The_Hollywood_Reporter__February_07_2018

Film
Black Panther
Ryan Coogler’s Marvel Comics entry
dazzles with smartly staged action, magnetic
performances, genuine suspense and
a bracing sense of novelty By Todd McCarthy
With uncanny timing, Marvel has taken its
superheroes into a domain they’ve never inhabited
before — and is all the better for it.
There’s no mistaking you’re still in the
Marvel universe here, but Black Panther sweeps
you off to a part of it you’ve never seen: a
hidden lost world in Africa defined by royal
traditions and technological wonders that
open up refreshing dramatic, visual and casting
possibilities. Getting it right where other
studios and franchises — they know who they
are — get it wrong, Marvel and Disney have
another commercial leviathan, although it’ll be
interesting to see how it plays in certain overseas
markets where industry traditionalists say
black-dominated fare underperforms.
Producer Kevin Feige and the Marvel brain
trust introduced Black Panther into their
superhero mix in 2016’s Civil War: Captain
America with the intention of spinning yet
another franchise around him. This seems
like a natural idea now, but in July 1966, when
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby birthed the character
in Fantastic Four No. 52, he was the first black
superhero to appear in American comics.
Although director/co-writer Ryan Coogler
(Fruitvale Station, Creed) sets his framing
action in Oakland, California, the film’s
heart lies in Africa. In one of the tale’s
beguiling inventions, the land of Wakanda
keeps the world away by posing as one of
the planet’s poorest countries and restricting
visitors. In fact, it possesses advanced
technology and has a gleaming metropolis
that coexists with natural wonders on
par with anything in the world. What makes
this possible is a mined substance called
OPENS Friday, Feb. 16 (Disney)
CAST Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan,
Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright
DIRECTOR Ryan Coogler
Rated PG-13, 135 minutes
vibranium, a source of power akin to nuclear
that Wakanda keeps to itself.
The novelties of the society are fun to behold,
the streets full of life, the inhabitants happy.
But this enlightened land remains a monarchy,
and, with his father’s death, T’Challa (Chadwick
Boseman) becomes king in a spectacular
coronation ceremony. There to support him are
his mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett); sister
Shuri (Letitia Wright), a scientist who’s next
in line for the throne; chief counsel W’Kabi
(Daniel Kaluuya), head of security for a tough
border tribe; mentor Zuri (Forest Whitaker),
the king’s spiritual leader; and the Dora Milaje,
an independent-minded security force comprising
shaven-headed women, notably its best
fighter Okoye (Danai Gurira) and rebellious
Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o).
Then there’s M’Baku (Winston Duke), who
is opposed to T’Challa’s technological beliefs
and challenges him to a mano-a-mano slugfest