Released: November 2022
Director: Ryan Coogler
Rated PG-13
Run Time: 161 Minutes
Genre: Action
Distributor: Marvel Studios/Disney
Cast:
Letitia Wright: Shuri
Lupita Nyong’o: Nakia
Danai Gurira: Okoye
Winston Duke: M’baku
Angela Bassett: Ramonda
Tenoch Huerta: Namor
Martin Freeman: Everett Ross
Dominique Thorne: Riri
When Black Panther was released back in 2018, the impact it had was massive. It wasn’t just a superhero movie, it was a cultural landmark. While the character of Black Panther isn’t the first black superhero, he was the first one to get world-wide recognition. While the film was popular with everybody, it hit home even more so for African-Americans and other people of African descent. Everything about the movie, from the music to the set and costume designs, was designed to expose the world to the various cultures that inhabit Africa. But it’s the story and the writing that really propelled the movie with Chadwick Boseman giving one of his best performances ever. So, when Mr. Boseman passed away in 2020, there were some serious concerns about how to move forward with a second Black Panther film. It was going to happen one way or another, but Chadwick’s death was sudden. It took the wind out of the sails for almost everybody. How do you move forward with a project when the lead actor, who made such an impact as an actor and a person, passes away? There’s never an easy answer for a situation like that, but I think Black Panther: Wakanda Forever provides a path forward while respecting what came before.
Wakanda Forever begins with the funeral of King T’Challa, who passed away from a mysterious illness, leaving his mother Ramonda and sister Shuri grieving. At the same time, a group of CIA operatives discover a batch of vibranium at the bottom of the ocean, only to be attacked by a group of mysterious blue-skinned warriors. While Ramonda and Shuri are on a beach trying to process their grief, they are visited by a being known as Namor, the ruler of an undersea city known as Talocan. He threatens them to bring him the American scientist who developed a machine to detect vibranium. While I think the story might be a little overstuffed, the stuff that works is phenomenal. The tone of this movie is somber. The opening scene with T’Challa’s funeral sets the stage for the movie. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of humor to be had in this movie, but the overall feel is kind of downbeat, and rightfully so. This movie was supposed to have T’Challa take on a new enemy force, but when Boseman died, everything was re-written. I think they did an incredible job considering the circumstances. Bringing in Namor was a smart move, because this character is going to have an impact on the MCU moving forward, but more on him later. I think the movie could’ve done without certain plot elements that involve Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross, since that plot doesn’t really add much, and makes the movie feel longer. But overall, I really like the story that they told here. It’s not the stupid slap-sticky garbage that ruined Thor: Love and Thunder. This is far more character-oriented, and the movie is richer for it.
The acting here is some of the best I’ve ever seen in a Marvel movie. Let’s just say that if Angela Bassett doesn’t get nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this movie, it would be a crime. She’s got such an incredible presence. She’s so incredible. Winston Duke as M’baku is always a win. He’s just so much fun to watch. I wasn’t entirely sure that Letitia Wright would be able to carry a movie like this on her shoulders. She does it incredibly well. She’s the emotional core of the film, because her character is mourning the loss of T’Challa, so she has to step up to the plate. Danai Gurira is wonderful as General Okoye. The character is incredibly tough and strong-willed, but also patriotic and self-sacrificing. The actor I want to bring up here, though, is Tenoch Huerta as Namor. This guy is really good. The people of Talocan were based on ancient cultures like the Mayans and the Aztecs, and considering that Heurta is of Aztec descent, it makes a lot of sense to make him the leader of Talocan. The thing is, is that Huerta is a good actor, and he’s mesmerizing as Namor. The acting would be for nothing if the characters weren’t strong, and they really are. Namor is the main antagonist of the film, but like Killmonger in the first movie, Namor is one of the more sympathetic villains in the MCU. You understand his motivations to protect his people and how far he is willing to go to do it. This guy’s clearly a threat. You know it from the moment he confronts Shuri and Ramonda for the first time. The character moments in this movie are some of the strongest I’ve seen since…well…Black Panther.
Sadly, there are a few issues here that mar the experience. First of all, the movie is just too long at 161 minutes. You could shave off about 20 minutes and still accomplish what the film set out to do. As I said earlier, there’s a plot point with Martin Freeman’s character that just doesn’t fit with the film’s narrative, at least not in the long term. The action is also what you would expect from a big-budget Marvel movie. It’s spectacular, but it’s very CGI heavy, and it doesn’t always work. Still, it’s better than that god-awful CGI fight between T’Challa and Killmonger in the last movie. But I just can’t help but feel that the action sequences in this movie feel way too familiar and not different enough to really care about. Thankfully, the characters and story are strong enough to keep the action moving, which is more than I can say for Love and Thunder. No, I will not stop dunking on that movie. It’s awful.
Phase 4 of Marvel’s MCU has been an incredibly mixed bag. It started off on the wrong foot with Black Widow, Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange 2, and most of the MCU shows on Disney Plus. But, there were some excellent movies in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eternals, and Shang-Chi. I’m happy to say that at least Phase 4 will end on a fairly strong note with Wakanda Forever. It’s a heavier movie than most people were anticipating, but it is an emotionally gratifying film that pays off in a lot of ways. Also, that funeral procession wasn’t just for the character of T’Challa. It was for Chadwick Boseman as well. So, we as an audience mourned along with the characters in the film. I was hoping that they would handle the situation properly, and I wasn’t let down. I’ve said in earlier posts that I was stepping away from the MCU for a while. I’m still holding to that, but if Ryan Coogler can give us more emotionally mature and powerful movies like Wakanda Forever, I’ll check those out. But I’m going to be very, very picky about which MCU movie I see from here on out. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a great follow-up to an awesome movie. So, yeah, I do recommend this one. It delivered on what I was hoping to see.