Friday Flicks: Black Panther

Black Panther
Rating ★★

What It's About
I consider myself a Marvel fan but mostly I'm an X-Men and Spider Man fan so I knew virtually nothing about the Black Panther.
So there's this hidden city in South Africa that has this amazing technology but they've stayed hidden for hundreds of years under the ruling of a generation of kings endowed with gifts and known as the Black Panther. Each time a king dies, their son becomes the new king and new Black Panther. When an artifact of theirs that ended up in a museum gets stolen and an enemy arrives and challenges our hero, current king and Black Panther he'll find out a secret about his father and have to fight not only for his title and kingdom but for what he believes in.

Of course I wanted to see this one. It's a Marvel universe movie! I wasn't sure what to expect, though. I knew nothing about the Black Panther. I guess I can't REALLY call myself a Marvel fan. Oh well.

I'm going to be honest, guys. I found this one to feel overly long and was really bored through most of it. AND something just felt off.

After reflecting on it I think I've decided that it just didn't FEEL like a Marvel movie. It felt more like a fantasy movie than a super hero movie. And sometimes it's like the director or writers remembered it was supposed to be a super hero movie and would throw in something but it was too little and just felt weird.

I also was bothered by the villain. If this movie was trying to address racism they shouldn't have made the villain such a stereotypical thug. It did nothing to fight racism in my opinion. Maybe that's just me, though.

I will say that I really loved the MCs sister Shuri. She was great. I'd rather have watched a movie about her.

Anywho, I was honestly just disappointed in this one. I wanted a great new addition to the Marvel universe and this one was just all off.

Let's talk
 Have you ever noticed how long a movies sometimes feels? I think it's because certain stories tend to be more episodic rather than one, single, sweeping arc. That episodic trend seems to be coming into a lot of movies and it just makes it feel SO long. What do you guys think?

Recommendation
Sadly I'd just say wait to rent it on Redbox or Amazon.

 

Friday Flicks: Thor Ragnarok

Thor Ragnarok
Rating ★★★★

What It's About
If you've been hiding under a rock it's time to come out. Come on, it's ok. Out you come. There's a good boy! Alright! I'm done. So anyway, I'm assuming you know all about the Marvel Universe and their movies. I love how they all fit together, don't you? This one follows Thor as he discovers he has a sister. A sister that was so power hungry and crazy that their father locked her away. But she's free now and back to her old ways of power mad controlling! It's up to Thor to stop her....without his hammer. Eeeep!

 I got to see this one opening weekend because my awesome friend Jenni had a spare ticket. Thanks Jenni! I'll be honest. I've only see the first Thor. I know! Sacrilege. But I have seen the Avengers etc so I wasn't completely lost. Now I don't know if I'm just remembering wrong or if they took a different approach to this movie but it was hilarious! Way funnier than it's predecessors. And I don't mean silly little jokes here and there amidst some serious action. I mean a laugh a minute, not taking itself too serious funny. I loved it!

And the story was fun too. I liked watching Thor figure out who he really was without his hammer. I loved all the Marvel cameos and the newcomers were great too. It was such a fun ride! If you're a Marvel fan and a fan of 80s videogames this one will be right up your alley.

My only beef with the movie, the reason it's a four star instead of a five, is I felt it was a bit long. Now if you're loving a movie or book so much that you don't want it to end then length is great. And I was loving this one but it was crowded and hot in the movie theater and enjoyable or not, it had a few unnecessary things that could have been cut in my opinion. Still, it's totally worth the watch and I guarantee you'll laugh your head off. Go see it!

Let's talk

    Chris Hemsworth fan? Cause I am. Damn!