MovieMonday: Black Panther

I'm only going to say a few things about this movie because just about everybody has seen it already.

It's very, very good.  The source material is a comic book series from the 1970s, when comic book creators were trying to make their work more relevant to actual human realities.

Chadwick Boseman plays T'Challa, who assumes the kingship (and Black Panther mantle) of Wakanda upon the death of his father.  Wakanda is a remote and unassuming African country that just happens to sit on a big stash of vibranium, the source of its high-tech superiority and BP's super powers.

During the movie, the new king learns something disturbing about his father and meets a cousin, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who was raised in the US.  Killmonger has set out to usurp the throne and use vibranium for his larger plan to influence world events. 

Black Panther must come to terms with his own plans and, of course, must battle to hold onto his throne.  He is honest and careful and measured and true, the sort of superhero people would like their children to imitate. 

The movie hits all the right notes with strong female characters, beautiful cinematography, fine acting and a musical score organized by Kendrick Lamar that has been turned into an album or compendium or whatever a collection of music is called these days.

I was interested in the movie because of its director, Ryan Coogler, whose Creed impressed me two years ago.

Disney's promotional team ginned up genuine excitement for this film in venues from sports events to fashion shows, and the effort has paid off.  What was first estimated to be a very big $150 million opening weekend domestically (US and Canada) now is looking more like $225 million.


The Big Question

Why did it take so long for this picture to be made?  Film studios have been releasing superhero movies since 2008, including some with increasingly labored concepts --  "Captain America: Civil War," "Batman V. Superman," "Deadpool," "The Lego Batman Movie", etc.  The first female superhero film, "Wonder Woman," only came out last year.

If the concern was that audiences wouldn't want to see a movie with an almost entirely black cast, that seems silly. 

"Lion King," the theatrical musical based on another Disney property, has an all-black cast (except for the bad guys) and has been playing on Broadway for more than 20 years and in London's West End for almost as long.  

Another Disney affiliate, Pixar Animation, most recently released "Coco," a story set in Mexico and with Mexican characters and customs.  It has been an international success, selling more tickets in China than in the US.

In 2016, Disney's "Moana," a story about native islanders in the South Pacific, also was very popular.

It's a big world, and people are interested in stories from more than their own little corners. Time for the superhero studios to pull their heads out of distant galaxies and pay attention. 


February 20 Note

I actually underestimated the domestic weekend sales.  The total was $235 million.


Update

Number has been revised upward: $241.5 million. 

Oscar Talk: Creed

I'm not a big fan of sports films, but like everybody else I saw the first couple Rocky movies and found them moving.

So when I read that a promising new movie took up the Rocky story for a new generation, I went to see it.

I liked it very much, but a Los Angeles Times film writer described the appeal best:

        In a world in which reboots, sequels and spinoffs are typically the product of bottom-
        line-minded studio groupthink, "Creed" has an unusually personal back story, one
        befitting a franchise that has always been about heart, determination and beating long
        odds. And it all comes back to (Ryan) Coogler and his dad.

Bingo.

"Creed" was released at the end of November 2015 and by the end of December grossed $118 million, the 28th highest seller in 2015.  It breathed new life and the promise of future movies into a Rocky franchise that had gasped its last breath 10 years earlier.


Ryan Coogler

Coogler grew up in Northern California, the son of a father who loved the Rocky movies and shared them with his sons.  When Ryan got to college, a writing teacher noticed his talent and suggested he reconsider his early plans to go to medical school.  He went to film school at USC instead.

His first movie, "Fruitvale Station," was well received and won two awards at the Sundance Festival in 2013.

Later, at a moment when his father was ailing, Coogler began to reflect on the Rocky movies they had shared and, we can guess, the importance of fathers or father figures in their sons' lives.  With a friend, Coogler wrote a screenplay based on the theme of a young fighter convincing an older Rocky to foster and train a younger man whose father had died but who was hungry for glory in the way Rocky had been.

Coogler did all this before he pitched the idea to Stallone.  Coogler admitted afterward that he wasn't optimistic that he could convince the older star, who wrote all six Rocky screenplays himself, to buy into the project.  But Coogler prevailed; in a way, Coogler is a sort of Rocky character himself.


Oscar Nominations

"Creed" was nominated for a single Academy Award:  Best Supporting Actor for Sylvester Stallone.  Stallone is great in the film; he's never won for acting, he's 69 years old and people seem to be favoring the old guy on this one.

Some African Americans in what Southern California calls "The Industry" are objecting that Creed did not attract other nominations, and I tend to agree with them.

From the first black Academy Award (Hattie McDaniel for Best Supporting Actress in "Gone With the Wind in 1939) to the 2014 Best Film Award ("Twelve Years a Slave" in 2014), significant Oscars have recognized African Americans for their struggle, for being African American, for being different.

 To me the general trend reeks of condescension.

"Creed" is a movie about a young man (yes, African American) and an older father-figure who have much in common.  It is not about racial differences.  Like the early Rocky series, it is not about race but rather the merits of skill and perseverance in a brutal, almost primal, sport.

Coogler's next project is a film titled "Black Panther," and my guess is that it too will be good.

We are a broad culture now -- young, old, immigrant, ethnic, racial -- and I'd like to think that, in his future films, he will be allowed to take these broader views into account.