Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Composite Score: 82.42
Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Dominique Thorne
Director: Ryan Coogler
Writers: Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Superhero
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, and some language
Box Office: $858.85 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the sequel to 2018’s MCU film, Black Panther, again directed by Ryan Coogler and featuring the talents of Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Tenoch Huerta. The sequel comes in the wake of the tragic death of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the titular hero in the MCU. The film adapts to this real life tragedy by framing its story around the passing of Boseman’s character T’Challa and the ways that his friends and family cope with and process that loss in the midst of the international pressures that come when the leader of a nation dies suddenly. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Song, Visual Effects, and Supporting Actress (a first for a Marvel property) and again won the Oscar for Best Costume Design. It is a triumph of storytelling and innovation within the MCU, highlighted by strong performances from its primary performers.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Wakanda Forever struggles with an overlong runtime brought about by the MCU’s insistence on cameos and setting up future projects, which results in the film’s second and third acts being burdened by too much fluff. The core story of the film – Shuri finding her place in Wakanda and the world without her brother through interaction with U.S. agents and newcomer Namor – is excellent and could probably have been fully executed in a film that runs closer to two hours and fifteen minutes without cutting any of the film’s emotional weight or action set pieces. Unfortunately, Marvel’s never-ending cycle of product added thirty minutes of runtime to the film for the sake of introducing Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams to the MCU in a larger film before her solo television series. It’s not that Thorne is a bad addition to the film’s cast or the MCU. The problem is that Riri does not quite fit in with the rest of the story and her whole character feels more like an extended Easter egg than an actual player in the film. While I am excited for the addition of Ironheart to the MCU, I wish that Wakanda Forever was allowed to exist in its own space with a less bloated script and better final showdown.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
I talked at length in the Weekend Watch for this film about the excellent handling of Chadwick Boseman’s death done by Wakanda Forever, and I continue to stand by that take. The film’s approach to grief and the contrasting methods of grieving carried out by Ramonda and Shuri makes it easily the most unique Marvel film to date in terms of thematic content and mark it as one of the most emotionally resonant because of its real-world parallels. The opening funeral festivities and Marvel Studios logo do a good job of serving as the opening bookend for the theme of grief, letting the audience know from the jump what the film is going to be about. Rihanna’s Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up” serves as the other half of that pairing, providing Shuri, the film, and the audience with a sense of closure as the song plays over the last seconds of the film and its credits. Together with the development of Shuri’s character from the film’s start to its end, those aspects help solidify the film’s message of growing out of grief and celebrating the memories of those who have gone before.
Lending to the film’s emotional resonance are some phenomenal performances. Letitia Wright steps out of the background and into the fore in Wakanda Forever as her character struggles with whether or not to accept the mantle of Black Panther left behind by her brother. It’s an emotionally and physically impressive performance that left me surprisingly excited for her future with the franchise. Tenoch Huerta lends another iconic villain performance to the Black Panther films in his portrayal of Namor – this time with a Mayan heritage rather than Greek(?). He delivers all the complexity, mystery, belief, and physicality that you could want from a good villain, holding his own with his heroic counterparts and leaving you wanting more from the character. Obviously, I have to mention the Oscar-nominated (and snubbed if you believe the hype) Angela Bassett and her portrayal of Queen Ramonda. It is by far the most sold-out performance in the film, and I am a little bit disappointed that she did not pull off the win because of how strong her performance in just this film was – out of place for a superhero film for sure. Cringey as it was, Ariana DeBose wasn’t wrong when she said, “Angela Bassett did the thing,” at the BAFTAs this year, because she absolutely dominates the screen in all of her scenes as only a queen must.
Led by its primary performances, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever provides a unique take on the superhero film, allowing its audience to mourn even as they watch epic sequences of action and worldbuilding unfold, making its place among the greats fairly unsurprising. The film’s runtime suffers from its forced MCU connections, but the story at its core remains moving and thoroughly entertaining. It is currently available to stream on Disney+ if you’d like to watch it.
