Spoiler.
Killmonger is probably the best villain in the MCU films so far (Kilgrave is #1 if you add in the TV shows), only other villain that compares from the movies is probably Loki. Obviously his methods are wrong, but you know at least to an extent he's right idealogically. He just took it to the extreme.
The way the movie plays with the ideas Wakanda's isolationism and traditionalism vs. modernism is very interesting. It makes the movie about something other than a superhero who has to stop a bad guy from doing a bad thing. There's legitimate conflict other than "Black Panther is good and Killmonger is bad." I don't think a Marvel movie has done this well with the themes beyond the superhero plot since Winter Soldier (Though I do like how Guardians Vol. 2 tackled the ideas of both growing up and family).
The big issue that prevents it from being my No. 1 Marvel movie with a bullet (it's definitely up there, not sure it's as good as the aforementioned Winter Soldier is that the escalation of the conflict felt rushed. Lines were drawn so early into Killmonger's reign that everything felt it was happening way too quickly when they started fighting. Like it makes sense that W'Kabi would side with Killmonger but he basically bought into everything right away? That was my main gripe.
Which, I get it. The studio wants the big action setpiece, you can't make the movie longer, and you don't want to cut out all the (excellent) world building early on in the movie. Still, it sticks out.
This is maybe the best-cast Marvel movie yet, which is saying quite a lot. Michael B. Jordan is getting most of the hype here which makes sense, because he's really excellent in everything he's ever in. Chadwick Boseman is also great as a cool, collected character. Letitia Wright was the biggest standout for me. She's really good. I spent the entire movie trying to figure out what I've seen her in until I finally googled her during the credits (She's in the "Black Museum" episode of Black Mirror and she's great in that too). It's nice to see Danai Gurira on the big screen. I like her a lot but don't want to have to watch trash-ass Walking Dead to see her. Winston Duke is another standout, since he's been in so little before this and proceeded to do a great job as f***ing MAN-APE.
Ludwig Goransson's score is pretty damn incredible. He did great work in Creed and I hope he gets some awards hype for this, because it's awesome. Kendrick Lamar's soundtrack for this is really good too and I was hoping it could get used more in the context of the film, but that's a hard balance to find especially when you've got a killer score. But I definitely recommend checking it out. Kendrick did a great job curating it and working with known commodities, rising American artists and working with African artists as well.
This has to cement Coogler as one of the best blockbuster filmmakers working since this and Creed are just phenomenal (I will say that I thought he showed more flair with the camera in Creed, though this movie does have some really pretty-looking scenes as well). I do hope he doesn't go completely into blockbuster territory though and mixes it up with more subdued films like Fruitvale Station as well
The way the movie plays with the ideas Wakanda's isolationism and traditionalism vs. modernism is very interesting. It makes the movie about something other than a superhero who has to stop a bad guy from doing a bad thing. There's legitimate conflict other than "Black Panther is good and Killmonger is bad." I don't think a Marvel movie has done this well with the themes beyond the superhero plot since Winter Soldier (Though I do like how Guardians Vol. 2 tackled the ideas of both growing up and family).
The big issue that prevents it from being my No. 1 Marvel movie with a bullet (it's definitely up there, not sure it's as good as the aforementioned Winter Soldier is that the escalation of the conflict felt rushed. Lines were drawn so early into Killmonger's reign that everything felt it was happening way too quickly when they started fighting. Like it makes sense that W'Kabi would side with Killmonger but he basically bought into everything right away? That was my main gripe.
Which, I get it. The studio wants the big action setpiece, you can't make the movie longer, and you don't want to cut out all the (excellent) world building early on in the movie. Still, it sticks out.
This is maybe the best-cast Marvel movie yet, which is saying quite a lot. Michael B. Jordan is getting most of the hype here which makes sense, because he's really excellent in everything he's ever in. Chadwick Boseman is also great as a cool, collected character. Letitia Wright was the biggest standout for me. She's really good. I spent the entire movie trying to figure out what I've seen her in until I finally googled her during the credits (She's in the "Black Museum" episode of Black Mirror and she's great in that too). It's nice to see Danai Gurira on the big screen. I like her a lot but don't want to have to watch trash-ass Walking Dead to see her. Winston Duke is another standout, since he's been in so little before this and proceeded to do a great job as f***ing MAN-APE.
Ludwig Goransson's score is pretty damn incredible. He did great work in Creed and I hope he gets some awards hype for this, because it's awesome. Kendrick Lamar's soundtrack for this is really good too and I was hoping it could get used more in the context of the film, but that's a hard balance to find especially when you've got a killer score. But I definitely recommend checking it out. Kendrick did a great job curating it and working with known commodities, rising American artists and working with African artists as well.
This has to cement Coogler as one of the best blockbuster filmmakers working since this and Creed are just phenomenal (I will say that I thought he showed more flair with the camera in Creed, though this movie does have some really pretty-looking scenes as well). I do hope he doesn't go completely into blockbuster territory though and mixes it up with more subdued films like Fruitvale Station as well
