The second to last movie of phase three in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) before the long awaited Infinity War, Black Panther”, was released on February 16th. After being rated fairly well and doing very well in the box office as well, I feel as though it is time to review this movie which some have deemed the “best movie in the MCU”.

*Potential Spoilers Ahead*

Plot

Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Prince T’Challa returns home to Wakanda and is crowned king. In the beginning of the film, we learn the backstory of Wakanda, which was a place of war for 5 African tribes over a meteorite containing vibranium (the same metal used to create Captain America’s shield). During the war, someone ingests a herb that has been affected by the vibranium that grants them superhuman powers and they become the first “Black Panther”, a mantle that has been passed down for generations.The Wakandan’s used the vibranium to develop advanced technology and hide themselves and also allows them to appear as a third world country to the outside world, so no one knows about this meteorite or the vibranium.

In other flashbacks, we learn about a storyline involving T’Challa’s father, T’Chaka, and his brother. His brother was supplying firearms to Klaue and was killed when he attacked a man T’Chaka sent to spy on him. It is later revealed that one kid, from a group of them playing outside, finds the body of the dead brother and this is actually the dead brother’s son. From here, he seeks revenge and takes on the mantle of Killmonger.

Killmonger and Klaue team up and steal an artifact from a museum that contains vibranium. From here, Kalue is captured by Agent Ross and tells him about the vibranium in Wakanda. Killmonger breaks Klaue out and later kills Klaue and travels to Wakanda to fight T’Challa for the throne. Killmonger beats T’Challa and claims the throne and it is believed that T’Challa is dead but he resurfaces and ratakes the mantle of the Black Panther to stop Killmonger. In a fight between Killmonger’s forces and T’Challa’s supporters, T’Challa’s takes on Killmonger, both wearing Black Panther suits. Eventually T’Challa stabs Killmonger and he dies. In the end, T’Challa is named king again and he decides that rather than hide the vibranium that Wakanda has, it’s better to let the world know they have it and let then use it, exposing the world to the truth about Wakanda.

Review

In my opinion, this movie further demonstrates what is wrong with politics and bias as many people “love” the movie simply based off of the predominantly black cast, which is a stupid reason to like the movie. It also demonstrates why these standalone films are a bit of a waste as these characters introductions like T’Challa’s girlfriend, his sister, and the personal guard Danai Gurira played are just useless side characters that we likely won’t see again and if we do, it won’t be for long. While I think it was a good movie, it honestly felt like a rinse and repeat version of Thor: Ragnarok with different characters and slightly different circumstances, which isn’t very creative. The plot seemed kinda dry but that is to be expected since there was a lot of explanation in this film.