海角大神

The first thing to be said about 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� is that it鈥檚 a terrific movie. If it was not, all the talk about being a landmark in Hollywood鈥檚 depiction of African-American empowerment would be a consolation prize. It鈥檚 easily the best of the Marvel superhero movies but it鈥檚 also a film that foregrounds a cornucopia of powerful black faces, garbs, traditions, and conflicts. It鈥檚 a stealth movie: Like 鈥淕et Out,鈥� it鈥檚 a genre film jam-packed with social relevancy.

I can well imagine what it might be like to be a young African-American child watching this film for the first time (or the third time). It is no small thing to 鈥渟ee鈥� oneself, or one鈥檚 fantasy self, on screen. For better or worse, movies act as the great validators in our society. Viewing people like ourselves on the big screen is a form of authentification.

For far too long in the history of African-American representation in Hollywood, black people were (and to some extent still are) routinely portrayed as subservient or expendable. This failure has unavoidably contributed to a psychic rift in the culture among people of all colors. I am not championing here only 鈥減ositive鈥� role models. The luxury of playing villains should also be available to all. The point I am making is, there must exist the option to play anything, because people comprise everything. No race should be cinematically ghettoized.

The Black Panther superhero initially appeared during the civil rights era in a Stan Lee and Jack Kirby co-authored 1966 Marvel comic book, and made his first appearance on film in 2016 in 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War.鈥� In 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥� he returns to his African homeland of Wakanda to claim the kingdom he inherited from his father. Wakanda, never colonized, is regarded by the outside world as impoverished and impenetrable. This deliberately orchestrated Wakandan fiction preserves a way of life that combines native African traditionalism with super-sophisticated technology powered by the country鈥檚 unlimited supply of the miraculous ore vibranium.

Chadwick Boseman once again plays T鈥機halla, who when he needs to morphs into his superhero identity Black Panther, and he strikes just the right note of humble heroism. (We see his departed father tell him,聽鈥淵ou are a good man, with a good heart,"聽then adding, 鈥淎nd it's hard for a good man to be a king." ) He is surrounded by women whose awe he must earn, among them Okoye (Danai Gurira), the leader of his bald-pated, spear-wielding warrior women bodyguards; his sometime love interest Nakia (a resplendent Lupita Nyong鈥檕), a Wakandan spy who is first shown during a secret mission liberating captive Nigerian girls; his indomitable mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett); and his teasing, science-genius kid sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who proudly shows off to him her latest techno-gadgets with all the sniffy aplomb of Q tolerating 007.

Director Ryan Coogler, who is African-American and who previously made the estimable features 鈥淔ruitvale Station鈥� and 鈥淐reed,鈥� is also the co-writer of 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥� with Joe Robert Cole, and he understands better than any of the other Marvel maestros that for a superhero movie to be more than a popcorn jamboree, it needs to have a purpose beyond mere cacophony and hijinks. The conflict in 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� is boldly outlined: Should T鈥機halla bring Wakanda out of the shadows and into the global arena and use its vibranium-powered energy to unite the world and help heal its ills?

His chief antagonist is a long-lost cousin, Erik 鈥淜illmonger鈥� Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), who grew up poor in racially riven Oakland and became a black-ops soldier. Bristling with rage at what he perceives to be the global powerlessness of black people to fight their oppressors, he finds his way into Wakanda and fights T鈥機halla for the throne because he believes that harnessing the Wakandan energy will create a new world order of black supremacy. The point is made almost explicitly: Killmonger is Malcolm X to T鈥機halla鈥檚 Martin Luther King.

As muddled as this message is, it strikes a visceral nerve. The righting of racial wrongs is given a fantasy power boost here, but, to Coogler鈥檚 credit, he makes Killmonger鈥檚 quest both supremely understandable and ultimately defeating. Like so many power-mad liberators before him, he becomes his own enemy.

The injection of this racially charged material into a superhero comics movie is sometimes strained, and, although the action sequences are deftly done, they don鈥檛 quite bring down the house. Coogler is trying for a lot of things in 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥� probably too many, but there is also a winning modesty to his ambition: He isn鈥檛 trying to create a new world order in the movies, just a franchise film that delivers the requisite thrills while also providing the ballast of a true social consciousness. When you think about it, that鈥檚 quite a lot. You don鈥檛 get the feeling that Coogler wedged the political material into 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� in order to justify this project to himself. He has a true popular sensibility: The comic book trappings don鈥檛 detract from the seriousness. They heighten the seriousness.

Since the only superpower Hollywood truly recognizes is boffo box office, I hope that the inescapable commercial success of 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� will result not simply in more black-themed superhero movies but also in something far more valuable: a recognition of the extraordinary range and artistry of black filmmakers, writers, and actors whose talents even now remain so imposingly underrepresented and unexpressed. Grade:聽A- (Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action violence, and a brief rude gesture.)聽 聽聽