The Rise Of The Panther King

“Tell me something. What do you know about Wakanda?” ~ Ulysses Klaue 

“It’s a third world country. Textiles. Shepherds. Cool outfits.” ~ Everett K. Ross 

“All a front. Explorers have searched for it, called it El Dorado. They looked for it in South America, but it was in Africa the whole time. I’m the only one who’s seen it, and made it out alive.” ~ Ulysses Klaue

“I want the throne!” ~ Erik Killmonger

“Only you can decide what kind of king you want to be.” ~ Nakia

“What happens now determines what happens to the rest of the world.” ~ T’Challa

Marvel’s cinematic universe has been around now for a decade plus, bringing to vivid live heroes on the big screen in a way that hasn’t faltered yet. Now attention is turned to give the spotlight to one of the most formidable and enigmatic of its characters- T’Challa, king of Wakanda, in the new film Black Panther. Indie director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) takes the helm for a story that mixes together heroics, high tech, race and class, and a man coming to grips with his destiny… while thinking six moves ahead.

The film opens with a bit of history of the mysterious country of Wakanda, where a metal called Vibranium has blessed the country, which has kept its secrets hidden behind a smoke screen of isolation as a supposed Third World Country. In the wake of the death of King T’Chaka (as seen in Captain America: Civil War), his son T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) assumes the mantle of the throne and the tribal chieftainship as the Black Panther. He faces challenges from within- a rival tribal chieftain, an arms dealer with history with his country, and a distant relative with a grudge and his own ambitions.

The Black Panther has a long history in comics, first appearing in the pages of Fantastic Four in 1966 before getting a solo title of his own. Balancing between heroics as an Avenger and his responsibilities as a king, T’Challa has often been an enigmatic character. When written at his best, he is the sort of person you don’t want to start a fight with; he’s the chess player thinking several moves ahead of how he’s going to best you, essentially the Batman of the Marvel Universe. There have been plans for years, going back to 1992, for adapting the character to the big screen, with Wesley Snipes initially expressing interest. When the Marvel cinematic universe became a reality beginning with the first Iron Man film, the idea of bringing this character to life started to take shape.

Ryan Coogler not only directed, but co-wrote the script with Joe Robert Cole. Their script gives nods to the history of the character in the comics, as well as what’s been previously established in the Marvel cinematic universe. There is a good deal of influence from a run on the title by the writer Christopher Priest in the story- a wise decision, given that Priest’s extended run with these characters rates as one of the best comic book runs ever done. Their story weaves together the futuristic yet tribal culture of this fantastic world with themes like duty, responsibility, and ambition- themes that play themselves out in multiple characters, in different ways. Race and society status are also examined- something that might appear unusual in a superhero adaptation, but it feels done in a natural way.

Marvel’s cinematic offerings have, especially as of late, taken chances with unusual directors, and have paid off. Coogler might seem at first an odd choice for an epic like this, given his previous experience in what are best described as character dramas. He works quite well in the job, grounding the film in the characters themselves, while handling the epic scope of what is part grand sets and part CGI as a supporting element, not the focus itself. The cinematography of the film is beautifully done, but not in an overwhelming way, and the director keeps the audience on the personal level in terms of how things are filmed.

The production values by the crew are exceptional; the MCU has already shown us fantastic worlds like Asgard and the alien planets of the two Guardians films, and Wakanda’s presentation in the film builds on that. It’s a blend of technology and African landscapes rendered in a breathtaking way- something unique in its manner. This is a part of Africa that in the MCU was never colonized, that developed in isolation, and so Wakanda’s look is something quite different from what we know here.

Some of the cast return from previous films, but much of them are new to the Marvel cinematic universe, and they’re all well chosen. John Kani plays the ill-fated King T’Chaka, who died in Captain America: Civil War, in a flashback that plays to the duty the king has to his country, as well as his dignity and wisdom as a person. Florence Kasumba likewise reprises her role from that film as Ayo, a member of the Dora Milaje, an order of women who serve as a special forces group and bodyguards to the king. Andy Serkis returns as Ulysses Klaue, the mercenary arms dealer from Avengers Age Of Ultron. Klaue is a ruthless, vindictive man with ties to Wakanda and his own ambitions, something that Serkis gets to play to in his return.

Winston Duke appears as M’Baku, a character well established in the comics as an adversary to T’Challa. Here he is a rival tribal chieftain, fierce and ruthless, but with something of a moral code. Angela Bassett appears as Ramonda, the Queen Mother of Wakanda and mother of our hero. She’s freshly grieving the death of her husband, and yet is insightful where her son’s new role has to be. Forest Whitaker gets a lot to do as Zuri, something of a Ben Kenobi to T’Challa, the wise elder statesman and advisor who is central to the spirituality of Wakanda. Letitia Wright appears as Shuri, the younger sister of T’Challa. She gives the role a headstrong but funny take at times, as her character is an exceptionally bright and gifted tech innovator. Her performance reminded me somewhat of Q from the Bond films.

Martin Freeman reprises his role as American operative Everett Ross, more capable and less comic relief than his counterpart from the comics, though the character does give us some levity as things go along. Ross is calm under pressure, a bit wide eyed and fish out of water when he gets to see the wonders of Wakanda, but a professional through and through, and I like the dynamic of respect that develops between Ross and T’Challa as the story goes along.

This is the first time I’ve seen Danai Gurira in anything. She’s a big part of The Walking Dead, and the actress has quite an eclectic background herself. She plays the pivotal role of Okoye, the head of the Dora Milaje, a traditionalist in her thinking. She’s a capable leader, a fighter but also a tactical and strategic thinker, thoroughly dangerous when she must be, stoic much of the rest of the time, but with spirit. Her take on the character feels very grounded with where the character’s roots are. The character is one resolute in her duty and responsibilities, and the actress makes her compelling to watch.

Lupita Nyong’o gets a great role as Nakia. The character has a romantic history with T’Challa, but has taken a different path in life, into the world of the spy as a War Dog. She’s undercover in a neighbouring nation when we first meet her, undertaking a mission that’s personal and principled. The character is someone we get invested in as another strong woman- really, the film is peopled by a lot of strong women- and the actress gives her a lot of depth in how she plays her.

For a film with technically three villains tied to the Panther’s history (I would love to see how they handle Achebe in a sequel), the one with the most to do is also one whose agenda is not so black and white, but understandable. Erik Killmonger has history and ties to Wakanda, both in the comics and in this film, and has had a rough life of his own. He’s a strategic thinker, patient in what he wants to do, but at the same time forceful when he sees the need. Killmonger believes that Wakanda’s advances should be used in a more revolutionary, forceful way, skewing racial politics, than T’Challa, whose perspective is a peaceful one. It’s a fascinating counterbalance between characters, rather like the Charles Xavier-Magneto dynamic. Michael B. Jordan, who previously played the Human Torch in the misfire that was the last Fantastic Four film, and who’s worked with Coogler before, gives the character a ruthless, menacing energy, yet also allows us to see and appreciate his perspective. This is not a world conquering tyrant, but someone with legitimate concerns, whose tactics are what crosses the line.

Chadwick Boseman has already had an outstanding record in film, having had played Jackie Robinson in 42, James Brown in Get On Up, and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. He debuted as T’Challa in Captain America: Civil War, making quite an impression as the enigmatic young prince thrust into the leadership of his country as a result of the events of that film. Here the character is new to the role of king, freshly grieving the death of his father, facing the responsibilities to his country and the challenges of other interested parties. He captures the qualities of T’Challa perfectly- the wise and principled man of peace who plays his cards close to the proverbial vest, keeping his options open and thinking ahead. T’Challa finds himself dealing with kingship and the direction of his country- does he continue its quiet isolation from the rest of the world or does he engage with the world? Boseman’s take on the role strikes the right balance of a man coming to grips with the weight of power and responsibility, and coming into his own as a result of it. It’s a masterful performance, one that continues the actor’s track record of exceptional work.

Black Panther is yet another exciting entry into Marvel’s cinematic universe, and one that is thoughtful in how it carries out its story. It doesn’t shy away from elements like race, class, social status, and ideology, but instead uses those elements as foundations for its narrative. With cinematography and production values that bring a fantastic hidden kingdom to vivid life, the film nonetheless strongly depends on an exceptional cast and their spot-on characterization of their roles. It’s a splendidly entertaining film in and of its own.

The Devil Has Come To Tsavo

Some links before I get started today. Yesterday was Sunday, so we had a Snippet Sunday post at our joint blog. Cheryl had pics from an air show in her area. Parsnip had a video clip at her page and a look at a number of pics. Hilary has her birthday today. And the Whisk has a pair of troublemakers at her blog. Also, keep an eye on my photoblog by clicking at the right, as I've got Remembrance Day material for today and tomorrow.

Now then, today I have another movie review.

“I’m a monster. My only pleasure is in tormenting those who work for me.” ~ Robert Beaumont

“Darling, you know how God invented liquor so the Irish wouldn’t rule the world. Well I think he may have invented being stubborn so we can be the best at something.” ~ John Patterson

“Oh, you’re right. The devil has come to Tsavo. Look at me! I am the devil.” ~ Charles Remington

In 1898, a bridge construction over the river Tsavo in Africa was interrupted by a pair of lions, hunting and killing railway workers in the dozens, over a hundred by some counts. The lions were hunted down and killed by the project engineer, a British colonel named John Patterson, and their story has baffled people ever since. The man eaters can be found to this day in the Field Museum in Chicago, where they have been preserved and are on display. The story inspired screen writer William Goldman (The Princess Bride) to adapt it for the big screen, fictionalizing some aspects, but telling a story of murderous danger in the African high grasses, set against the backdrop of European colonial expansion at the end of the 19^th century. Director Stephen Hopkins (Blown Away) came on board to helm the film, a historical adventure in a changing Africa.

We meet Colonel Patterson (Val Kilmer), an Irishman in the British military with a reputation for doing good work as an engineer in challenging locations. He’s hired by Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson), a tyrant of a financier, who’s trying to have a railroad built in Africa in order to win the race against other European colonial powers, to save Africa from the Africans, and secure his knighthood. Whichever is his priority is another matter, but Beaumont admits he’s a monster, and promises Patterson that he’ll hate him. Patterson is off to Africa after saying goodbye to his wife Helena (Emily Mortimer), who is expecting their first child.

Patterson’s quite happy to come to Africa, a place he’s dreamed of seeing, meeting his right hand man Angus Starling (Brian McCardie), the camp foreman Samuel (John Kani), and the doctor, David Hawthorne (Bernard Hill). There’s tension in the camp, between the local African workers and those who have come from India for the work. The two sides don’t like each other, Samuel explains, and the Indians don’t like other Indians- the religious differences between Muslim and Hindu rising to the surface. There’s also the problem of a lion attack before Patterson’s arrival. Patterson doesn't realize that the lions in the area will soon become a much bigger problem, in the form of two males that hunt together, seeming to kill just for the pleasure of killing. The workers take to calling them the Ghost and the Darkness.

Goldman’s script fictionalizes certain aspects of the story, including bringing in an American big game hunter, Charles Remington, played by Michael Douglas, who finally appears in a dramatic way halfway through the film. The story also ignores the fact that the lions of the Tsavo region tend to lack manes; in fact, the pair of lions still on display in Chicago have no manes. However, these are mere trifles. The story is one of suspense and dread, and for me, that’s how it’s always worked. It’s an action thriller that drives up the tension, because we don’t understand why these lions are behaving this way. More than one character points out that lions don’t act like this, they don’t kill just for the sport, and yet these lions do. The story makes us look at the long grass in a completely different way; when Patterson is first travelling and seeing wildlife, we’re struck by the beauty of the land, but we quickly start looking at those grasslands and ask ourselves what’s hiding in that long grass. It leaves the audience feeling a sense of dread; the film does for the African savanna what Jaws did for the ocean.

Goldman also allows for humour and characterization as he goes along. He frames the story with a narrator, using Samuel to recount the events. This is an unusual touch compared to what a film of fifty or sixty years ago might have gone with, as it features an African voice to tell the story, and Goldman gives his narrator depth. Characterization tends to show itself in smaller ways and in quiet moments, such as when we learn Remington’s sad past, or see Patterson’s longing to see his wife again play itself out in letters home. The film refrains from glossing over the racial issues, as tensions among the workers keep cropping up, one of them even acidly remarking to Patterson, “you’re white, you can do anything.” The humour on the other hand plays out in dialogue between characters, mostly at night around campfires, such as Samuel teasing Remington: “I don’t believe you had a mother.”

Hopkins has a good visual style for the story; his work on Blown Away with its themes of Irish terrorism and revenge showed that, and he handled the direction for this well, sometimes giving us the lion’s point of view in how a scene was shot, sometimes using the light of fires as the only lighting for a scene, giving it a more dangerous, uncertain quality. There’s a sequence where one of the lions gets caught in a trap where a group of handpicked riflemen are waiting; the way he films the sequence has a nightmarish feel where you can almost feel as if the lion’s a supernatural being; not one round hits the beast, and the roars of the animal are deafening.

Much of the filming was done on location in South Africa, and the film definitely has an African feel in the look of the terrain. Real lions were used in the filming, albeit ones that have worked with humans extensively and were trained. I recall a documentary on the filming, which showed that the attacks were filmed in three stages: first on sound stages with the lions just being lions, pouncing upon an invisible prey against a green screen. The camera movements of that shot were memorized by computer and replicated with a second shot featuring whichever victim might be falling next, and the third shot used the exterior footage, all blending together seamlessly. Almost everything we see are real lions, though with a couple of exceptions, and in fact the real lions themselves, from a zoo in Ontario, were not quite sure of themselves in the open, having had lived their lives among people instead of zebras and antelopes.

The score is by Jerry Goldsmith, and it’s my favourite personal work by him. It blends together Irish and English sounds with a rich African influence into a single score, making liberal use of choral voices. It’s a blend of adventurous themes and malevolent, dangerous motifs that just drive up the tension all that much more.

Tom Wilkinson is only in the film briefly, on a couple of occasions, and this was the first film I ever saw featuring him. He makes a huge impression though. His Beaumont is an arrogant man, totally contemptuous of those around him. He says he’s a monster, and he certainly proves it, treating the deaths of dozens of workers with disdain, not giving a damn about anything but his own ambitions. By contrast, Emily Mortimer, who turns up here and there mostly in letters (and a nightmare sequence) is a loving and supportive wife, eager to see her husband again, to present him with their first born, and proud of him. Their relationship seems grounded, and she’s secure enough in herself to let him go off on a trip he’s wanted to make his entire life.

Bernard Hill, who would go on to appear in Titanic as Captain Smith and The Lord Of The Rings films as Theoden, plays Hawthorne as a drunken hard edged cynic who sees the railway as a sham, but admits that no one else would hire him. Cynic though he might be, he still acts to protect and care for his patients. Brian McCardie plays Angus as an idealistic man, quite out of his element, but relentlessly cheerful. Aside from his practical work, he also thinks of himself as a missionary doing the good work of the Lord in Africa. He’s given to talking a lot, and informs Patterson and Samuel that he has taken on a great task even more difficult than the salvation of Africa: he will not rest until both of them are safely in the fold. 

John Kani is a South African actor and playwright, and he gets to play the pivotal role of Samuel, the only man in the camp that everyone trusts. He plays the role with conviction and gravity, so the audience can believe him as a foreman, and as a man who’s good at mediating disputes. There’s a great warmth to the performance, a character we get to like very much. Patterson certainly gets along with him right from the beginning, and we learn he’s been friends with Remington for years. We also learn more about the man himself- he has several wives (he doesn’t like any of them, mind you), and he admits that he’s afraid of lions. Fear or not, he still acts without hesitation in the face of danger.

Michael Douglas was one of the producers on the film, and took the fictional role of Remington for himself. He comes into the story in a big, sudden way in the midst of a lot of tension in a crowd, and certainly makes an impression. Remington, we learn, is a man who does not like hunting, a strange thing in a man who makes that his profession, and only does it because he happens to be good at it. He hunts all over the world, but never returns to America; it turns out he lost everything in the Civil War when his family died. He mourns that loss years later, but doesn’t go too much into it, so we’re left to wonder at the tragedy. He makes for a good mentor for Patterson, and the two get along well with each other. Douglas conveys all of these aspects of the character with gravity and depth. He also moves like a hunter, with precision, speed when needed, care and slowness when needed as well.

Kilmer is a good protagonist for the film, taking on the role of Patterson and playing it in what feels just the right way. He might be a military officer, but as an Irishman, he’s always going to be an outsider among English officers, and that attribute does come across. He’s hired, not accepted, by the English financier, and he knows it. Kilmer gives him the competent, efficient sensibility that you’d expect out of an engineer, mixing that with qualities of a devoted husband and a man happy to get out to a place he’s dreamed of for years. Patterson is a man who genuinely gets along with the people who work for him, a stark contrast to his employers, and he shows concern for the well being of those around him. He forms friendships with the locals, particularly Samuel, in a way that another British officer would never think of, so it’s a measure of his personal integrity and decent nature.

The Ghost And The Darkness is one of my personal favourite action thrillers, an adventure set in an Africa undergoing great change. It takes full advantage of the beautiful surroundings before driving the audience into a tense, uneasy state at the sign of long savanna grasses… and what beasts might lurk within.