Black Panther Review
I'm probably the least qualified person to write a proper review of this movie (I'm not familiar at all with the super hero universe, also I'm white), so I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to make a list of all of the reasons why I LOVED. THIS. MOVIE. (No spoilers included)
1) Fierce women warriors. I loved this in Wonder Woman as well. How great is it that movies are taking a turn and showing women in battle. Some of the fiercest, strongest people I know are women, and I'm so happy to see this portrayed in movies more and more. It also makes me really want to get to the gym. I loved Okoye and Nakia's different, but unwavering loyalties to their mission, their country, and the people they love.
2) The complexity between the good guy/bad guy. It's pretty obvious that even though we definitely don't want him to win, we don't actually hate Killmonger/N'Jadaka. When you put yourself in his shoes, you can see the insanity, the injustice, and you understand his anger. Obviously, his plan can't be executed, but you understand how he got there. It's a beautiful and tragic portrayal and I was brought to tears by his story.
3) The action scenes. They were super intense and engaging. Sometimes I feel bored with the amount of action sequences in these action/superhero movies, but this one kept Cash and I on the edges of our seats the whole time.
4) A truly great hero to admire. I love letting Cash watch movies with main characters that he can look up to, and T'Challa is definitely that. He is a good man, and a great leader. His story was one I was thrilled to expose Cash to. The female role models were all wonderful as well; I took a lot of inspiration away from Nakia, and I think a lot of young women and girls could look up to Shuri.
I think everyone should see this movie. It'll be one that we buy when it comes out (and might even spend the extra money to see in the theater again).
PS. For those of you who are wondering about the PG-13 rating...I am pretty firm on a lot of PG-13 movies being a no-go in our house. I took a friend's word on this one before I took him. There are no sexual scenes to feel uncomfortable with, very little cursing...the only reason I believe it's PG-13 was for violence. You do see people get killed pretty up close. This doesn't seem to bother Cash, but you know your kid; if they are sensitive to that, you might want to watch it first to check.