MOVIE REVIEW: BLACK PANTHER (2017)

Black Panther is the latest Marvel blockbuster in the Disney Avengers universe. Here, it is a movie that has been getting allot of buzz for being the first black superhero-led movie in this universe. It runs a bit over 2 hours and, when it is done, it is up there near the top of the food chain for superhero movies alongside the likes of Winter Soldier and Avengers.

Black Panther follows the story of the Black Panther character following Civil War. Now that the excitement is over, he goes back to his people to be crowned king and also get his special panther powers. However, powerful threats to his isolationist kingdom of Wakanda are rearing their heads. A meta-criticism of the movie is that the results of the movie have been spoiled by the Avengers: Infinity War trailer.

As tends to be the case with the latest Phase 3 Marvel movies, the real issues in the movie tend to be from the past. Such as in Thor, the end of Dr Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, etc. the conflict is in people dealing with the mistakes and ambitions of their ancestors. Black Panther here tends to use Wakanda and the king as surrogates for dealing with poverty and suppresion. 

Where it succeeds the most is it puts the plight of African people as the centre-piece of the story. However, as opposed to things such as Last Jedi's near constant passive-aggressive take on social justice issues, it manages to craft a blockbuster movie out of them. No-one is pushed as constantly incompetent or even wrong. Instead it treats the problems (racial impovershivement, sexism, etc.) as real grown-up issues with believable takes on them as opposed to cartoonish supervillains. The world it builds up, the backstory of the characters, etc. are all in the background but hint at greater mysteries that can be speculated or revisited.

My only criticism is the action scenes. They tend to follow the Hollywood trend of extreme close-ups too much, meaning that you lose your sense of place and time in a scene too easily. Leaving the camera a bit further away isn't a huge crime, but this movie doesn't let you appreciate the scope and agility of the Black Panther and the fights enough. In my mind, the action scenes should have been extended a little bit more to give them this time to breathe. 

However, this is a minor complaint. This is perhaps a genre-defining film, proving that you can tackly heavy issues without resorting to putting the audience or history in a constant guilt-trip. In some ways, this a Social Justice Warrior movie done right.

5 out of 5 pantherific waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR (2016)

Two movies in a row focus on heroes versus heroes. One of these was the most insulting, boring movie I have seen in a long time where the definition of hero is stretched to capture Batman and Superman whose reception encouraged reshoots for Suicide Squad. I think this other one proves why Marvel is currently on top of the game.

Set in the Marvel Universe where we have had 10+ movies to build the world and the each character, Civil War aims to tell an epic tale. However, what makes it so good can't be talked about without spoilers. So from here on out there are some very non-specific spoilers.

Civil War starts with a brawl with a super villain on international soil. A mistake from the Avengers leads to some civilian casualties, which leads to the superhero registration act. This is a much more defined but also defendable document than the comic book equivalent. Circumstances force Captain America and Iron Man to go on opposite sides with their teams of allies to help fight it out.

This movie starts and ends on a very personal note for all the characters. Although it seems to be building up slowly to another global threat, it pulls the rug out from under all the characters feet to make the final conflict very personal. Although it never really solves the superhero registration act problem or provides a conclusion to it, that is really not the point of the finale.

Civil War is 2.5 hours and covers allot of ground. Some things miss but allot of things hit. Spiderman is awesome. The fight scenes are awesome with the best stuff outside of the trailers (although that stuff is pretty good as well). Spiderman is awesome and all the characters feel great. Even the sides there on don't take huge leaps in logic.

That is even leaving out the great fight scenes. This is a great movie with a really good story and action. After the disappointment of Batman V Superman, this was the correct way to do a superhero vs superhero movie. Make the stakes personal with believable reasons to make them fight.

5 out of 5 Revolutionary Waffles