The long-awaited and most anticipated film of the year has finally been released and in its opening day, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther pulled in £2.67m in the UK alone – one of the highest.

Chadwick Boseman returns on-screen fresh from the events of Captain America: Civil War as Wakandan prince-turned-king T’Challa.

Based on Marvel Comics character Black Panther, the movie can be seen as a Bildungsroman (coming of age) scenario spaced out in events occurring over a matter of days.

Having seen the movie on release day, I can safely say that Black Panther will surely go down as one of the most Iconic superhero movies to date as it finally shows what a star-studded BME cast could do on the silver screen in an A-class movie.

The cast chosen for this film are proven actors that have amazed with their previous work and consist of top actors such as Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Michael B Jordan and Forest Whitaker.

Coogler takes us on a discovery of the African nation of Wakanda, hidden from the rest of civilisation but advanced technologically compared to the rest of the Marvel universe due to a key resource.

The effects team did well in presenting the Nation as when it is first displayed to audience members, the CG used to generate Wakanda is Aesthetically pleasing.

As Andy Serkis’ character (Ullyses Klaue) says in the trailer, people have been searching for El Dorado in South America but it was in Africa all along.

For the most part, Boseman’s character plays in a serious tone as a protagonist with royal pride but of course trinkets of Disney can be seen through out with a comedic element that sometimes works.

The costume design for characters and musical score was well thought out as they carried the element of African heritage with it.

One thing I really liked was the use of percussions, including the famous West African Djembe during tense fight scenes that kept viewers at the edge of their seats.

Other than the magnificence Boseman carries on-screen, I think everyone would agree that the antagonists of the movie were convincing in their motives and scary.

Serkis’ Klaue is the closest thing Marvel have come to mirroring Heath Ledger’s Joker with his manic, Jaeger-like attitude.

While Michael B Jordan’s Erik Killmonger surprised many not only with his physicality, but a justifiable reasoning for villainy.

In the end, Black Panther has caused a much-needed friction in social conversation as it has finally shown that minorities can and will lead Hollywood to its next phase of progressiveness.

(Photo by Elijah O’Donell on Unsplash)

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