Director: Ryan Coogler
Notable Cast: Chadwick
Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman,
Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker,
Andy Serkis
As the Marvel machine continues to march on, there were
plenty of questions to whether a) it could survive a saturation of the market
as superhero films became blockbuster tentpoles in damn near every quarter and
dominate the summer release schedule and b) whether the continuation of these
entries could maintain the high quality of mainstream appeal. As the hype
around Black Panther continued to
skyrocket in the weeks leading to its release, it would seem that the answers
to both of these questions would be answered. Not only is Black Panther one of the biggest releases of Marvel’s slate
according to box office figures (with a February release and not a blockbuster
summer release date nonetheless), but it’s one of their highest rated films
from both fans and critics. The film is bold by Marvel standards, adapting the
formula of another massive franchise to help differentiate itself from the
normal Marvel machine, and its balance between action/comic book mainstream
appeal and its social/political commentary is damn near perfect. Not only is Black Panther a film to dismiss the
initial questions posed, but it’s handedly one of Marvel’s best.