Amph Black Panther (Wakanda Forever)

Nor did Wrinkle. Nor will Pacific Rim 2. RP1 will be well clear of BP. I don't think the authors problem is racism, so much as stupidity.

 

That Forbes malarky is just a dumb article on ALL counts.

 

This is fun:
https://typewakanda.com/#

 

@Sarge - I was actually waiting for a cosplayer to do that.

 

Funny, I did just get "Pink Panther vs. Black Panther" going in my head the other day, but never bothered to go Google it.

 

My favorite part is the pack of Marlboro's in the boot.

 

Marlboro Blacks, no less.

 

Okay we all love Black Panther folks but that's not reason to keep crank calling the sleepy town of Wauconda, Illinois

Admittedly not much of a superhero film buff, Homola said she was taken aback by the request for vibranium and another unusual phone call she received.

"Someone called and asked how we pronounced the village name and when I told him, he began yelling, 'Wakanda forever!' which I am guessing is from the film," Homola said.

 

You think POC will hold one and two?

 

I think it's actually pretty likely that BP will still be #1 domestically after both movies have completed their theatrical runs. Worldwide is another conversation but it will be a challenge for IW to duplicate BP's legs and I don't think it's opening week will give it enough of a lead to edge out BP stateside in the long run.

 

Considering the 3rd act of Infinity War takes place in Wakanda, it's possible for Infinity War to break that record. Depending on the outcome though, tough to say if both films will come close to Black Panther's domestic gross.

BTW, I mentioned this in the cute thread but a lovely side-effect of Black Panther's popularity is that many shelter black cats and kittens are being adopted as a result of the film. Awwww....

 

Yeah, I agree that Infinity War won't catch Black Panther at the North American box office run because of the reasons mentioned above but also because there will be some strong competition in Deadpool and Solo for box office dollars; not to mention the amount of screens it will take about from Infinity War. However, Infinity War will probably earn more in its opening weekend that Black Panther.

 

Pretty much that, bigger opening weekend for IW but it won't get past Black Panther in North America considering the other big blockbustering that follows a few weeks later. But I do think IW will pass the original Avengers film in NA. And IW internationally will probably pass BP. But I do expect to see a few more ads near the release date that focus on the Black Panther connection.

Oddly, I first thought of BP before it came out as a stepping stone (no pun intended cuz, y'know Infinity Stone) to setting up Infinity War for the big ground game battle but now people can ride the MCU wave from BP into IW. Basically BP being huge adds more hype to IW, which was almost impossible cuz IW already had years of hype so it's hype x10000. Also you know at some point we'll be getting a good ole Wankanda Forever yell.... hopefully it's not Black Panther's last words before Thanos crushes his skull or something, yikes!

 

So there are a lot of ways to go about this. I've tried a few of them abortively. So though this by a good margin less than I wanted to say, I'm going to try a fragmented approach first. Rather than grasp everything, let me just start by talking about what the film avoided. Why it wasn't unbearable.

The most objectionable thing about this character concept for me, by far, is the pretty obvious implication of the premise. There were some truly horrific crimes committed in international dealings with Africa. Slavery, colonization. The human cost is mind-boggling, and it was won on the back of relatively narrow technological advantages (relative, anyway, to the capabilities we now possess). Even looking at it from solely form a "self-interest" point of view, they very likely would have done something at some point. For instance, Israeli dabbles cynically in the Syrian conflict, just because it's so near they can't not. So it quickly becomes pretty horrific to imagine that there was this kingdom with hovercraft and spaceships and sonic cannons that chose not to confront invaders that some times used only a half dozen Maxim guns. Likewise, one would have to imagine looking askance at a tribe of "secret" hyper-advanced Native Americans that felt uncompelled to have any role in the multiple genocides and forced relocations that took place in North America. Or again a full secret province of German Jews that were fully empowered to stop Hitler but never bothered.

It was really smart, then, to make this issue the centerpiece of the film. Though, yes, Michael B Jordan elaborates on some of the critique, I think that's both less important and less interesting. The angriest we ever see T'Challa is actually discussing this issue. One appreciates him shaking with rage in the ancestral plain. For once, a Marvel film manages a meta-textual moment that enhances rather than destroys the stakes of the film. As he screams "YOU WERE WRONG" at his father, you could just as easily imagine Coogler addressing the character's creators about the unpleasantly weird dimensions of what was developed.

The second major issue is basically that the MCU style of "characters" is disgusting. I don't mean their constant winking to the fourth wall. I mean that even if you take the characters more seriously than they take themselves, they are almost to a man/woman completely horrible as individuals. Everyone is absurdly hyper-competent. Most leads interact with the world by way of dismissive or demeaning sort of "humor" that turns on everyone else's relative to stupidity or lack of worth. No one really changes and the films hardly suggest they need to. More often, the audience is just told they've learned some arbitrary lesson, even though it's not quite clear how and the same personality shows up to the next outing. Over the years it's generated a pretty deep, visceral dislike in me that I would have to overcome even if I wasn't concerned with the repetitive plots, lack of character (usually villain) motivations, over-reliance on set-piece action scenes, and often tremendous logical gaps in the story progression. But Panther avoided that.

T'Challa is a hero, but is also specifically noted as an inferior warrior to several other characters in the film. He is hesitant in some personal interactions and sometimes just flatly misjudges situations. Rather than a smarmy, libertarian vision of man as an island, each of the characters are deeply rooted in a network of others. His mother plays an active political role. He needs his sister of gadgets and logistical support. Shuri is smart but also over-eager. We see her sarcastic but also genuinely frightened, lashing out with wounded pride, and showing equanimity and encouragement to strangers. Including these elements like weaknesses, interdependencies, and relationships shouldn't be that ground-breaking. It is how human beings actually exist on Earth, not in the Rogue One Tarkin like uncanny valley of horrid psychic/emotional versimilitude that is the usual MCU output. But here it's a breath of fresh air. It allows you permission to actually consider liking the characters again, because for once there's something with some substance to like beyond Cool Robot Arm Guy and Cool Shield Guy and Cool Green Punching Guy and Cool Sexy Woman.

So the film avoided a few obvious but quite important pitfalls that the other parts of this franchise never bothered to.

 

Well considering the source material, there really was no avoiding the whole "Wakanda ignores slavery" thing. It's either they did that, or they don't make a Black Panther movie.

 

So that's your long-winded way of saying "I kinda liked it"? Or would that be "I (wa)kinda liked it"?

 

I certainly feel the Wocky-perspective in his review.

 

"I think Forest Whitaker's part would have been better served if he had been played by Reginald VelJohnson as Carl Winslow"

 

I'm surprised Wocky was even that positive; the movie had plenty of the standard Marvel formula he hates, including the humor. It does have the positives that he mentions, though. Obviously that was enough for him to make a distinction. Me too, but I still think it is dragged down by the formula.

 

I must question though, why do people get hung up so much on the humor in these movies? I personally don't find it that obnoxious and people aren't breaking the fourth wall (that's Deadpool, Wock; it's his shtick because he IS aware he is a comic book character). Is there really that much intolerable levity in these things?

 

Usually it's not very funny. Whedon did a pretty good job with the first Avengers film, but overall the quality of the humor is low and hasn't measured up to Whedon Avengers. RDJ has delivery that can compensate for mediocre dialogue, but he's the only one in the whole cast with real comic timing.

 

yeah, the humor is only occasionally funny, and i think wocky's point is that the constant reminders that no one is taking any of this seriously tend to take any potential tension or dramatic stakes out of a scene. it's not quite breaking the fourth wall but it tends to accomplish the same thing. some levity is fine (i thought ragnarok though heavy on humor actually did a good job with the balance and black panther did as well), but when the characters seem as though they are so confident that any potential threat is regarded as a joke, it makes it hard to really invest in the story.