'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' vs. 'Black Panther'
May 14, 2018 13:11:01 GMT
coldenhaulfield and blockbusted like this
Post by Rey Kahuka on May 14, 2018 13:11:01 GMT
The Winter Soldier is my favorite MCU film to date, deftly balancing real-world politics and comic book flare. Cap does his share of preaching, but as a whole the film allows the narrative itself to showcase the duality of political power and the essence of the 'security vs. liberty' debate. Nick Fury, one of the 'heroes' of the franchise is on board with project insight only until he realizes he no longer has control of it. Likewise, a member of the World Security Council is told by Pierce that he could guarantee the safety of his people and the destruction of his enemies with the flip of a switch. The councilman doesn't dismiss the idea outright, he simply says, "Not if it's your switch."
Time and again in this film, the audience is presented with the uncomfortable morality of military superiority, and how those who have it should use it. Each character comes to understand the dangerousness of unchecked power, but that danger only seems to come when someone else is in control. Only the central protagonist sees it as a universal problem, regardless of who's at the controls.
In that sense it's also a fascinating character study of Steve Rogers. The ultimate idealist from a war where the line between good and evil could not have been more black and white is thrust into the murky, endless shades of gray world of modern espionage and global politics. He struggles to find the morality in what he does and doubts that of who he works for, and ultimately decides to burn it all down. The super soldier now fights for the people against the establishment; Captain America has essentially become a revolutionary extremist. It's an amazing feat of character development while adhering to his core beliefs as a character. And I haven't even mentioned the personal quest to redeem his childhood friend, which is the heart of the film.
Politics get center stage in this film, but it never shies away from its comic book roots. The highway overpass fight sequence is as good as it gets in any action movie, period. The Zola program and the heli-carriers themselves are fantastical in nature but weaved into the plot in a way that feels organic yet serves to remind you this is indeed a comic book movie. At the end of the day, The Winter Solider does everything right. It's as near perfect a MCU film as we've had, and most of them have been pretty damn good.
Black Panther was less about politics (to its credit, in my opinion) and more about showing people what they haven't seen before. I wouldn't say it was about political correctness, either-- because that would be lazy and this film was far from tokenism. They built an entire world for BP, and truly breathed new life into the genre. But it didn't have the emotional or political resonance TWS had. The world needed an African superhero; that demographic is enormously underserved in pop culture. But step away from the political correctness for a minute and appreciate the fact that the world of Wakanda was just fun, in the same way Asgard is fun-- but more fresh due to its lack of eurocentrism. That more than anything else is I think what audiences appreciated.
Black Panther did have a political message-- that people of color are undervalued and mistreated in many parts of the world to this day-- but it's a message we universally agree is a problem. It doesn't challenge you the same way TWS does. Killmonger is certainly a gray-area villain, and while you empathize with his views, you probably think waging war is the wrong philosophy to follow as opposed to the peaceful isolationism Wakanda has traditionally upheld. The moral argument is whether Wakanda should've been more active in world events all along. TWS operates in a world where the protagonists have the power-- and the support of the audience-- until that same power is given to someone else. So while BP asks the general question of how best to improve the plight of the downtrodden, TWS asks how comfortable you are personally with the transparency (or lack thereof) of government, the morality of espionage and modern warfare, and the importance of personal freedom weighed against personal security as dictated by a nebulous authority.
To me there's just more to chew on in TWS. The action in both is fantastic, BP again has the edge in world building and both feature fantastic central characters as well as supporting casts. But TWS is unrivaled in CBMs as far as blending action, drama and political commentary without skipping a beat.
Time and again in this film, the audience is presented with the uncomfortable morality of military superiority, and how those who have it should use it. Each character comes to understand the dangerousness of unchecked power, but that danger only seems to come when someone else is in control. Only the central protagonist sees it as a universal problem, regardless of who's at the controls.
In that sense it's also a fascinating character study of Steve Rogers. The ultimate idealist from a war where the line between good and evil could not have been more black and white is thrust into the murky, endless shades of gray world of modern espionage and global politics. He struggles to find the morality in what he does and doubts that of who he works for, and ultimately decides to burn it all down. The super soldier now fights for the people against the establishment; Captain America has essentially become a revolutionary extremist. It's an amazing feat of character development while adhering to his core beliefs as a character. And I haven't even mentioned the personal quest to redeem his childhood friend, which is the heart of the film.
Politics get center stage in this film, but it never shies away from its comic book roots. The highway overpass fight sequence is as good as it gets in any action movie, period. The Zola program and the heli-carriers themselves are fantastical in nature but weaved into the plot in a way that feels organic yet serves to remind you this is indeed a comic book movie. At the end of the day, The Winter Solider does everything right. It's as near perfect a MCU film as we've had, and most of them have been pretty damn good.
Black Panther was less about politics (to its credit, in my opinion) and more about showing people what they haven't seen before. I wouldn't say it was about political correctness, either-- because that would be lazy and this film was far from tokenism. They built an entire world for BP, and truly breathed new life into the genre. But it didn't have the emotional or political resonance TWS had. The world needed an African superhero; that demographic is enormously underserved in pop culture. But step away from the political correctness for a minute and appreciate the fact that the world of Wakanda was just fun, in the same way Asgard is fun-- but more fresh due to its lack of eurocentrism. That more than anything else is I think what audiences appreciated.
Black Panther did have a political message-- that people of color are undervalued and mistreated in many parts of the world to this day-- but it's a message we universally agree is a problem. It doesn't challenge you the same way TWS does. Killmonger is certainly a gray-area villain, and while you empathize with his views, you probably think waging war is the wrong philosophy to follow as opposed to the peaceful isolationism Wakanda has traditionally upheld. The moral argument is whether Wakanda should've been more active in world events all along. TWS operates in a world where the protagonists have the power-- and the support of the audience-- until that same power is given to someone else. So while BP asks the general question of how best to improve the plight of the downtrodden, TWS asks how comfortable you are personally with the transparency (or lack thereof) of government, the morality of espionage and modern warfare, and the importance of personal freedom weighed against personal security as dictated by a nebulous authority.
To me there's just more to chew on in TWS. The action in both is fantastic, BP again has the edge in world building and both feature fantastic central characters as well as supporting casts. But TWS is unrivaled in CBMs as far as blending action, drama and political commentary without skipping a beat.
