Black Panther (2018) (1 Viewer)

[Sean Bryan]

The Claw (sp) character was irritating me for a while. I knew the actor was familiar but could not place him. Afterwards I checked imdb and found it was Serkis. Please tell me they digitally beefed him up, because he’s not normally that big.

What do you mean by “big”. Do you mean he looked taller than in real life? I didn’t notice him looking unusually big. He looked about the same to me as he did in Avengers Age of Ultron and in this set picture from Black Panther.

But certainly it’s not a new thing to use camera angles and perspective to make actors look a bit bigger and taller than they are in real life. I couldn’t image that they did anything digital to him.

 

[Johnny Angell]

What do you mean by “big”. Do you mean he looked taller than in real life? I didn’t notice him looking unusually big. He looked about the same to me as he did in Avengers Age of Ultron and in this set picture from Black Panther.

View attachment 44794

But certainly it’s not a new thing to use camera angles and perspective to make actors look a bit bigger and taller than they are in real life. I couldn’t image that they did anything digital to him.

He looked so overall bigger than I remember him, such as when he played the Cook in PJ's King Kong, that I didn't recognize him at first. He looked bigger than life to me. He looked bigger to me than the pic you supplied.

 

[Sean Bryan]

I didn’t notice that myself, but it may haven some aspect of the camera angles used? I definitely don’t think they did any type of digital embiggening

 

[Johnny Angell]

embiggening

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I wonder if this will still be in theaters when Avengers: Infinity War comes out.

 

[TravisR]

I wonder if this will still be in theaters when Avengers: Infinity War comes out.

I don't know about the average size multiplexes but the bigger theaters will easily still be playing it until Avengers comes out. I wouldn't be surprised if the biggest theater near me is playing BP until Solo comes out at the end of May.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think it has a good chance of hanging on. It looks like Black Panther will beat Tomb Raider this weekend. It seems possible that it could do the same for Pacific Rim 2 next weekend, and Ready Player One the following weekend.

The longer it plays, the more chance it has for repeat business, too. People who wouldn't necessarily see it two days in a row or two weekends in a row might feel differently about going out to see it again a month later. And if Marvel wanted to get creative, they could make an exclusive Avengers trailer or sneak peak that they could send out to the theaters for Black Panther screenings, which would drive a certain segment of the Marvel fandom into coming out to see it again. (I think they did this with one of the Lord Of The Rings or Hobbit films, where after it had been out for a while, they then added a preview of the next film in the series to the end of the current film, and that drove a mini-wave of fans to see it again.) Would you go to see Black Panther if the movie now included the first five minutes or so of Infinity War after the end credits? I would guess that a lot of people would.

Also, at this point, the theaters obligations to Disney on Black Panther are over, so they can keep it or drop it as they wish. But the theaters probably still have obligations to Wrinkle In Time (since Disney usually insists on a four week window for their releases where they can't be bumped no matter what). In the past, when Disney has had multiple films out and one has done better than the other, they have adjusted those obligations. So Disney might say to a theater, "We'll release you from the obligation to show Wrinkle In Time six times a day if you replace those showings with extra Black Panther instead" - and I can imagine that if Disney is doing or did such a thing, theater owners would be on board with that.

I think the only thing that could really cause this to start dropping off suddenly would be if Disney officially released the home video and digital release dates. At that point, once you know it's coming out to watch at home in a couple weeks, it's over for theatrical exhibition.

 

[Tino]

Black Panther’ Poised For $460M+ Profit

http://deadline.com/2018/03/tomb-raider-black-panther-love-simon-box-office-weekend-1202339172/

 

[Jake Lipson]

So I'm trying to convince a friend of mine who generally does not like sci-fi, superhero or action blockbusters to go see Black Panther. He's not a local friend so I can't simply take him, but he generally listens to my movie advice with very little push. He is substantially older than me (75), but (with the exception of superhero films) our tastes run pretty similar. I'm a little flummoxed to be getting such resistance from him on this one, because he'll usually venture out of his comfort zone if I suggest it strongly enough. Usually, I recommend movies that are more obviously within his wheelhouse, but he is usually inclined to trust me.

In the past, I actually told him not to see The Force Awakens and The Avengers, because they aren't his type of film, and because, as sequels, they require knowledge of prior films which he didn't see to fully appreciate what's going on. He didn't listen to me on those and saw them anyway simply because they were big event movies that everyone was seeing and he wanted to say he'd seen them. I was right; he did not like either, although for some reason he likes the Spider-Man films (all of them, even Amazing 2.) He also likes the Christopher Reeve Superman films, Captain America 1 (but not the others) because it was set in WWII, and Wonder Woman (which I suggested he see in theaters but he DVRed from HBO.) Other than these few exceptions, superheroes are not his thing, which I understand and respect. But I think Black Panther is more likely to be another exception, so I've been gently pushing for him to see it.

With Black Panther, I actually think it has substantial social relevance and commentary beyond its superhero elements which he would like. He also liked Creed very much, which of course was also written and directed by Ryan Coogler. I've also told him what an enormous impact the film has had in terms of box office and culturally in the last four months, thinking he might go simply to be part of the conversation again. But he is dead set against it, although concedes that he would DVR it and watch it on HBO, or would consider going in a theater next year in the event of a hypothetical theatrical re-release due to Oscar nominations that I expect it will receive. But he won't just go now. He also won't rent it there, as he never does that. He also had Netflix once but didn't use it, so he cancelled it and won't have that when Black Panther arrives there later in the year due to the Netflix-Disney deal (which still includes theatrical releases through 2018.)

If I send him my copy of the Blu-ray in the mail, I could get him to watch it and send it back, if it comes to that. But I really think he should just go in a theater and have the big screen experience. (His local theater offers a $5 senior ticket day once a week, which is when he usually goes.) The fact that going to the theater and paying $5 would be less expensive than return postage if I sent him my Blu-ray is irrelevant to him. We do exchange things via mail from time to time, so I would trust him to return it, but his going in the theater is obviously the easier solution.

And I really do genuinely believe there is a higher probability than usual that h would like this one. Even if he didn't, he likes to be aware of big movies, so there is a cultural significance to being able to say you've seen it. But his other friends besides me are all his peers, and they probably haven't seen it either.

So he seems stuck, which is weird, because he usually doesn't take this much convincing.

I'm not sure if I'm writing this just to vent or if I expect any of you to have any advice on the subject, but it's weird, because I've known him for many years and recommended many, many films to him and have never received resistance this extreme. I'd say 95% or higher of the time when I recommend something to him, he ends up liking it, and I wouldn't recommend something if I thought he wouldn't like it. (I'm not pushing him to see Infinity War, for example, even though I think it's great.) But there's something special abut Black Panther which I don't think can be dismissed as easily as he is dismissing it, and I think it would be a shame for him to miss it.

So...yeah. I just wanted to leave that here.

 

[TravisR]

So I'm trying to convince a friend of mine who generally does not like sci-fi, superhero or action blockbusters to go see Black Panther. He's not a local friend so I can't simply take him, but he generally listens to my movie advice with very little push. He is substantially older than me (75), but (with the exception of superhero films) our tastes run pretty similar. I'm a little flummoxed to be getting such resistance from him on this one, because he'll usually venture out of his comfort zone if I suggest it strongly enough. Usually, I recommend movies that are more obviously within his wheelhouse, but he is usually inclined to trust me.

Even if they've heard that it isn't the case, I think some people assume that there's a requirement to have seen all the Marvel movies to fully appreciate the newest one. And I think if someone isn't into superhero movies, another one- even one people are raving about- probably isn't all that appealing.

 

[Malcolm R]

I would agree. If someone isn't into superhero/comic movies, there's nothing in BP that's going to change their mind. Have you recommended any other comic/superhero films in the past that maybe he did not like? "Once burned, twice shy," as they say.

I found BP to be a perfectly average Marvel movie, which was kind of disappointing given all the critical praise and big box office. I was expecting more.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I found BP to be a perfectly average Marvel movie, which was kind of disappointing given all the critical praise and big box office. I was expecting more.

Same here. Perhaps I'll change my mind when I watch it again, but so many reviews claimed it was new and fresh and it revolutionized/reinvented the genre.

I didn't see that. Perfectly competent superhero movie but not anything that clearly topped/altered its predecessors...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I thought Black Panther was a very well done Marvel origin story type, one of their better solo introduction movies - I’d put it on par with Iron Man and Doctor Strange, both of which I rank highly.

But I don’t think, on a filmmaking level, that it revolutionized or reinvented the genre in any way. On a cultural level, it did present an oppprtunity for a lot of people to see themselves reflected onscreen in a way that many other films didn’t, and that’s to be applauded, but the mechanics of the film were very recognizably MCU.

And while it functions fine as a stand-alone, I think it’s much more satisfying when viewed as a reveal to a mystery that’s been building since vibranium was introduced in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Have you recommended any other comic/superhero films in the past that maybe he did not like? "Once burned, twice shy," as they say.

Actually no, I don't typically recommend in this genre for him. Closest thing is he saw The Avengers and didn't like it, but I told him he wouldn't and he went anyway.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I thought Black Panther was a very well done Marvel origin story type, one of their better solo introduction movies - I’d put it on par with Iron Man and Doctor Strange, both of which I rank highly.

Of all the MCU "origin" films, I still like "CA: 1st Avenger" best.

Oh, and "Ant-Man" - actually, I might like that one more than "Cap"!

"Iron Man" was good but always left me a little unenthused - I never thought it lived up to all the praise.

"Thor" was fine, and "GotG" was also pretty good.

"Dr. Strange" was up and down but better than expected since I was never a fan of the comic character.

I'm not counting the Raimi Spideys or the 2003 "Hulk" in here since they weren't actual MCU films. "Incredible Hulk" and "Spidey: Homecoming" were MCU films that were their characters' 1st under that banner, but neither acted as the traditional "origin story":...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I also like CA: First Avenger best of all the origin stories, and I’d also rank Ant-Man very, very high. I’d put Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Black Panther below those two.

 

[Tino]

It was the African flavor that I liked best about BP. That was refreshing to see in a comic book film. The accents, costumes, locations. That elevated it above standard superhero fare for me. Without those elements it would have been pretty generic. Oh and the villain was awesome. A great performance by MPJ.

 

[dpippel]

I enjoyed it, but also felt like it was overhyped. I went in a couple of weeks after release day expecting to be blown away and wasn't. I thought that the film was somehow less than the sum of its parts. There were things that really worked and felt fresh, while others were just rote superhero stuff. I also thought that Chadwick Bosman's T'Challa/Black Panther was a pretty flat portrayal for the central character in the movie. It almost seemed like everything revolved around him instead of being centered on him, perhaps by design, but it didn't really compel me. While I was thoroughly entertained, I expected really groundbreaking stuff and it just didn't deliver that for me. I liked Infinity War much more than BP.

 

[Jake Lipson]

While I was thoroughly entertained, I expected really groundbreaking stuff and it just didn't deliver that for me. I liked Infinity War much more than BP.

I saw it on opening weekend before quite as much of the hype hit, so that didn't really color my experience. I liked it a lot but never ended up going back in theaters because I had other movies to see and other things going on, so will do my second viewing with the Blu-ray and am looking forward to seeing it again. While your comparison with Infinity War is certainly valid, Infinity War had a much different job, in that it had to bring together all the different characters and pieces of the MCU into one film, whereas Black Panther is mostly a standalone story about Wakanda. Infinity War relies on the fact that you've had 17 previous films setting the board for the big game, whereas Black Panther is playing its own game. So that's not the same design at all. Both are of course equally valid but it makes comparisons between the two a little uneven.

I do think that that differentiation largely accounts for Black Panther's ability to expand upon the typical MCU audience, because you don't have to have seen the other films in order to understand it. Infinity War is much more strictly for preexisting fans. Of course, there are more than enough preexisting fans now to justify doing it that way, but that design might make the difference between, say, $700 million and $650-ish million where these two films are expected to end up.

 

[dpippel]

While your points are absolutely valid Jake, I was speaking purely from the perspective of entertainment. Infinity War, for me, was a far more engaging film than Black Panther, all other considerations aside.