I finally got around to watching "Black Panther."
I've been meaning to check it out for awhile. Friends raved about it. Reviews were uniformly positive. It's nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and won best film at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Seemed like something I should see. Now I have.
Shawn RyanShrug. Just another whiz-bang superhero movie.
Yes, it did have more depth than previous Marvel movies with its underlying themes of family duty, cultural traditions and societal clashes. But those were drowned under the tsunami of special effects and other superhero tropes.
My disappointment with "Black Panther" means I no longer have any desire to see "Avengers: Infinity War" and the upcoming "Avengers: Endgame." With 20 interwoven movies in the Marvel canon and two - "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers: Endgame" - coming this year, it's become a homework-esque chore to keep up with everything that's taken place since the first film, 2008's "Iron Man."
It's been a longstanding reality that when a film makes a ton of money, movie studios want to keep the cash flow coming and often churn out a sequel and maybe a sequel to that sequel. It's also been a longstanding reality that a lot of those sequels stink up the theater and even leave a lingering taint on the original film.
"The Exorcist" may be the scariest movie ever made; "Exorcist II: The Heretic" may be the worst. "Exorcist III" was better, but who remembers even going to see it after the horrible "Exorcist II"?
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a classic; "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was a huge letdown, although the third film in the series, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," restored some of the sheen.
The list goes on and on: "Jaws" and "Jaws 2," "Superman" and "Superman II," "Speed" and "Speed 2: Cruise Control."
There are exceptions, of course. "The Empire Strikes Back" was better than "Star Wars." "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" made "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" look even worse, and it was bad to begin with. Some say "The Godfather: Part II" was better than "The Godfather," although I would say they're equally great.
Turning a single movie into a franchise is risky business. If it's churned out in a hurry, it can reek. Sometimes it's better to leave well enough alone.
» A couple of weeks ago, I discussed my new radio show, "The Greatest Hits You've Never Heard," where I play songs that were released as singles but, even though they were excellent songs, failed to make a splash on the charts. It airs at 10 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Mondays on WUTC-FM. Now it's available on Soundcloud.com at https://soundcloud.com/user-360563547. I hope you'll give it a listen.
Contact Shawn Ryan at mshawnryan@gmail.com.