Just got out my 6th viewing. Movie is still a masterpiece, a joy to behold, not one wasted frame or arc.
A couple of tidbits.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been a fan of the comics for years, but it’s starting to bug the fukk outta me these ignorant comments about T’Challa just up and deciding to “give” the world Vibranium. That’s NOT how it works and T’Challa doesn’t become some soft hearted c00n singing We Are The World and shyt. Wakanda is STILL 98% an isolationist nation. They STILL horde most of their supply of Vibranium, and T’Challa STILL doesn’t bow to will of ANY outsider.
What happens is that Wakanda shares some of their knowledge of science, math, astronomy, magic, medicine to help the rest of the world catch up a bit. This helps curve issues like starvation, global warming, and the energy crisis. It isn’t a All-You-Can-Eat buffet of knowledge either, it is more of a morsel of what they’ve figured out. So if Wakanda is 30 years ahead of the outside world, they’ll give you enough to catch up 10 or so.
Other odds and ends
- that boat scene with Lupita dancing should have lasted just THREE seconds longer so it could go from
to a true
-Klau was really great. The first three times I watched the movie I was kind of silently checking my mental clock waiting for his arc to end so Kilmonger’s could begin, but he really makes the most of his screentime. In ANY other movie he’d be a great lead villain. I hope Andy Serkis gets the chance to really sink his teeth into a deranged live action villain one day
-It takes repeated viewings to really get how deep Chadwicke plays T’Challa. He is, in essence, the PERFECT one to play him. He embodies the true spirit of the comic character, both Priest’s AND Hudlin’s versions, which is a hell of feat to channel two different interpretations. If this were any other movie than a “comic book” movie critics would be salivating at how he’s able to bring such PRESENCE to an otherwise stoic character.
- After Avengers Infinity War parts 1 & 2. I don’t even know if I’ll ever again bother spending money on another Marvel movie that’s not a Black Panther sequel. How do you go from the depth and poignancy of this movie to...Ant Man? Guardians? Spiderman? They’ll all feel hollow and soulless to me.
-There are very nuanced messages in Kilmonger’s character that I feel are being overlooked. Namely his treatment of the women. People are writing think pieces about toxic masculinity and Kilmonger being some woman hater when I feel his character is played MUCH deeper than the average misogynist. If we are contrasting Kilmonger Vs T’Challa; their viewpoints and upbringing it’s pretty telling at what I feel Coogler was going for.
T’Challa was raised all of his life under Wakandan tradition. In Wakanda women are equal to men. When M’Baku challenges T’Challa and scoffs at T’Challa allowing the nation’s advancements to be overseen by Shuri, it is not because she is female, it is because she is a CHILD. During the coronation when Zuri asks if anyone would be willing to challenge T’Challa and Shuri playfully raises her hand. The shock on everyone’s faces is because she’s literally T’Challa’s closest kin, NOT because she’s female. T’Challa also has no issues taking advice from both the Dora Milaje, his mother Ramonda, Shuri, and Nakia. The last thing his father tells him is to surround himself with trustworthy and wise people. T’Challa takes heed of this.
Kilmonger grew up poor, in the Hood, without his father. And presumably without his mother. There was no one to guide him on taking advice and council. He HAD to grow up thinking that people were expendable, men and women. So when he kills his girlfriend, it isn’t because he’s a He-Man woman hater, it’s because he’s learned that “everyone dies, that’s life around here”. So her death doesn’t have an emotional effect on him.
Women are the emotional counter balances of men. When W’kabi Is confronted by Okoye, he looks around and is able to see what SHE sees; Wakanda on Wakanda violence. The senseless loss of life, and he submits to her, seeing her truth as the ONE truth.
Kilmonger has no emotional counter balance, so he cannot see the wisdom of the council of women. When he chokes out the elder female shaman, it’s not because she’s a woman, it’s because she dared to question an order. The heart shaped Herb grant heightened abilities, but it does NOT grant immortality. Kilmonger would one day have to sire children and produce an heir, but he didn’t listen to the woman’s council, who forsaw this.
When he kills the Dora, again it’s not strictly an act of woman hating; he’s killing someone who defied him, DESPITE the fact that Okoye, Their leader, who had JUST tearfully chosen Kilmonger in loyalty to the throne, counciled him that the challenge wasn’t over. Kilmonger REFUSED to listen and suffered a coupe because of it.
Every thing Coogler did in this movie that highlighted Kilmonger Vs T’Challa puts extra depth on WHY Kilmonger, even though he was right, was destined to fail. Right down to the Simple Vs Gaudy.
T’Challa at the beginning of the movie sees the ornate gold necklace and rejects it, preferring the simplicity and invisibility of the small silver necklace. In contrast, Kilmonger chooses the Heavy, Thick, Flashy Gold Necklace as a symbol of his power and triumph. Because, as a black kid from poverty, he still associates shine and bling with worthiness and prosperity.
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