The Man Who Would Be King..."Black Panther"

Black Panther (2018)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker

Directed by Ryan Coogler,

The Story:

T'Challa (Boseman) is crowned the King of Wakanda following the passing of his father. However an outsider (Jordan) threatens the entire fate and kingdom of Wakanda in a bid to release vibranium weapons on a global scale.

Welcome to your spoiler-free review of Black Panther.

It's movie number 18 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe corner of your local movie-plex, and I think it's about time we come to a few facts:

1) These movies aren't going away anytime soon.
2) Fans should be glad of that.
3) Audiences apparently aren't suffering from superhero fatigue like critics seem to think every time a new superhero movie is released.

And I think it's time to start honestly talking about when will the Academy take MCU films seriously and consider them for ...

dare I say it...

Academy Awards.

Last year the big ground swell was Patty Jenkins deserved it because Wonder Woman was "amazing". (Meh...I wouldn't go that far, but still, if it furthers the superhero cause, I'm in) and because she's a woman.

Again, I hate the affirmative action take on it, I would hope it's based on merit, not gender or...

Color. 

Which brings us to Ryan Coogler, who has in the eyes of critics AND fans, yet to deliver a bad movie.

Here, he takes Wakanda and delivers the sum total history of an isolated African nation from the dawn of time to present day and given it the rich backstory it deserves.

He also populates it with some of the best second and third-tier characters in any Marvel Studios franchise.

He also delivers the Wakandan equivalent of a James Bond movie interlaced throughout the film as well.

Pick anyone from the cast, and odds are by the end of the movie, if not long before, you're slightly itching to see that character, or characters, receive their own MCU film from Marvel Studios in the near future.

So if you weren't part of the history-making audience that made Black Panther # 1 at the world-wide box office, smashing all sorts of February records along the way...

Don't delay, you'll want to see this one on the big screen.

Final Grade: A+

What's In A Name? "Creed"

Creed  (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone

Directed by Ryan Coogler

The Story:

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) is a boxer with a desire to win. He also happens to be the son of the late Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Which means, he's sorta drawn to an old run-down champ named Rocky (Stallone). Will Adonis be a chip off the old block, or a chump with no heart?

The very first time I saw the trailer for Creed, I was indifferent and thought, nah, I'll pass.

Then about halfway through the trailer, Stallone popped up and I thought, is that Rocky?

Once I realized it was, my interest was raised and I figured it was worth a shot.

Even though I've only watched one previous Rocky film (Rocky Balboa) I get the gist of the series.

And I was right, it was indeed worth a shot.

Stallone is the heart of the movie as he takes Adonis under his wing to teach him that there is more to boxing than just hitting and getting hit.

He becomes the father Adonis never had and in return gets the son who never really wanted him.

His work in the picture earned him a Best Supporting Actor nod at the Academy Awards which he subsequently lost.

 Stallone was robbed.

I saw the movie, Bridge of Spies, with the performance that he lost to.

No offense, but that performance, while a great, is not at the heart of the entire movie. Take him out of the story completely, Bridge of Spies still works.

Take Rocky out of this film, nobody watches.

Hyperbole, probably, people will watch just about any film to give it a try.

However, without Stallone, there would be no heart and soul to the film, it would just be another film about an athlete who wants to overcome the odds.

Yawn.

We've seen it all a million times.

The wise sage teaching the young upstart.

But when you have Rocky as the master teaching the pupil, you're already emotionally invested in the storyline because you have a history with Rocky Balboa whether you've watched all the films, or even never watched one, you know Rocky.

Everyone knows Rocky.

And that carries some emotional heft to the story and helps transform this film into something bigger than itself.

Final Grade:  Solid B, possibly even a B+