Category: writing

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

If I’m being honest I wasn’t one hundred per cent behind this movie being made.

Chadwick Boseman was such a massive presence in the first outing, and the Avengers movies, then I thought replaciing him wouldn’t work for the sequel.

And when I found out that the original Black Panther character wasn’t going to appear at all … Mmm.

Hopefully, I’m not giving too much away by saying that in Wakanda Forever, the most secretive, most advanced nation on Earth finds itself without T’Challa; the latest in an ages-old dynasty of rulers who’ve carried the mantle of Black Panther.

This leaves Queen Ramonda (played by Angela Bassett) and her daughter Shuri (Letitia Wright) to hold the nation together in the face of threats from the outside world (who think Wakanda is weakened without its King) and a new threat from the ocean depths …

It was a brave decision to remove the original Panther, rather than replace him with another character; and now I’ve seen the movie, I think it was the right course to take. Not only does it provide a deeper look at the nation of Wakanda seem through the eyes of non-superhumans, it also puts a cast of black women firmly at the centre of the whole script – and that’s something very rare in an action movie.

The special effects are there; the excitingly improbable fight sequences – yup, there too. The plot works, just about, though I thought there were one or two iffy moments that had me scratching my head.

And jokes; yes, there are jokes, though it’s certainly not the level of tongue-in-cheekness that we’re used to seeing from the Marvel Studios, but then that shouldn’t really be a surprise: as well as being an action movie, it’s also a tribute to a cast member who’s presence was greatly missed. Along the way, we had a few sequences from Boseman as the Panther King.

So yes, it’s a great movie, not the best in stable, but still plenty to enjoy, with enough jaw-dropping, edge-of-your-seat moments. And along the way, you’ll probably find yourself thinking, “Yes, he was taken far too soon.”

A fine tribute to a great actor.

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph

This is one of the those occasions when I buy a book in hardback. Why? Well, two reasons:

  1. The fantastically over-the-top cover design.
  2. It’s one of the books I’d like folk to see on the shelf, or on the coffee table, or in the office, or on the passenger seat of the car.

I’m not sure where this book fits in the genre list; it’s based on the diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, an ex-slave who, through his own ingenuity, and I will concede, the kindness of others, escaped his destiny of life-long, unrewarded servitude, to become a noted musician, writer and abolishonist in eighteenth century England.

Paterson Joseph

Interestingly enough, the book was written by Paterson Joseph, an English actor who’s cropped in just about everything over the past twenty years or so. He started out in Peep Show, if I remember rightly, and since then he’s performed on stage as well as TV, and has also found the time to knock out a book or two.

The life of Charles Ignatius Sancho is obviously a passion of his, because he’s also behind a stage play about the same character.

Back to the book. Since it’s based on the diaries of a genuinely historical figure, then I’m going to put in the creative non-fiction bracket. Thinking about it, I think we can go a little further and pidgeon-hole it further into that miniscule section of the book market entitled Literary Creative-Non-Fiction of Outstanding Calibre.

Yup, it’s that good.

The writer notes that this is based on the diaries of main character, and as such, he’s embellished in places, though the story still carries the authentic thread of Sancho’s life.

And what a life it was …

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Elsewhere by Dean Koontz

I’ve read a lot of these dimension-hopping novels, so I sort of surprised myself when I picked up Elsewhere. The plot is familiar, and so are the characters; in many ways it’s a good book to pick up when you don’t want to work your brain too hard.

Jeffy lives a life of quiet contentment with his precocious eleven-year -old daughter, Amity. Their near-idyllic life is torn apart when a vagrant Jeffy’s befriended turns out to be a renowned quantum physicist, who gives Jeffy the Key To Everything: a device that transports “passengers” to alternate realities.

Okay, first off, it’s a good book: engaging, well-written, with a light lyrical style which may have put it in the YA category if not for the over-the-top brutality of the main antagonist.

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