Yet another origin story? Yes. Yet another relatively (to the non-comic book readers) unknown character? Yes. A Marvel movie without an Avenger? 

Yes. Should you even bother watching it? Hell yes! Black Panther — and I know it sounds repetitive by now, given that we are probably saying this for the third film in as little as seven months — is easily one of Marvel’s best films till date. Here’s why...

• It is a mainstream, blockbuster film about a black superhero. It is also, perhaps, the first non Oscars-bait movie of this scale to have such a predominantly black cast. At a time when most films (Marvel included) are guilty of white-washing, this in itself is a huge step. It gives us hope that more such heroes of colour, like Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel, will get the movies they deserve. 

• It is an origin story where the backstory is laid out in 30 seconds through sand figures, and a flashback that takes all of a few minutes to set up the present-day context.

• Wakanda is a dream come true. From the towering spires and the gliding trains to the gorgeous waterfalls and the colourful inhabitants, it has been conceptualised with absolute love and a dedication to detail. 

• Wonder Woman may have been the first superhero movie to have a woman as a hero but Black Panther, though it has a black male as the titular hero, puts the women front and centre, just as much as Wonder Woman does. Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa might be the one wearing the superhero suit, but the suit is made awesome by his little sister Shuri who is a tech whiz and overall badass. And it is the elite female warrior group, the Dora Milaje, who has his back all the time. 

The most iconic scene in the film isn’t the one where the Black Panther is leaping from one car to another in Busan (though it predictably drew a lot of applause), but the one where the male leader of one of the Wakandan tribes who charges in on an armoured rhinocerous submits to the general of the Dora Milaje, who wouldn’t be swayed by the fact that she loves him. That’s the one that had me shouting the loudest and clapping the hardest. And there are many such moments subtly peppered throughout the film. This film is a lesson on how you can put forward strong female characters without unnecessarily sexualising them.

• Chadwick Boseman gives the most nuanced performance as T’Challa, something you never expect from a superhero film. He brings out the conflict within this character so well that he almost doesn’t feel like a superhero. Not that he isn’t leaping off buildings or tearing out the wheels of moving cars. 

• It isn’t often that you come across a movie where the supporting cast almost ends up stealing the movie from the lead characters. Veterans like Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett may have added a certain gravitas to the film but it’s the trio of Letitia Wright as T’Challa’s sister Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o as Wakandan spy Nakia and Danai Gurira as Dora Milaje leader Okoye who steal the show every time they are on screen. Wright and Gurira are my particular favourites, with Wright’s irreverence as the perfect foil for Boseman’s seriousness. Gurira makes her presence felt without saying more than one sentence at a time.

• Finally, a Marvel film that gives us a villain to write home about. Actually make that two villains to write home about. First is the gleefully evil and over-the-top Ulysses Klaue, played with thuggish delight by Andy Serkis, who makes an impact even for the short time that he is on screen. And the second is Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger. These movies often don’t serve up villains with whom you can sympathise, even if you do not agree with their methods. Loki was the only other MCU villain you felt for, and just like you did with Loki, here is a villain you will sometimes even clap for. 

• Which brings us to the final point of why you should give this movie a “hell yes”. The film raises a lot of issues that will keep the conversation going for a long time after you’ve walked out of that hall. Whether it is the central debate about whether a country who has the means of righting many wrongs in the world should stay out of other people’s business or should they step in and help. Should that decision be based on preserving their own culture or driven by retribution? Is militancy the answer or passive resistance?

Killmonger wants to use the technological know-how, the wealth and the weapons at the disposal of Wakanda to fuel a black uprising to fight the oppression they’ve had to face. While you cannot disregard Killmonger’s views, the film never condones it. And it is in maintaining that fine balance of what is right and what is wrong that the film triumphs.

There are, of course, some issues with the film. Its pacing, for instance, is very choppy and often jarring. My other peeve is the background score where the transition is hardly seamless. It is almost as if the composer realised at the last minute that the Wakandans needed some African music and had to introduce it in a hurry. It was extremely distracting. But that is just nit-picking about a film that for me will be hard to top, even with the heavy-weights of Avengers: Infinity War looming on the horizon. 

Why are you rooting for Black Panther? Tell t2@abp.in