson for Vox (“ Black Panther is a gorgeous, groundbreaking celebration of black culture “):
Brent Staples for the NYT Sunday Review (“ The Afrofuturism Behind ‘Black Panther’ “):
Certainly, the audience in the theater in which I saw the film was much blacker than those for previous MCU films we saw there, including most recently Thor: Ragnarok. And, despite being more crowded than I’m used to, this was the best-behaved audience I can remember—people were mostly taking in the movie rather than running back and forth to the restrooms and concession stands.
Aside from the cultural statements, the movie was just different. It was gripping and interesting but felt as much like a sci-fi or martial arts movie than a superhero flick. And, while there were some humorous moments, it lacked the constant jokiness of Thor: Ragnarok or the Iron Man installments. And that seemed intentional.
ScreenRant’s Thomas Bacon (“ With Black Panther, The MCU Finally Steps Out Of Iron Man’s Shadow “):
Bryan Bishop at The Verge (“ Black Panther is the grown-up Marvel movie we’ve been waiting for “):
Overall, a very good and impressive movie. It was more entertaining than the first installments of the Captain America and Thor franchises and, certainly, any of the attempts at bringing The Hulk to the big screen. But it’s not as much fun as the first Iron Man movie, Ant-Man, or the three Avengers flicks (I count Captain America: Civil War here). It’s dripping with pathos, although not as much as Captain America: Winter Soldier. And it’s almost three hours between the start of previews and the final “extra” scene.
Also, one that seemed to promise some originality. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I saw stuff in the trailer I haven’t seen in any other movie, of this type or any other. That excites me.
True, but my wish for people of color is that they live long enough to be utterly bored with seeing people who look like them.
That’s all I needed to hear. I love “different.”
How’d you like the “Noovie?”
