Family Movie Review: Black Panther

Family movie night is a special treat in our home. Movie night is a break from our norm to take a virtual escape to places unknown while munching popcorn. We decided to check out the latest movie “must see” Black Panther to enjoy as a family, connect in some quality time after a busy week, and to honestly see was it worthy of all the buzz by moviegoers and critics. We stayed to the very last end of the film, and any Marvel fan will tell you the end of the credits is where the surprising adventure begins.

Decked Out

My husband and I joked at some of the funny memes people shared in how they would enter in the movies proudly wearing the most extravagant African attire. The film is set in the fictional country of “Wakanda” is an African paradise. I saw many via social media dressed as couples, friends, and families looking royal in their gorgeous African prints. I saw families who posted pics simply in blue jeans, sneakers, and tennis shoes to go see the movie Black Panther poised by the 3D poster . There were a few shady comments of “What’s the big deal with dressing up for a movie?” on social media to. My husband is a gamer, superhero, cosplay, and comic lover. He saw nothing wrong with people wanting to dress up in excitement, pride, and connection with the film. I’ve seen throughout the years people dressed in characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Batman, Harry Potter, and so forth. I personally felt that it was nice to see families of races dressed in kente cloth, traditional African attire, or doing their own spin in heritage pride to see the movie. We decided to dress up as a family. The kids went in their closets to get decked out. It was a pleasure to see as a mom. We were a colorful party of six riding to see the Black Panther in our trusty mini van. It didn’t matter if you were in jeans or dressed like you were feeling the fantasy of visiting “Zamunda” (Coming to America movie starring Eddie Murphy) this movie brought families and friends together.

A Place We’ve Never Seen Before

The movie’s setting of Wakanda was a place like we’ve never seen in portrayal of African countries in film. If you do your research you will see the vast of diversity of African countries in landscapes . It’s a continent of busy cities, deserts, jungles, beaches, and moutains. Africa has it’s abundance of valuable resources, and the movie will show more about a fictional one. There are countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana that have advanced in technological achievements. The fictional land of Wakanda had that and more. We saw the 3D movie of Black Panther, and seeing the opening view of Wakanda for the first time was breathtaking. It took moviegoers to a place both of natural beauty within a countryside of an African plain to an advanced metropolis at the same time. The costumes designs were inspired by both traditional warrior clothing native to a few African tribes across the continent and it had a blend of superhero Marvel swag.

“Mom They Look Like Me ! “

Representation within diversity is important in films. I did not see a superhero that resembled my father, grandfather, or uncles growing up. They were the heroes in my life. Superwoman was powerful and amazing, but in truth she did not look like me. I think that is why I never got into superhero comics. I saw “Storm” in the Xmen flicks, but again usually the supporting female roles played women who were of fair skin and long hair. Most of the movies attempting to promote a black male lead role were dark in portrayal, or the actor played the funny sidekick. The cast did an amazing job in presenting the role of their characters. Their passion, enthusiasm, stunts, and artistry was displayed from beginning to end in the film. The costumes reflected with each personality. I loved the natural hairstyles ( bald, braids, locs, and all in between) that the actors wore in the film. Yeah, I let my fro go that day in the theater proud.

Family Vote

The Black Panther is a movie that families can enjoy. We didn’t have to cover the children’s eyes because of a traumatic violent scene ( The battle fighting was good, but not super bloody), heavy vulgarity, and there for the most part was no profanity ( two words I believe for which I can’t remember) that most parents can handle. It wasn’t a Christian movie since Marvel is a comic superpower within itself, but I can say it was a family film. If I would have to rate it I would give the film an ” A”, and it would’ve been given “+A” however it left us all wanting to see a trilogy. The ride home was filled with observations of what everyone liked or picked up from the film. I would definitely see the film again, and I would recommend it to you to watch.