Panther

There is a fascinating study to be made of the Black Panther Party. Panther is not that film.

Using a cast of young, spirited and very talented men and women, Mario Van Peebles is on track for three-fourths of the film. The ending is weak in comparison with the rest of the story, but I still strongly suggest that everyone see it.

The film is, in fact, more a fictionalized documentary than a narrative film based on fact. And as such it is sluggish, uninspired.

In his fictionalized story, Van Peebles simplifies the history of the Black Panthers, doing harm to a subject that he presumably intends to honor. Panther suffers from the same narrative and stylistic problems that has plagued his earlier films.