Loved it. I saw it for a second time this morning.The production design, in general, is superb. I like that the story is simple and personal while being about the fate of a nation. I like that the fights had structure. It wasn’t just fighting to watch fighting. There were twists and turns and character moments.
I liked that they got pretty much almost all of the exposition out of the way in a couple of minutes of prologue, and then just let the world and characters exist. And the world feels true. It feels like these characters live here. These are their lives.
I like that we can finally get a story that happens somewhere else in the world and not feel compelled to jump through flaming hoops to get a white American there to see it through their eyes. This story is about Wakandans. America factors in, and is important for the underlying message, but is not the central hub of the story. There are so many reasons I like this movie.
I think this will be so wildly popular with people of color because Black Panther / King T’Challa is like they put the DNA of Batman, Tony Stark, and Barack Obama is a super blender. And don’t even get me started on the women! Oh, man, these women! Fully drawn characters with agency and skills. Not a fucking damsel among them. And pardon my male gaze for a second, hot as the surface of the sun.
