Ryan Coogler – People Talking

Movie Review – ‘Black Panther’ – Rising Like Olympus

Directed by Ryan Coogler
Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Florence Kasumba, John Kani, David S. Lee, Nabiyah Be, Isaach De Bankolé, Connie Chiume, Dorothy Steel, Danny Sapani, Atandwa Kani, Ashton Tyler, Denzel Whitaker, Seth Carr, Alexis Rhee
Soundtrack: Ludwig Göransson

I don’t know if anybody had the vision in 1998 that in twenty years time Marvel would be eighteen movies deep into a run of who-knows-how-many dozens of connected films grossing billions-upon-billions of dollars at the box office, but I do know that it all started with Blade.

That’s right. The financial success of Blade was enough to convince Marvel that this whole movie thing was worth getting into (after some, shall we say, false starts in the 80s and early 90s). Ten years later, bing-bang-boom, we’ve got Iron Man, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is off to the races. Ten years on from there, enter Black Panther. In a way, you could say it’s all come full circle.

But enough about that. Is the movie any good?

Yes, very much so.

Black Panther is decidedly among the better MCU films thus far, is refreshingly story-driven, and has the most stand-alone feel of its peers since the original Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.

More than that though, it’s got a lot of meat to it.

For one thing, the basic story is downright Shakespearean (King dies, Prince ascends the throne, and so on and so forth), but the film also delves into such real-world issues as the African vs. African-American experience, political isolationism, and violent vs. non-violent revolution, all naturally worked into the script without feeling like they were tacked on by some committee.

Of course, Black Panther is also a superhero movie, and a pretty good one at that. I wouldn’t call it entirely perfect (some of the visuals felt a little lacking, and a few creative choices felt a bit off), but I liked that it was something of an origin story without starting all the way back at square one, and I particularly enjoyed the array of enjoyable characters (unlike some other movie).

If I have a couple of nitpicks, for one, it bums me out that seemingly everybody can put on an effective accent except for Chadwick Boseman as the titular character (although Forest Whitaker for some reason decided to sound like an Afrikaner…weird), and, second, I felt like Michael B. Jordan’s performance was a little too “I’m from the streets!” I thought a little subtlety could have gone a long way there, but, like I said, these are nitpicks.

Overall, I have to hand it to Ryan Coogler for making yet another quality film that’s undoubtedly part of a larger franchise but also has enough legs to stand on its own, and credit to Marvel for letting him do it his way. I was feeling pretty superhero-fatigued heading in, and I was worried there wouldn’t be enough to overcome that, but, in that respect, the movie triumphed.

Hail to the King, baby.

Rating: ★★★★☆

P.S.
Of course stingers, duh.

P.P.S.
As usual, thanks to Alamo Drafthouse for the glass.

Movie Review – ‘Creed’ – Achieving the Impossible

Directed by Ryan Coogler
Written by Ryan Coogler (story and screenplay), Aaron Covington (screenplay), based on characters created by Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, Graham McTavish, Ritchie Coster, Wood Harris, Frank Pesce, Roy James Wilson
Soundtrack: Ludwig Göransson

In this crazy world we live in these days, where they’ll make a movie out of any existing property, including but not limited to board games and action figures, it’s nice to know that a sequel/prequel/reboot/whatever can elevate above the noise once in a while, even if nobody really wanted or needed it in the first place (much like the recent Rise of and Dawn of The Planet of the Apes, which are very good).

The triumph of Creed is that it blends together elements that are usually impossible to rectify. It’s a celebration of nearly forty years of a beloved franchise that is also worthy of critical acclaim on its own (much like Skyfall, which the characters are fittingly watching at one point), but, it’s also cognizant of the fact the there is a real world that exists (in particular, a real sports world).

Let me reiterate. If you’re a fan of the Rocky franchise, you should enjoy this movie greatly, as there are numerous references and tributes throughout. Does it work as its own movie, regardless of one having ever heard of Rocky Balboa before? I can’t answer that, but my impression is that it’s getting through to people just fine. It’s certainly a richer experience than that other boxing movie that came out earlier this year.

Another key to the success of Creed is its balance. It will make you laugh, cry, and cheer at points throughout, but it maintains a consistent tone. Nothing feels like a set-piece, which is to say everything flows nicely together, as opposed to feeling like the movie is stopping to do something different. What I’m really trying to say here is that Creed is never boring, and it doles out the dramatic punches and boxing punches in near perfect measure.

I suppose most of the credit goes to writer/director Ryan Coogler. I’m not sure if this was a passion project for him or if the studio just picked his name out of a hat, but it seems he was the right man for the job. He injected a lot of life into a film that could have easily come out of the oven already stale.

In terms of performances, Michael B. Jordan is equal parts mature and youthful, as a younger man should be, and Sylvester Stallone gives the best performance of his career since Cop Land in 1997. He won’t beat out Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies, but I don’t think a nomination for Best Supporting Actor is out of the question for old Sly.

If there’s one precise knock I have on Creed, it comes in the visuals. There’s one bout that’s done in one-shot style (who knows if they really did it or just composited it), and it feels very show-off-y and inappropriate for this kind of movie. Also, and this isn’t really anybody’s fault but the studio’s, but I wish there would have been another 10-15 million dollars in the budget just for shear production value, because some of the scenes with large crowds don’t look entirely convincing, and it threatened to take me out of what I was watching.

At the end of the day, Creed is a fresh take on a tried and true inspirational formula that works almost perfectly, and the fact that the filmmakers fully embraced the Rocky franchise as a whole makes it extra sweet.

I give it a full recommendation, and it’s a great way to start off the holiday season.

Rating: ★★★★½