Month: February 2018

Confession, I’m not a Marvel fanatic. But my husband is, so I’ve seen most of the recent Marvel character movies. Including one 2 days before Zach’s water broke as I was uncomfortable AF in the theater chair (but that’s another story for another post).  But I did see the one where the Black Panther character was introduced & kinda knew the Marvel story line with him.

 

So when I got to invite to attend the pre-screening of the new Black Panther film last week, I immediately replied for husband & I to go. Kid duty ended up meaning that he stayed home while I went. After all the hype going into this film, I was excited, but since I’m not a huge super hero movie lover, I wasn’t sure it would live up to the talk.

Oh but it did! In case you weren’t one of the millions of people who went to see Black Panther when it opened nationwide this weekend, I’ll keep this post spoiler-free.

But y’all! This isn’t just a Marvel character movie. The timing on this one is so perfect for our time. It’s a film about the Black Panther – T’Challa (played by Chadwick Bodeman) returns home to Wakanda after his father T’Chaka (played by Lupita Nyongo) died (in a prior Marvel film) to succeed to the throne & take his place as king.

It’s a film about Africa & it’s hidden gems – debates on pro/con of keeping your countries “gems” for yourself or sharing your wealth. The scenery was breathtaking. The technology was amazing- futuristic & so cool. Wakanda is not an actual country & it’s power source, vibranium doesn’t exist, but the film-makers did an amazing job of working in nods to Africa costumes & customs.

It’s a movie about family. About being a king & what the responsibility of being a leader is. & the support it takes to continue to be a leader. & in Black Panther, that support was so amazingly female!

Oh my goodness, I just loved the STRONG female characters in this film. His ex-girlfiend Nakia (played by Lupita Nyongo), General Okoye (played by Danai Gurira), mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) & super scientist sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) stole the movie for me. Made me laugh out loud & cheer them on!

I think Zach & Lucy have reached (finally) an awesome age to watch movies at the theater. They get it ~ the excitement, the big screen, the popcorn!

So when we were invited (& you were too!) to go check out Paddington 2 recently, I was so excited! We studied up, watching Paddington the Saturday (& Sunday) beforehand. Zach & Lucy (& us too) had the characters fresh in our minds & couldn’t wait to see what kinds of trouble Paddington might get himself into &, we hoped with the help of the Brown’s, out of!

We were overjoyed with Paddington 2!

Paddington was his same sweet, friendly, funny bear self that Lucy & Zach fell for in the original Paddington film.

Paddington 2 begins where the first film ended, the rare bear, Paddington happily lives with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens & in Paddington fashion, has befriended almost everyone in the neighborhood. Paddington, in search of the perfect birthday gift for his Aunt Lucy, ends up being a witness to a crime. Then Paddington, the Brown’s & friends spend the rest of the movie trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of the gift & get Paddington out of trouble.

We laughed out loud, L&Z got a little bit nervous, & we were all happy at the end. I think Lucy & I might’ve even had a sweet little tear in our eyes at one point! Zach & Lucy loved the cooking scenes. They laughed & laughed over the laundry. Our friend Jack “loved how Paddington made friends with all the neighbors & had special friendships with each one”. I loved how Paddington showed everyone how being polite wins every time.

In the weeks after (as y’all know, I’m usually universally late) watching this new film, we’ve picked up 7 Paddington bear books from the library & re-watched the original movie weekly. Zach & Lucy can’t wait for us to watch Paddington 2 at home when it comes out on DVD.

Have y’all seen Paddington 2 yet? What age did you find was the “sweet spot” for taking kids to the movies & them last all the way through?

While we were given advantage movie passes to see Paddington 2, their generosity didn’t change my review of the film.