*March 16, 2023: I have now seen an even greater movie than these- one I have been looking forward to seeing: Everything Everywhere All at Once! Easily one of the greatest movies I have ever seen! One part family drama, one part Jackie Chan movie, one part Monty Python's- style absurdist comedy, all with deep philosophy and a lot of fun and intense thrills! Possibly the best movie I have ever seen, up with E.T. even! Go ahead and see it- you will not regret it! God loves you!
It is December 2022. James Cameron's Avatar 2: The Way of Water has just come out. Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever came out the month before last.
Before that, Hollywood had gotten itself into a bit of a rut. (Not Bollywood. Just Hollywood.)
The massive wave of momentum from the age of the Lord of the Rings movies, which last peaked with James Cameron's original Avatar and the early Marvel movies (especially the original Avengers), has faded. All bursts of excitement eventually fade. The creative juices, like anything alive, must be renewed and reborn.
And without a serene wisdom like that of The Buddha in the surrounding society to provide steady spiritual renewal and rebirth, that cycle of renewal comes in bursts that fade in time.
I believe that Black Panther, James Cameron's Avatar, and the original Wonder Woman movie (the one from 2017 starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patti Jenkins) cold be the source of that creative renewal.
After James Cameron's Avatar, we all got caught up in the Marvel movies. They were wonderful.
Thing is, variety is the spice of life and the key to creative renewal. The Marvel movies mostly did the same kind of thing.
The thing they did was great. But they did the same kind of thing.
We all got caught up in it. Kevin Feige built up a compelling continuing storyline to keep it fresh after the original Avengers.
Then, with Avengers 3 and 4, that continuing storyline was completed. The story finished. They all lived happily ever after. Well, most of them.
And that excitement faded.
We have seen so many Marvel movies doing the same kind of thing.
We need something new.
Something fresh.
And, looking back at it, among live-action high-profile blockbusters of the past 6 or 7 years, two stand out.
2017's original Wonder Woman.
And Black Panther.
The Marvel movies just overshadowed everything else, save for in animation- except for some things that were simply a creative dissappointment.
But among all the high-profile live-action movies, two stood out.
2017's Wonder Woman, and Black Panther.
There were two series of Marvel movies that were different from the others.
The Guardians of the Galaxy movies were different.
In a little, quirky, fun way.
Black Panther, on the other hand...
And 2017's Wonder Woman...
These were different.
These were different in a big, spectacular way.
These had the kind of spectacular, grand, sweeping, visual-emotional storytelling that marked such masterpieces as E. T., the original Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Harve Bennet's Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock.
The last time we had seen something like that in live-action is James Cameron's original Avatar. (or perhaps the 3rd Narnia movie in 2010.)
Not only amazing visuals.
More importantly, great visuals that engage you emotionally on a deep level, stand for something meaningful, and are deeply connected to the narrative of the story.
*(Everything Everywhere All at Once definitely has that!)
Wonder Woman from 2017 had great visuals.
Not up with E.T. or Star Wars on a purely aesthetic level. But still great.
But more than that, 2017's Wonder Woman had one of the finest uses of visual symbolism to connect the viewer emotionally with the story and its deeper meaning.
*(Everything Everywhere All at Once, though, takes this to the next level!)
Visual storytelling on an emotional and narrative level absolutely on a par with something like E.T.
Black Panther had that and more- for Black Panther also had sections of visuals that on a purely visual level were absolutely up with something like E.T.
And more.
For these were movies that meant something.
Movies that said important things.
Sweeping, deeply emotionally engaging movies that mean something.
Since then, the sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman has dissappointed.
Thing is, a heroic story is measured against its crisis. The darkness that the hero fights.
How can you possibly top World War I as a crisis?
Black Panther and Avatar, on the other hand, are different.
You can always show more of Wakanda or Pandora than the first movie showed.
These sequels, Avatar 2: The Way of Water and Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, can be a way forward for Hollywood.
A cinematic scope this large can absolutely carry a sequel.
We did not have a clue as to the full scope of the original Star Wars trilogy until the second movie, The Empire Strikes Back.
The immense scope of ideas, storytelling, and worldbuilding in the original Black Panther and James Cameron's original Avatar could easily be just the barest tip of the iceberg.
The immense scope of ideas, storytelling, and world building suggested by those movies, could easily support a trilogy as original as the original Star Wars movies.
Avatar's The Empire Strikes Back might just be in theaters now.
Black Panther's The Empire Strikes Back might just be in theaters now as well!
I have yet to see either of these movies. I will. Absolutely I will.
But if audience reactions, the trailors, and critic's responses are any indication, these are absolutely sequels that build on the original and are worthy of the original.
And possibly even go beyond the original, like The Empire Strikes Back did!
Sure, the movies have gotten some criticism from critics
Exactly the same kind of criticism from critics that James Cameron's original Avatar got back in the day.
And, in Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever, criticism for being as much a drama as an action movie?
Really?
Black Panther 2 is being criticized for being a piece of deep emotional storytelling and not just an action movie!
That's a good sign if anything is!
For Black Panther was always meant to be more than just a superhero movie!
I have high hopes that these movies will spark new creativity in Hollywood, will spark yet another creative renewal, just like the Lord of the Rings movies did in their day!
When I have seen the movies- which will be soon, and they will be the first movies I will have seen on the big screen in years- I will add anything that needs to be added to this review, which for the moment is a review of the original Black Panther, Wonder Woman, and Avatar and the promise and potential of the Black Panther and Avatar sequels!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson
P.S. I just saw Black Panther 2 in the theaters! It is as good as the original, and it does indeed expand the scope of the series further! What a great movie!