In this column, I will Rush To Judge a movie I have yet to see. I will do this solely based on trailers, media articles, and my own biased speculation.  Today we have Marvel’s Black Panther, set to release on February 16, 2018.

Black Panther One-Sheet

It stars Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Andy Serkis as Klaw, and apparently a lot of strong, independent black women.

Now I know nothing of the particulars of Black Panther, never read the comic and never cared to, but I was impressed by the character in Captain America: Civil War.

It seems like Marvel is putting some effort into this movie and want it to be a big hit.

Here is the trailer:

My Take

So this looks to be a cross between Thor, Iron Man and Coming To America.

If that is the case then it might turn out to be an effective combination of science, action, magic, and sexual chocolate.  A recipe that Marvel has been perfecting to create a perfectly entertaining, if somewhat predictable, formula.

To my overly judgmental eye, this looks to be just another typical Marvel origin story but with 75% more swagger.

A powerful hero who is at odds with the expectations put upon him and then has to fight the bad guy in the same armor.  But the bad guy’s armor is a different color, just in case you are an idiot and couldn’t tell the difference between the two.

A Movie With A Message

Further, I am sure this movie will be 20 minutes too long, like every other movie I have seen in the last three years.

Is it that hard to have a tight and concise story arc in under two hours nowadays?

It also looks like the social justice pandering has been turned up to 11. I am seeing enough of the strong, women of color articles floating around to already guess this movie’s message:

Here and here.

At the very least, most Marvel movies have left me mildly entertained. That’s probably because I wait until they show up on Netflix to see them.  I stopped paying theater prices to see these movies after Guardians of the Galaxy.

From what I have seen so far it looks to me as if Black Panther will be no different than the previous Marvel entries; just another run of the mill origin story but with a social conscience.  I do think Chadwick Boseman will become a big Marvel star and expect to see him on a Big Gulp cup shortly.

Don’t be surprised if this gets an Oscar nod for “Most Woke Movie of the Year”.

My Verdict:

Anyone who gives this a bad review will be tried at Nuremberg.