Movies

Black Panther

The Afrofuturism the is both legitimately and figuratively woven into the background culture of Wakanda is outstanding. Their cloaks are shields. The beads are communicators. There is just an overwhelming amount of outstanding design and thought that you can easily miss how smartly it was done

Garrett

Apr 3, 2026 — 3 min read

Synopsis

With T'Challa becoming King of Wakanda after the death of his father in Captain America Civil War, he must protect his throne and his country's way of life when a mysterious challenger appears challenging the throne.

Review

I think this is a wonderful movie, but there are some things that I cannot stand, and they are extremely consistent in the movie. Let us start with the things that really upset me. As I have said in Without Remorse and Highest 2 Lowest, Michael B. Jordan is mostly an entitled person who thinks he is owed something. He was great in Sinners, but this movie is the main proof of that entitlement that he brings to most of his movies. He shows up, says he is owed, and he deserves this because something bad happened to him. While what happened was absolutely terrible, he dies on a hill thinking he can and should change something to right the world in his way. This is sense of being owed is compounded when T'Challa's best friend decides that to side with Jordan's character.

There are some jokes that also just seem really dumb. There is a scene where a rhino just stops charging at full speed and within a couple seconds because the right person stepped in the way. Add that to the jokes that were funny in 2000 like "what are those?!!" Maybe it is just lost on me, but it really felt like it was dumbed down.

With that out of the way, we can finally talk about Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, and Winston Duke just making play things of this movie. They were outstanding and really brought out their best performance. I believed what they believed. I felt what they felt. M'Baku is my favorite character in this. Playing the leader that think through the steps of what needs to be done, even if he doesn't like it. Loved it.

The fight scenes and technology are really cool. The Afrofuturism the is both legitimately and figuratively woven into the background culture of Wakanda is outstanding. Their cloaks are shields. The beads are communicators. There is just an overwhelming amount of outstanding design and thought that you can easily miss how smartly it was done, especially during the fight scenes. It just flows and blends in perfectly.

My Rating

I enjoy this movie. It is fun to watch, the pacing is really good, and the story makes sense from a story arch perspective. No issues with that. I have issues with the thinness of some of the characters that are supposed to be pretty big villains. Killmonger is a beast, I mean look at the costume design for his armor, and Jordan did a fantastic job of just proving that, but his performance/the writing just killed the character for me. The jokes only land once and then it because an eye rolling movie. It is just a constant back and forth. So I am giving it a 7.

Parental Rating

This is a movie about family doing the right thing. A movie with a lot of social references that my parents wouldn't get. However, I know my dad did enjoy watching it because the language was limited for the most part. My mom isn't really into these movies, but the family element might have her give it a try if a grandkid asked. I am going to say approved by both, even though I don't think they would watch it on their own.