‘Black Panther’ brought, for the first time, a strong black superhero to the spotlight, and did so in a record-breaking fashion.
So far, ‘Black Panther’ has already pulled in $1.2 billion and has replaced other titles as the top-grossing movie for an opening weekend in February, an opening weekend in winter, and for the biggest Monday gross ever.
The movie has also received good reviews, with a 97 percent from Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.8/10 from IMDb.
The movie was directed by Ryan Coogler, who directed both ‘Creed’ and ‘Fruitvale Station’ on top of his biggest success, ‘Black Panther.’ All three of his films have received top-notch ratings from both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.
‘Black Panther’ features a predominantly black cast and stars Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan.
Boseman has been in other popular movies as well, including ‘Captain America: Civil War’ where he plays the Black Panther and in ’42’ as Jackie Robinson, the first ever professional black baseball player.
Jordan is a consistency with Coogler’s films, being one of the lead roles in each. He’s played roles in ‘Creed,’ ‘Fantastic Four,’ and ‘Space Jam.’
The movie follows the newly kinged leader of Wakanda, T’Challa, in his fight to regain control of his country. Using the power of the Black Panther and with the help of his allies, T’Challa fights to keep the world at peace and keep Wakanda’s powers and technology in his grasp.
The cast does a brilliant job and plays their roles beautifully. The plot is exciting, and although at some points it is hard to follow, keeps the viewer engaged throughout.
‘Black Panther’ was the first film featuring a strong and intelligent black superhero, as well as also revealing an independent and wealthy hidden nation ruled over and occupied solely by blacks. Because of this, ‘Black Panther’ was a symbol of black rights and equality, becoming the centerpiece of a strong registration campaign.
In addition, the movie challenges gender stereotypes, as Wakanda’s strongest fighters were females. This movie pushes for many new views on the traditional ideas of modern society and calls for the advancement of rights for those that are underrepresented.
The Electoral Justice Project, a project dedicated to fighting for the advancement of blacks, used the movie’s popularity and large turnout to get viewers to register to vote using posters and social media. The hashtag “#WakandaTheVote” became a trending tag on Twitter.
Using advertisements like this, the Electoral Justice Project hoped to boost voter turn out to help boost black rights.
‘Black Panther’ became a strong symbol for activists and proved the cause of blacks all over the nation.
The movie is a pleasure to watch and is one of the strongest superhero movies of its time. This is a movie that everyone should see at least once.
One need not look any further than the movie’s attendance and box office revenue to realize the power that ‘Black Panther’ holds, both as a movie and as a push for black rights.
