Chadwick Forever!
'Black Panther' which came out in 2018 proved to be a cultural revolution for black people all around the world. It was the first, black comic-book character to be leading his own movie along with an almost all-black cast. And with the director of Ryan Coogler’s caliber who had previously directed films like 'Creed' and 'Fruitvale Station' on board, audiences knew that this is gonna be something special. Due to the untimely passing of the great Chadwick Boseman, I had an urge to rewatch this instant classic and find out what made it one of the most impactful and popular films of all time.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
The film opens in the city of Oakland. A flashback scene where we meet king T'chaka (T'challa's father) who is there to confront his brother, Prince N'Jobu on account of betraying the city of Wakanda by unsolicited dealing of Vibranium, the fictional super metal only found there.
The film then jumps back to the present day. After the events of 'Captain America: Civil War' which resulted in his father’s death, T’challa returns back to his kingdom of Wakanda, a utopian marvel of tradition and technology hidden in plain sight from the rest of the world. He is crowned king after a grueling battle on Challenge day, with the fearsome M’baku of the Jabari tribe, whom T’challa barely manages to overcome. However, his victory is short-lived as the consequence of his father’s actions comes back to haunt him in the form of N’jaddaka otherwise referred to as Erik Killmonger. He is back with a vengeance after being abandoned by King T’chaka who killed his father, N’Jobu, and having to fend for himself in the brutal outside world where black Americans were wrongfully being oppressed and marginalized. He has trained his life and has learned how to kill and overthrow governments. And now his sole purpose in life is to assume his rightful place as Wakanda’s King. He challenges T’challa and manages to beat him to an inch of his life.
Having claimed the throne, his plan is to militarize all the Africans around the world in order to liberate them from the innately racist and oppressive society. He will provide them with high tech weapons and Wakandan resources, so that they will be able to defeat any and all resistance. However, it turns out that T’challa, who barely survived, confronts his ancestors in the ancestral plane about their practices, and comes back to challenge Killmonger one last time. They engage in an all-out battle which turns Wakandans against one another. Those loyal to T’challa vs those loyal to the throne. At the end, T’challa comes out victorious. But, with his last breath, Killmonger's ideology wins over the isolationist mentality Wakanda had subscribed to, till this point.
Being influenced by Killmonger’s earnest mission, T’challa decides to deploy his immense wealth and resources, not to wage war, but a peaceful alternative of social outreach which will help uplift the condition of black people all around the world but in a more inclusive way.
He delivers a rousing speech at the UN summit urging the world leaders to band together as a tribe in order to overcome this obstacle of racial depravity. And as T’challa reveals Wakanda’s truth, the film comes to an end.
THEMES OF THE STORY
The film seems straightforward on the surface level but is filled with subtext.
They say the greatest villains are the ones who make the audiences believe, along with themselves, that they are doing the right thing. From the offset, Killmonger is portrayed sympathetically, so far as confusing the audience on whom to root for. His methods, though extreme, are justifiable in a sense and his actions are understandable by us. The motivation behind those actions is something which any of us can get behind, if only he were not so authoritarian in his approach. His backstory is tragic, from his father being killed by his own people to watching the people of his own race being marginalized and taken advantage of for years and back. He dedicates his life in creating the best version of himself and then plans his assault on the throne of Wakanda.
T’challa however, carries the isolationist approach followed by his ancestors.
Nakia (his ex), wants to start refugee programs and social outreach campaigns for the African people suffering around the globe with their country’s infinite resources, but he shuts her down. Another one of his confidants proposes the idea of an aggressive take over by Wakanda and waging war on other nations. T’challa is of the mind to not interfere and is only concerned for his people and his country’s well being.
The contrast between the villain and the hero is a stark parallel drawn by the director, Ryan Coogler, with the civil rights movement in America. The movement in the early ’60s saw the rise of youth leaders like Martin Luther King who believed in peaceful protest and civil disobedience. And on the other end of the spectrum, you had leaders like Malcolm X who preached aggression and fighting back against the oppressive regime, even violent actions if necessary. This leads into the final battle between the hero and the villain which is not only a fight for the throne but a clash of conflicting ideologies in the foil of comic book characters.
This contrast in beliefs is also visible in their costumes. In Shuri’s lab, while examining the gold suit, T’challa remarks how it is too loud and stands out, while the goal is to not be noticed. So he opts for a suit which is much more covert and silent in its approach. While Killmonger embraces the golden suit because he wants to stand out and project his superiority to the world.
The last fight scene between the two super-powered beings takes place in a literal underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to the mid-19th century and used by enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states and Canada. Further illustrating the cultural weight and significance in their final showdown.
After the fight is over, in his final moments Killmonger gets to witness the sunset in Wakanda, that his father boasted of when Erik visited him in the ancestral plane. He exclaims that it in fact is as beautiful as he claimed it to be. This is a mark of him being accepted into their world by the king, something his dad said would never happen. It also harkens back to the line when Killmonger assumed the throne and announced that the sun will never set on the Wakandan empire. The image of the setting sun along with Killmonger’s death lets us know that his reign was never meant to be and has in fact come to an end. Perfectly tying up his whole arc.
His last words to T’challa as a response to his mercy were so powerful. “Bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage.” The struggles of African Americans in the past with the slave trade and the modern age racism that continues to persist in society; explained in just a few simple words.
Though Killmonger’s methods were wrong, his concern was very legitimate and T’challa realizes that he can no longer stay silent while the rest of the world burns. He comes up with a more peaceful solution to the problem, integrating both Nakia’s and Erik’s hopes and dreams into his new initiative. He buys off several buildings in the projects where Erik grew up in, to transform them into a social outreach center. That is why the last shot of the film was purposefully changed by the director, where a kid who resembles young Erik asks T’challa, who are you? He returns a hopeful smile to the kid, almost saying that he won’t allow the society to create another Killmonger.
AESTHETICS AND ARCHITECTURE
The film’s aesthetic and architecture is not a throw-away aspect but is a pretty important and detailed one. The city of Wakanda is a bustling metropolitan marvel with high rise buildings and unimaginable technological advancements, but at the same time has the traditional African designs like thatch roofs and hanging gardens integrated into it. The whole city is a very interesting blend of modern and traditional. It perfectly captures the idea of an African community that was blessed with superior technology when compared to the rest of the world and yet, is still out of touch from everyone else.
This particular design philosophy is called Afrofuturism, which explores the intersection of African culture with modern advancements. Also visible in the many traditional outfits worn by the people of Wakanda. On the challenge day, we get to witness the 5 tribes that form the governing body of Wakanda. All 5 of them follow a distinct style when it comes to their outfits and ornaments. T’challa himself wears a traditional and royal African garb but has found a way to integrate technology into it. The shoes he wears are completely automated, which basically means they appear out of thin air with the help of magic called ‘science’. His neckpiece which looks like a ceremonial necklace houses his black panther suit which forms around his body whenever he thinks about putting it on. There are several more examples of how they have managed to keep the African culture intact, even by introducing hyper advancements.
MUSIC AND SCORE
The music of the film is pretty remarkable as well, a rare anomaly for any other MCU film. The thumping bass of the soundtrack, comprising of music from great artists like The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, etc. is sure to be on any hip hop fan’s playlist. At the same time, the score is also unique and memorable. The traditional African drums along with a heroic theme created by the orchestra give the film its own personality.
The music brilliantly heightens the emotions of a scene to a great extent. In the bar fight sequence when Okoye is taking on two goons on her own (which is all one-shot by the way) is intensified with the war chant of African female warriors playing in the background, displaying Okoye’s skill as an expert combatant. Along the same lines, when T’challa returns home and is crowned king, the score swells up into a triumphant symphony of Trombones and Trumpets with the added flavor of a traditional African percussion instrument. But when Killmonger takes his place after supposedly defeating him, the music changes into a very low and bass-heavy hip hop beat, which signifies the shift in power.
CHARACTERS AND PERFORMANCES
Having a stellar cast like this one almost guarantees that the film is not gonna disappoint. Handing down the black panther role to someone who would do it justice not only in terms of acting chops but also embodying the true essence of the character and what it means to millions of people was also very important. The makers struck a goldmine with Chadwick Boseman. When he enters a scene, you get to feel the presence of a King by his regalness, he is not just acting, he is being. He carries himself with a certain panache which is very hard to imitate. With his performance, Boseman brought a certain effortlessness to the role, as if the shoes were tailored around his feet. All the qualities that are expected of a character like Black panther, honesty, fairness, nobility, strength, and most importantly heroism was perfectly depicted by Chadwick. In real life as well he faultlessly imbibed all the qualities of his on-screen and was a role model to his millions of fans.
Danai Gurira plays the fierce Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje, the royal guard of Wakanda. Just by looking at her, you would know that she means business. A valuable part of T’challa’s life and willing to protect her king, come what may. Their relationship that could’ve easily been romanticized but wasn’t, is an admirable feat for the film, further enhanced by Danai's performance.
Letitia Wright plays the fun-loving and high spirited Shuri, T’challa’s sister. Her tongue in cheek responses to her brother’s stoic nature provided the film with some much-needed levity. Her scenes were some of the most memorable ones for me as they had a charming quality about them.
Lupita Nyong'o, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Winston Duke, and Angela Basset are all an integral part of the story and their performances lend the characters to be as enjoyable as they are.
However, the fan-favorite performance from when the movie came out in 2018 was Michale B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger. His character has an undying purpose in life which he has to achieve no matter what, and that grit and determination is visible just through Jordan’s eyes, no less his performance. Having previously worked with the director, Ryan Coogler his equation with him is almost perfectly in tune, as both of them together manage to bring out the nuances in a complex character like this. In many firsts, this character is also one of the few memorable and actually good villains that the MCU has produced till date. His revolutionist and extremist personality was the perfect antithesis to Chadwick Boseman’s T’challa and the result was an extremely compelling antagonist.
The only gripe I have with the film is that; by the end, you get the feeling that the makers went overboard with the CGI and some of the effects looked unfinished. The fight between T’challa and Killmonger is entirely computer-generated which wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t this noticeable. This was caused by the accelerated production cycle to meet the release date. The studio handling the effects was working in overdrive and as a result, they delivered a rushed and unfinished product.
Apart from this, I don’t see any major faults in the film. The storytelling, the characterizations, and the world-building are all top-notch. Looking back at it, especially considering what transpired recently, the fan inside me wishes and hoped to have gotten even more scenes with Chadwick’s Black Panther. He has had 4 appearances since he got cast as the character, but I just couldn't get enough of seeing him in the Black Panther costume.
CLOSING THOUGHTS AND GOODBYES
Black Panther was culturally a very important film when it came out and still continues to be one in 2020. With the Black Lives Matter movement going ahead with full steam, the Black Panther and by proxy Chadwick Boseman, have become a symbol of hope for many people of color across the world. After his recent passing, I got to see a video where fans of the movie described just how much it meant to them that Chadwick played their favorite character and gave them such an honest portrayal. The impact his performance had on so many people’s lives is indescribable in words. It was something which transcended the medium and connected with them on a more human level. While the movie had some flaws and by no means was a perfect film, it still managed to capture people’s hearts, which is what storytelling is all about at the end of the day.
Throughout his career, he received an immense outpour of love from the audience and for many, he will forever remain the only Black Panther. Rest in Power hero, hope to see you in the ancestral plane someday.
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