Black Panther

[osprey_archer]

At last I've rejoined the tide of civilized society: I've seen Black Panther! And I had much the same reaction to it as I had to Wonder Woman, another superhero that I heard hyped to the skies before I actually saw it: both of them were fun, solid movies, but neither blew my tiny mind the way that the hype led me to expect them to.

(Also, Black Panther did manage to stick its landing, whereas Wonder Woman bobbled a bit at the end.)

And in both cases, although I did enjoy their action stories, I would have really liked to get more time to just explore the worlds the filmmakers built. With Wakanda in particular I felt like there was enough loving attention to detail to make that eminently worthwhile, although clearly the result would not have been a Marvel superhero film, so honestly this is not really a criticism of the film so much as an admission that I am clearly not the best audience for superhero films. "Yes, we could have another fistfight, but do you know what would be really fun? A festival! There could be lanterns and special festival foods and maybe a pop-up amusement park. COULD THERE BE BABY RHINOS IN THE PETTING ZOO?"

But maybe the DVD will have making-of extras, sort of like the Lord of the Rings movies, where they go in detail about the thought process behind their world-building decisions and what ramifications those decisions had for the material culture of the movie? This is a brilliant idea, Marvel should totally steal it if they aren't working on it already.

Comments

[rachelmanija]

Needs moar picnics.

[osprey_archer]

I was super excited back in the day when Agents of SHIELD started, because I thought, "Here's a format that will allow enough time for picnics!" But no. It's still all plot all the time.

[kore]

You know what does explore the worldbuilding a bit is the big Black Panther: The Art of the Movie coffee table book, which is fucking expensive but worth it. The conept art alone is jawropping gorgeous. Some details https://screenrant.com/black-panther-art-book-reveals/

If you want to get the book (as opposed to waiting for it through the library), do it fast, tho, since apparently Marvel prints 1 or 2 runs of these books, IDEK? and once they're gone they are really hard to get. Which seems extremely dumb on Marvel's part since the only people making money are the ones who snap up extra copies and then resell them on ebay, but what do I know, I don't make a billion dollars per movie.

[osprey_archer]

I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a book for a movie I didn't super love, but I may flip through if the library gets it.

[rmc28]

Ooooh, I don't often go for coffee-table books, but this looks like one I would adore.

*slips and orders it*

[asakiyume]

I am 100 percent sure this will be my reaction. I like superhero movies even less than you. I have enjoyed seeing the images of all the characters in their gear, and I heard the music was good. So. I will enjoy those aspects, low key, eventually.

[osprey_archer]

I realize that a lot of people like the non-stop action aesthetic, but still. Would it kill them to occasionally pause so T'Challa and Shuri can share a traditional Wakandan snack? I super want to know what people eat in Wakanda. They could have had an entire coronation banquet! But noooo, instead they've gotta shoot up a casino.