Friday 23 July 2021

Lego: Black Panther


Similar to the Marvel Knights Black Panther's premise - Ulysses Klau (Klaw); The Black Panther's most personal enemy attacks King T'Challa and Wakanda at once from multiple sides and with multiple powerful allies to help in his conquest over the nation of Wakanda.

With the show title "Trouble in Wakanda"; The Lego episode is a surprising 22 minute short, but is packed with exposition and action, with a few site gags along the way. Lego manages to capture the relationship between T'Challa and his sister Shiri, and how the siblings co-exist in running Wakanda as well as handling a crisis; This episode has Klaw teaming up with Killmonger and Thanos; as Thanos begins his take over for Earth. Using the value of Vibranium as a bargaining chip to persuade his allies of Eric Killmonger to join his fight and restore a weaken Thanos to full strength. The short preface the notion of  Black Panther fighting all his foes alone with only his High Guard Okoye by his side.

With established veteran voice actors  and starring television and film actress Yvette Nicole Brown to provide the voice for Shuri . Trouble in Wakanda features the original voice cast from the previous Lego Avengers episodes as an all out assault culminates in the Vibranium mines of Wakanda.  Using the story's personal motivations  and speaking mannerisms from Ryan Cooglier's Black Panther, we have  a plausible elseworlds story of the re-telling of the Black Panther; sometime after civil war and just around infinity war, as Thor's Axe is introduced.  With a detailed and enriched palette for 3D rendered motion lego animation that's both fluid and seamless.  Its a pardon the pun, a marvel to see how block like characters can come alive on the small screen.  There are however some small logical gaps as to "why" is Thanos attacking Earth alone on a hoverboard craft.  Why would would Thanos honour is deal with earthlings when he commands absolute conquest in his endeavour of a planet. While usually having his children of Thanos to take over the judicial task of running a conquered world as he moves on to the next.  There is also the sharing of the Vibranium mine between Killmonger and Klau, they have opposing economic interests over the long term resources of Wakanda. Those view points would ultimately strain as they strip the mines of its resources and fight for their entitlement.

The theme of teamwork is explored as each avenger fails on their own to subdue Thanos, and King T'Challa is out numbered at every turn to control the invasion into Wakanda and simultaneously save his sister Shuri .   The invasion onto Wakanda is similar to Ultimates 2:  Avengers movie; that animated film has a War of the Worlds super structure, but gave the technology of Wakanda an unsophisticated limited scope; this Lego animation gave an idea of rigged traps to a mine - a-la high tech Indiana Jones, but never explored the technological potential look of a city.  Okay, I may be asking for a high concept, but its repeatedly known to be advanced beyond all other nations on the planet. Though Lego animation has the most appeasing aesthetic, it does fall very short on showcasing a Na'vi type of world like the detailed Pandora that would now be retrofitted with afro-centric symbolisms and cultures.

Tony Stark and the Avengers offer light touches of humour in dialogue, but the episode plays the invasion as dramatic high stakes, and in doing so, puts fourth all the acrobatic skills and powers of the Black Panther in the forefront.  The show is about Black Panther and it never veers off its focus, we get his decision making process and his leadership skills, as the King. Each of T'Challa decisions puts out a small fire, but more fires pick up all over as he puts out one two more pop up else where, and it is in that shared feeling of drowning from his choices and being overwhelmed. That the urgency becomes what propels us the viewer to sympathize with his never-ending obstacles.



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