My 10 Thoughts on Black Panther… A Month and a Half Later

Spoiler alert: Honestly, if you haven’t seen it at this point, it’s your fault.

1. The plot is good, but it’s not THAT groundbreaking– Black Panther was good for many reasons, but personally, I didn’t find the plot to be that different than most hero movies… Or most Disney-affiliated movies for that matter. For example, did anyone notice the multiple similarities in this story to the Lion King? 1) A prince who has to take over the kingdom in the wake of his father’s death, 2) the prince communicates with the dead father and seeks his advice, 3) a ruthless usurper takes over the throne (temporarily) 4) In times of trouble, the kingdom leans on it’s female warriors/lionesses 5) The prince returns to challenge for the throne… You get the point.
2. T’Challa talks a lot like Nelson Mandela– Idk if it’s just me, but T’Challa’s accent, his mannerisms & vocal inflections in this movie, especially toward the end, reminded me of Mandela. Who knows, maybe it was intentional and Chadwick Boseman molded his character off of Mandela. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, Mandela was a badass.
3. Killmonger was great… most of the time– Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger character has probably been one of the most talked-about aspects of Black Panther since the movie premiered. I thought he was a menacing character who stole the show in nearly every scene he was in. My only issue with him is that in certain parts in the film, he sounds excessively forced and cartoon villain-like. A lot of his dialogue later in the film sounded a bit too scripted, too rehearsed, too video game boss-ish. I also thought his last words were a bit corny. “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships. Because they knew death was better than bondage” that sounds like something you’d say at Def Poetry Jam. Sometimes, with dialogue, I think less is more. I liked when he just talked like a regular dude. His casual “What’s up?” response to T’Challa’s return, his sneering “Hey Auntie” to Angela Basset’s Ramonda and his dismissive “That challenge shit is over” were gold to me, mainly because I’ve never seen movie heroes/villan who talked like me and the people I grew up with.
4. Letita Wright/Shuri is great- The younger sister of T’Challa is one of my favorite characters. She’s a genius whose tech savvy would put Tony Stark to shame, she’s confident, and she’s a bit of a smartass. She’s one of the many women that make Wakanda what it is. I’m looking forward to seeing not only what they do with Shuri’s character in the films to come but also where Wright will go in her career
5. Okoye/Danai Guirra is my hero- I loved Okoye’s character the first time I saw the movie, so the 2nd time I watched it, I paid even closer attention to her. Her body language; her walk, her facial expressions all just have a natural confidence and a distinctive “I could whoop anybody in this room’s ass” feeling to them. But what makes her different than some other habitual ass-whoopers is that she’s principled, honorable and dedicated to the greater good, not her own personal gain.
6. Somebody’s gonna turn on T’Challa– I feel like eventually there will be some internal conflict in Wakanda, far beyond what we saw in this movie, I think either Shuri or Lupita Nyngo’s Nakia will turn on T’Challa. Think about it, if Shuri wanted to take over Wakanda, it’s possible, she does manage all of the technology. and who’s to say that she’s not jealous of T’Challa? Or think about the fact that Nakia is a spy with foreign connections. When T’Chaka told T’Challa something to the effect of “It’s hard for a good man to be king”, I thought that was foreshadowing. I guess we’ll see.
7. It was great Visually– This was one of the most well shot movies I’ve ever seen. The colors and the symbolism behind them, the way that the film complimented all of the shades of brown skin.  One of my favorite scenes cimematically was Killmonger’s ascent to the throne while the room is shown to be upside down as he walks in. Little things like that create scenes that I won’t forget.
8. Is Lil’ dude at the end Killmonger Jr?– Is the kid who is playing basketball in Oakland at the end of the movie Killmonger’s son? You know, the one who asks T’Challa, “Who are you?” right before the ending credits hit. I thought it was interesting how the camera extensively focused on this particular kid during that ending scene. And he happened to have hairstyle similar to the braids/fade situation that Killmonger had in the movie. It could be nothing, but I guess we’ll see in the sequels to come.
9. Wakanda was kinda f***ed up– I had to give this some thought after the movie but, you mean to tell me that they had all of that technology and just sat and chilled while slavery and a bunch of other atrocities were happening? Yes, I know it’s just a movie and Wakanda is fictional, but come on. Y’ALL HAD VIBRAINIUM BUT COULDN’T STOP THE SLAVE TRADE? To me that’s the historical equivalent of letting a friend get jumped.
10. The main reason why I loved this movie– Despite my critiques of the film, when I watched Black Panther, I just felt really happy. When I saw Lupita, Angela Basset, Forest Whitaker and other familiar faces pop up on-screen, I felt proud as if these people were my distant relatives. Is Black Panther one of my favorite movies of all time? No. But I’ll always remember how I felt when I first saw it and how happy it made people (especially kids), and what it meant to see Black people represented in such a beautiful way, and to me that’s much more important.