Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Spoiler Review

 

So I've seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 10 for a private screening. This was a film I've been anticipating since the first released back on February 16, 2018. I had my ticket secured when Marvel first dropped the tickets in October and I rushed to enjoy the private screening that night dressed as T'Challa. There was a lot going on with this film leading up to the release with Chadwick Boseman's passing, COVID-19, and other issues on production.

Ryan Coogler excels as a director in this film and Angela Bassett gives
an unforgettable performance

There were a lot of fan discourse concerning the choice not to recast, some going as far as wanting to boycott the film, which probably did hurt the box office a little bit, but my own opinions on the matter didn't defer me from seeing it and giving a fair chance given what Coogler and the team had to work with. Like many predicted the film opens with a funeral for T'Challa. Despite how beautiful the scene was I felt a bit awkward at the same time. I can't quite explain why, but I did. The death of T'Challa was explained by an unknown illness and his death is a thematic element for the characters throughout the film. Ramonda, Nakia, and especially Shuri are struggling with the grief and mourning and deal with it in their own way. Since the true Wakanda was revealed to the world in 2018's Black Panther when T'Challa died it made the world think that Wakanda was vulnerable so other nations took it as a chance to steal vibranium. They were unsuccessful of course because Wakanda is not one to be trifled with and I loved the scene where Queen Ramonda said to the UN that she's not obligated to share vibranium with the world and when she hauled out the French president's men was glorious.

Speaking of Queen Ramonda, Angela Bassett was the stand out performance of this film, but that's not surprising because Angela Bassett is an all-star. The way she commands a room when she walks in and the gravitas when she speaks is unmatched. Perhaps her best scene in the film was when Queen Ramonda confronted Okoye after losing her daughter. You can feel the anger and frustration in her voice. She is angry, but is also holding back tears deep within. The rest of the cast does a good job as well, but it doesn't compare to Angela. 

Namor in Wakanda Forever vs the comics

I will say that I was glad how Namor turned out. Tenoch Huerta does a fine job portraying the ruler of Atlantis renamed Talocan here. I only have a passing knowledge of Namor, just from Wikipedia and YouTuber's reading comic summaries including him so I can't compare how true he is to the character. Huerta does convey the amount of assholery I've heard from Namor and he seems to genuinely care about his people. This is her first cinematic appearance and I think onscreen appearance period because I can't recall him showing up in any of the cartoons. Him and his people were certainly intimidating and badass from the action scenes. What I love most was the decision to steep Namor and his people in Mesoamerican culture. The depictions of Atlantis in most media have been mainly generic with a bunch of coral reefs and some Roman architecture, but to repurpose Atlantis into Talocan with architecture and costumes inspired by the ancient Mayans, Incans, Olmecs, etc was such a unique and refreshing take on the myth. It also helps distinguish him from DC's Aquaman.

What I also liked in Wakanda Forever was how it brought the anti-colonialism that the first film touched upon. As mentioned earlier, the United Nations scene with Queen Ramonda revealed that there are countries wanted to reap Wakanda's vibranium resource. First it was France and then we saw Americans in the ocean discover vibranium in the ocean which led to Namor which lead to Talocan almost going into a full-blown war with Wakanda. In the Everett Ross scene he talks with Val who openly admits that she wants the US to have control of all the vibranium and in Namor's flashbacks we see his mother's people were enslaved and ridden with Smallpox from the Spaniards. 

Shuri works through the stages of grief throughout the film

Shuri was the main character of this story and I think her journey to becoming the next Black Panther was handled well enough. It was convincing through Leticia Wright's performance that the loss of her brother really hurt her. Shuri is a scientist and engineer so her skills aren't up to par in hand to hand combat and it shows in her action scenes. In order to take down Namor she had to use her IQ and realize he would be weakened if he had less access to water so her and Riri devised a trap to dry him out which evened the playing field. 

One thing I was a bit bummed about was killing off Queen Ramonda. Angela Bassett is too good of an actress to kill off her character like that. While I was bummed by it, I wasn't angry about it like I've seen some others on the internet are. I just thought it would've been nice to see more of her and Shuri could have still been motivated to become the Black Panther if Ramonda just got injured instead. It's not a huge deal for me like some others; just a nitpick.

I will say that the costume design is as good as it was in the first film, but we don't get to see as much of it coming from the Wakandans due to the story. As I mentioned Namor and the Talocans look great in their garb and makeup. I do wish we got to see more of their city, but I think we'll be seeing more of them in the future. I went to the bathroom during a bit of Riri's introduction so I can't say a lot about it, but I like her personality in this film. I heard her comics are very bland, but this got me interested to seeing her Disney + series.

The writing in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was strong with believable dialogue backed by the acting and perfectly captured every tone and beat it needed to in conjunction with good editing and score, though I feel like the score wasn't quite as memorable as the original's. Still great though. Overall, I loved this movie. I truly loved it! It is so rare that we get black superhero films, Afrofuturist films, and films oozing with black culture that isn't hindered with stereotypes or historical trauma that I can't help but be invested in it especially when it's good. I plan on seeing this at least two more times in theaters and I recommend everyone does the same.