Go see it. Loads of amazing visuals, actual thought going into the scenery. Loads and loads of Africa-is-not-a-desolate-dustbowl stuff. It's beautiful.
That said, it passed the Bechdel test in the last five minutes, almost as an afterthought.
We even had the Tokens turned on their heads. Token 'good guy' white man to balance out the token 'bad guy' black man who works with the heel-face-turner actual baddie of the second and third acts. And it is nice to see the white man get it first in a movie where there's not a lot of breathing space between the fight scenes.
And it is so very nice to see people with all shades of dark skin interacting as normally as any other movie scene. No 'paper bag brown' to be seen. Yay.
The next one on my 'must have' list is A Wrinkle in Time, which also contains a refreshing amount of colour amongst the cast and was reviewed as containing, "Everything that would annoy your average white, entitled, twelve-year-old." Which means that I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it.
My chief complaint about features lately has been the monotony. Romance? White people kissing with a generous side order of Stalking For Love where the Bog Standard Blonde is not interested in the guy [who may or may not be twice her age or more. Gross] and only succumbs after a solid campaign of getting in her life.
Action/Adventure? White people blowing up shit, with inexplicable kissing between the hero and the fighting fuck toy in the third act.
Drama? White people yelling at each other. And again, despite their differences, the main male and the main female pair up like that's their only option.
To be frank, I'm sick of white people doing stuff according to the tropes. I'm bored with it.
Which is why I love watching movies that are at least a little Different. Which is why I firkin' adore Black Panther.
I did see one other movie, today, and it's over on my Wordpress. Follow the menu link.