The 18th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther is a quintessential superhero movie — CGI, valiant battles, heroes and villains both stricken by moral ambivalence — everything you could hope for.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created a new world in 1966. As it radiates off the pages of Marvel Comics, that world surely does look like an enclosure, albeit a technologically self-sufficient one, surrounded by the mountains of a fictional African country.

Its hawkish, yet benevolent stance toward outsiders is as strong as the land’s most prized possession: the metal vibranium. You’d probably miss this country even if you walked right past it, but you’ve surely heard of its name: Wakanda.

Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) from a screenplay written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, portrays Wakanda as seen through the eyes of its king, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman).

T’Challa is Wakanda’s new king and his recently departed father, T’Chaka, bequeathed him the official title of Black Panther.

In the movie, T’Challa comes home to assume a role he’s not quite sure of yet. Aided by his tech-genius little sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), his stealthy general Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the warrior Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), T’Challa faces the bad guy, tries to protect Wakanda from villains, and, you know, acts like a superhero.

The movie draws its strengths from the conventions it’s willing to buck. First of all, Black Panther is a cultural achievement. Although it’s not the first movie to portray a black superhero (like Wesley Snipes’ Blade and Luke Cage), Black Panther celebrates the pulse running through Africa with a knowing credo: One of the countries on the continent is not about to be taken — Wakanda is their home and only theirs.

Of course, Wakanda is fictional, but it is good to see a superhero movie that features an Africa-like land and the predicaments its inhabitants face that black people might relate to. But Black Panther’s exclusivity feels inviting, celebratory. As Jamil Smith writes in TIME, “Hollywood has never produced a blockbuster this splendidly black.”

As a superhero blockbuster, Black Panther is driven by the strengths of its primarily black ensemble cast and the savvy vision of its black director.

Coogler lends authenticity to this film, not only through the gorgeous colors and the Afro-futuristic getup of Wakanda, but also in the interiority of Wakanda that the 31-year-old director handles so masterfully. To keep vibranium from the hands of outside parties, Wakanda seals its gates. Glaring is the typical expression bestowed on an outsider.

The same kind of interiority is evident in the main villain, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who comes to Wakanda with wrathful vengeance. The cause? Father-son dynamics.

This backstory then blooms into another thematic issue that the movie tackles well: If the Africans in Wakanda are all good, what about the others, the diaspora? Is blood thicker than water?

T’Challa is also a conflicted man. He begins to notice the cracks his father and forefathers missed when they built Wakanda. Boseman portrays the hero with a measured temperament, and it’s not hard to buy into the conflicts of his conscience.

Wright’s Shuri is a wonder and so is Gurira’s Okoye, whose loyalty is at once shaken. Nyong’o’s Nakia holds her own in the movie — in one scene, she chides T’Challa for interfering in her mission.

All in all, Black Panther is a joy to watch. It’s fun, thrilling and the many turns the movie takes to reach its climax is stunning and shrewdly produced. But the most remarkable thing about Black Panther is its idea of home: Home is where no one is lost; home is where family is; Wakanda is home. Black Panther hits home.

— Photos courtesy of Disney/Marvel Studios

_________________________________

BLACK PANTHER

(Disney/Marvel Studios, 134 minutes)

Director: Ryan Coogler

Writer: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole

Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Michael B. Jordan, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya

Popular

PDI-P will likely be part of opposition: Ganjar

Indonesia one step from Olympics after beating South Korea

Bahlil leads task force to boost sugar, bioethanol production in Papua