Michael B. Jordan

Black Panther

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Black Panther
  • IMDb: link

Black Panther movie reviewWhile ultimately falling into the category of a lesser Marvel film, there’s still quite a bit to enjoy about Black Panther which develops the African country of Wakanda (which is far more advanced than almost anyone in the outside world suspects). Black Panther seems a bit out of place as Marvel gears up for its big crossover cosmic event in Infinity War as it is arguably the least connected film to the larger overall franchise since the first movies premiered a decade ago.

Taking place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to assume his new role as king. Along with the beautiful scenery and high-tech gadgets, Wakanda also introduces us to some interesting supporting characters including T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) who acts as a Bond-like Q, Lupita Nyong’o as a female spy and potential love interest for the new king, Danai Gurira as the head of the army, and Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker as the elder generation ushering in the new king. Martin Freeman also reprises his role from Civil War in one of the movie’s few ties to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Creed

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Creed
  • IMDb: link

CreedNine years after Rocky Balboa allowed Philadelphia’s favorite son to step into the ring one last time comes an unexpected sequel in Creed. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), the new film hearkens back to the themes of the original Rocky while putting a fresh take on the tale of an underdog boxer overcoming the odds to earn his big chance. Creed is as close to a reboot as you could get without recasting the Italian Stallion as a young man and not only pays tribute to the original series but sets the stage or any number of possible sequels. It may not be as good as the original, but it stands up well in comparison to any of the Rocky sequels.

With the aging Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) taking on the Burgess Meredith role of mentor and reluctant trainer, Creed‘s star is Adonis “Donnie” Johnson (Michael B. Jordan). The bastard son of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Donnie’s love for fighting and need to prove himself inside the square circle leads him from a desk job in Los Angeles, and underground boxing in Mexico, to Philly. His first step is to convince his father’s friend to give Donnie the training and help he needs to make it to the big time.

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Fruitvale Station

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Fruitvale Station
  • IMDB: link

Fruitvale StationBased on a true story, Fruitvale Station offers a single day slice-of-life look at the life of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) on the day he was killed by a police officer (Kevin Durand) at a subway station on New Year’s Eve. Writer/director Ryan Coogler offers one of most emotional films of 2013 showcasing Oscar’s trouble staying on the straight and narrow, holding down a job, and doing right by his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz), mother (Octavia Spencer), and daughter (Ariana Neal) all while leading up to the final few minutes of his life.

Despite an 85-minute running time Fruitvale Station has issues filling the film with sequences from Grant’s unremarkable final day. Although it offers flashbacks to Oscar’s time in prison to explain his relationship to his mother we get very little of the rest of his life prior to this day. The movie also has several filler sequences of Oscar driving around the city which feel included only to boost the running time closer to a feature-length 90 minutes.

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