Black Panther (Spoiler Free Review)

Once again I have decided to review a movie that I've watched in theatres, so maybe I'm breaking my rule of reviewing these...we'll see. This review will essentially be spoiler free, but please be advised that little plot details may be mentioned in order to explain a point. If you don't wish to know even the littlest things about the movie, I would recommend returning after you've seen it. Otherwise, you should be good to continue reading.

marvel.com

What It's About:

T'Challa, son of recently deceased king T'Chaka is now the heir to the throne of Wakanda. After being accepted by the tribes he will then be crowned king and gain the powers of the Black Panther - a secret to those outside of Wakanda. Yet this African nation has a much bigger secret, vibranium. Built on a mountain of the strongest metal in the world, vibranium powers their cities, weapons, technology and more - but on the surface, Wakanda is an impoverished country only known for farming. Their only struggle here is hiding this invaluable treasure from the rest of the world. But what T'Challa did not count on is that he must now atone for the mistakes of  the past kings - the fate of his entire country depends on it.

Why You'll Love It:

• The females in this movie rule - they completely and totally kick butt, and it is refreshing.
• The visuals are stunning, from the scenery of the mountains and plains of Wakanda to the technologically advanced cities.
• The use of African accents are wonderful, as is the addition of the isiXhosa language (I have no idea if the accents or language are accurate, but I'm so glad they included them).
• Even if you generally aren't a fan of Marvel movies or African culture, you can still really enjoy this movie. Although these are still elements of the film, it doesn't feel overdone or like these strengths and struggles are limited to Wakanda alone.
• It breaks stereotypes. The leader of the guards is female, as is the technology genius (she's an even more innovative mind than Tony Stark, and a hell of a lot less foolishly reckless), and the African country of Wakanda is brilliant in ways the rest of the world can't even imagine.
• It still has the classic humour the Marvel films are known for, but a little more realistic and grounded in pop culture references.
• Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman. Enough said.
• Rhinos.

Why You Might Want To Skip It:

• If you have a hard time understanding certain accents (especially African-based ones) you might find some parts of the movie tricky to make sense of.
• If you are expecting a really standard Marvel movie, this diverges a bit from the regular formula, however it does still follow some of the same pattern.
• On the reverse side, if you hate everything about Marvel movies, or really just don't care about superheroes at all, this probably won't completely cause you to change your mind.
• There are several times where creative filming decisions are a bit tough to watch in the theatre. They look really cool, and are overall great, but in such a large scale can be a bit too fast and blurry or make you feel a bit ill if you have problems with vertigo. I would recommend skipping watching this one in theatres and waiting until you can view it on a smaller screen.

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This is one of my favourite Marvel movies so far. Are you interested in seeing this one? If you have watched it, how do you think it compares to the other Marvel films?