'Black Panther' Review: The Hero That Africa Needs... and Deserves Right Now!

Rating: 5/5

Let me say upfront that Black Panther is a must-watch movie. It is one of those movies that can be enjoyed for both its pure cinematic awesomeness and its cultural significance. Not to exaggerate things, but it's the best superhero movie ever. It's fun, the action is frenetic, the special effects are mind-blowing and the story is crazy good.

The events of Black Panther pick up from those of Captain America: Civil War, and presumably happen simultaneously to those of Spider-Man: Homecoming. T'Challa comes back to Wakanda to take up the mantle of King from his murdered father T'Chaka, who you may recall was targetted in an attack at the United Nations in Civil War. We get introduced to the futuristic world of Wakanda which veils itself under a poverty-ridden facade to hide from the outside world. It's an orderly society rooted in romanticized traditional African customs that foreign audiences may find unique, but African watchers will find to be familiar from our folktales and oral stories.

T'Challa is the first superhero of colour to get his own standalone movie. But he's definitely not the first Black Panther. That is a responsibility that is handed down to a worthy successor. We get to see how T'Challa earns his position as Black Panther along with the superpowers that come with it - acute senses, enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, healing, and reflexes. It is surprisingly compelling, rather than a flimsy line like "he got bit by a panther", which is what I half-expected as a non-follower of the comics.

The genius of writer/director Ryan Coogler shines through in how he brings out the best in each of his actors. At 31 years of age, Coogler is younger than all of his top-billed stars except Michael B. Jordan, with whom he shares an age (Chadwick Boseman, 40, Lupita Nyong'o, 34, Martin Freeman, 46, Andy Serkis, 53, Angela Bassett, 59). It's easy to see he commanded the respect of all these seasoned veterans on set, even for a man who only had two feature directorial credits before this one (2013's underrated Fruitvale Station and 2015's critically-acclaimed Creed - both of which also starred Michael B. Jordan, by the way).

Here, he taps into that unrestrained trust his actors give him to create memorable characters that will live on forever. The actors respond in kind too, working in unison, sort of like the female warriors of the Dora Milaje, to create something bigger than each one of them. No actor tries to one-up the next one. I respect that every actor did their due diligence to perfect their Xhosa-tinged accents. That I didn't hear even one single generic African accent was probably the biggest "Hallelujah!" moment when the credits rolled. It made me love the movie even more.

Michael B. Jordan is immense as the villain Killmonger. He is driven by a cause that he strongly believes in, rather than shallow world-domination intentions that most superhero movie villains tend to have. I strongly empathised with his character - even finding myself taking his side on a couple of occasions.

Lupita is a bona fide star. I've never heard a theatre roar as loud as when she first appeared on screen and also when she casually name-drops Kenya. She plays Black Panther's love interest with the grace befitting of a queen. And she serves up grit and attitude where necessary too; striding across the screen like an Afro-futuristic pop diva while kicking ass back and forth.

There are a lot of enjoyable performances that deserve credit. Danai Gurira as Okoye, T'Challa's fiercely loyal female bodyguard, Letitia Wright as Shuri, T'Challa's comical and super-geeky little sister, and Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, a Joker-like cynic with a wacky sense of humour. They all steal the show at various times.

In the end, Chadwick Boseman is the glue that sticks everything together. He fits into the Black Panther suit like a glove. Not only that, he physically looks the part too. He is so comfortable in his role it's almost impossible to separate the actor from the character. If T'Challa didn't exist in the comics, he'd have been crafted from Boseman's naturally dignified persona. His King T'Challa stands as a refreshing antithesis of Eddie Murphy's stereotypical Prince Akeem in Coming to America.

I loved that the majority of Black Panther is set in Africa, albeit a fictional one. But still, it's AFRICA! A beautiful, authentic, fiercely independent Africa that's unblemished by scars of colonialism and exists without the open wounds of neo-colonialism. Coogler could have easily transplanted T'Challa to New York or London so as to pander to the mostly-white cinema audiences. He wisely chooses not to, and we're all the better for it. The dreamy, colourful, progressive, high tech world of Wakanda will be a wondrous discovery for all watchers of this movie.

Speaking as a guy from a generation who grew up with Simba and Tarzan as the closest things to African heroes coming from Hollywood, the single biggest legacy that Black Panther will leave is black excellence. In playgrounds across the world, African kids will, for the first time, be able to role-play as heroes who look just like them; little boys will be King T'Challa, Killmonger or W'Kabi and little girls will be General Okoye, Nakia or Princess Shuri. That is priceless.