MCU Good Parts

Black Panther

Current rank: 11 of 33

Before rewatch:

• Scenes I love: Anything with Shuri, Okoye, or M’Baku.  Battle rhinos.  The casino fight.

• Expectations: The second half of the movie is way worse than the first half.  Rewatchability plummets after Killmonger defeats T’Challa in single combat.  That’s where a ton of cuts will happen, I think.

Rewatch stats:

• Time to process: 49:00

• Length of cut scenes: 22:36

• Length of iffy scenes: 30:39

• Length of total movie: 2:14:18

• % with cut scenes: 83%

• % with iffy scenes: 60%

• Hero scenes kept: 76%

• Villain scenes kept: 47%

• Action scenes kept: 73%

• Time of scenes I love: 3:52

After rewatch: As amazing of an actor as Michael B Jordan is, and as compelling of a villain as Killmonger is, I don’t actually enjoy watching him all that much.  The vision quests drag and that final train battle is supremely disappointing.  

At least the rest of the cast is so much fun to watch.  Black Panther reinforces, once again, that it’s the superior casting and characters that make the MCU sing.

I’m having a tough time deciding if I like this more or less than Captain America.  Doesn’t help that I’m passing out.  I’ll revisit this tomorrow.

Black Hammer, Black Panther movie

Black Hammer 7-11, 13

So yeah, I picked this up at the bookstore today.  That I did it on a business trip makes it feel more shameful, for some reason.  Why isn’t issue 12 in the trade?  Looking...can’t find an official reason, but it was a backstory issue.  Don’t know how that’s a reason, though.  This title is also on hiatus until its relaunch in April 2018.  Sure.  It’ll give me some time to think more about it.  

The second trade is more of the same, high quality stuff, but I may have been hasty in buying it; As good as it is, I don’t think I need to reread it again.  I mean, I would, but it doesn’t seem like the kind of title I’d ever feel like reading out of the blue.  I fall into this trap sometimes where I get started with a new series and plow through the available trades more because I want to find out what happens next, not because it’s re-read material.  (Deadly Class is the most recent example that I can think of.)  No regrets, I’m fine with giving Jeff Lemire my money for this story, but let this be a cautionary tale.  I could have borrowed this from the library or read it at Barnes and Noble and been just as happy.  And 20 bucks richer.  Which is what I’ll do with the next trade.

Black Panther movie

I watched this last night at an Alamo Drafthouse.  It’s my second time at one, and I’m sad to say I’m not the biggest fan.  The servers are distracting in the middle of the movie, and eating while I watch on the big screen diverts my attention as well.  I don’t think I need to go back to one again.  Like with 3D films.  

My initial reaction to the movie was that it wasn’t as good as the the hype.  While I didn’t read any reviews beforehand, the headlines I saw all trumpeted this as a Marvel Masterpiece.  I did not agree.  It has a ton of amazing moments, but as a movie, it did not elevate itself above my favorites from the studio - Cap 2 and 3, Avengers 1, Spider-Man Homecoming.  The plot was still boilerplate - Hero is knocked down from his lofty perch by an antagonist who wants to see the world burn, must regain his position.

I loved all the women.  Sister, General, Partner, Mother.  As NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour stated (pretty sure it was them), every one of them could carry their own franchise.  I would pay to see all of them.  (They’re all more interesting characters than T’Challa, let’s be honest.)  I so much want to see Shuri as Ironheart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I love Riri in the comics, but Letitia Wright would KILL IT.  

The action scenes were generally sub par.  (The final fight between T’Challa and Killmonger was a CGI-fest no better than the one in Justice League.)  The car chase scene was pretty good, but the trailers unfortunately gave away all the good bits.  On the plus side, watching the Dora Milaje kick ass was always fun.  And battle rhinos!

Killmonger.  He was a few writing decisions away from being one of the MCU’s great villains.  I was so ready to be on his side, but he had to screw it up by being just a little too evil.  And his final plan of mass weapons distribution was ill-conceived.  Other than that, his message of sharing Wakandan tech to make the world a better place and help the oppressed was one I could get behind, and echoed the sentiments of Nakia.  Played just a little less militantly, Killmonger could have been so much more.  

So that was last night.  Today, I got into a number of discussions about Killmonger and other aspects of the movie.  There’s so much more to talk about with this movie compared to just about everything else out there. (Last Jedi being the exception…)  And that means something.  I still don’t put it above the aforementioned movies from an entertainment standpoint, but as a think piece, it outpaces most, if not all, of the field.  

Regret watching?  No

Would buy on DVD? No

Would watch again?  Yes

Rating: Pretty Good

Black Panther

I’ve been wracking my brain tonight for a standout Black Panther story, and I can’t come up with one.  Granted, the three I read tonight cover the majority of my exposure, so very small sample size.  But I can’t think of a Black Panther appearance in any other title in which he shines either.  

Black Panther 1-6

Everett K Ross is clearly the star of Priest’s early Black Panther issues.  The first couple issues are amusing enough with Priest’s humor and time-jump storytelling, but a running gag involving Ross’ lack of pants (and later acquisition of devil pants) can only mask the lack of anything of substance for so long.  (Mark Texeira’s distinctive style provides excellent cover as well.)

The character might be boring, but Texeira’s art sure isn’t.

T’Challa exists as a plot device more than a character, and pitting him against Mephisto (who also doesn’t have a good storyline in him) doesn’t help either.  Texeira oddly chooses to go with Romita Jr’s depiction of the demon, instead of the more traditional human-faced representation.

Romita Jr.

Texeira

Joe Jusko's version of the more common look.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Black Panther 50-53

I got these because I love the visual of Black Panther dual-wielding pistols.  

Jorge Lucas art.  I'm also a sucker for a guy in a trenchcoat, apparently.  Probably originated with Gambit.

That was enough to give it a four-issue trial before I decided I didn’t care at all about Kasper Cole or his predicament as a cop struggling to stay afloat in a corrupt NYPD.  (Dan Fraga gets the credit as his co-creator.  Haven’t seen his name in ages, since his time at Extreme with Rob Liefeld.  I’ve had a soft spot for him ever since he gave me a tour of the studio when I was in middle school.  He only draws issue 50, and then doesn’t return to comics for another 13 years.)  

Interesting to see that Priest brought “noogie” over from Quantum and Woody.

A pretty big deal when this first came out.

Didn't expect it to cross over from Valiant to Marvel.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Black Panther 1

Ta-Nehisi Coates starts as the writer.  A huge deal considering his not-comic work before this, so I gave it a shot.  This was boring.  Zero interesting, an immediate drop.

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Boring