Movie Review: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Written by Grady Fiorio Original Publishing Date: November 16th, 2022 Rating: 4.5/5

Forever is a mighty long time...

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Director Ryan Coogler Runtime 2 Hr 41 Min Format Digital (IMAX) Release Date 2022

How do you comprehend loss? The loss of a son, the loss of a king, the loss of a nation, the loss of power. How do you comprehend loss when everything is at stake? New death and resurrection. From great loss comes great triumph. At our lowest points, we find our highest selves. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is not just a film but a wake, a funeral, and a sense of closure. In August 2020, Chadwick Boseman died after a private battle with colon cancer. His death was untimely, not only because Boseman was a husband and family man, but at only 43 years old he was a rising star. Playing some of history's most iconic black historical figures, Chadwick would find his Hollywood peak as T'Challa, the Black Panther. A Marvel Comics hero, and inspiration to millions around the world. Leaving us at his highest, one question remained. What was to happen with the Black Panther series? The film was a cultural phenomenon, making over a billion dollars. Boseman was certainly the face of the series, but with him gone, everything was left into question. Details around the sequel film were kept very much under wraps, but Kevin Feige and Co were very much adamant that the film was still happening. With the loss of a star, the high expectations from fans, and the narrative cap on Marvel's phase 4, the stakes couldn't have been higher. So did director and co-writer Ryan Coogler succeed? Or was this another forgettable entry into Marvel's misaligned phase 4 of the MCU? I can confidently say they not only succeeded but blew my expectations of out the water.

The film opens in chaos. Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister, scrambles in her high-tech lab to find a cure for an unknown disease, as T'Challa is dying off-screen. Even though Shuri tries her damndest to save her brother, life has other plans. The King of Wakanda, the Black Panther, is dead. A year passes, and the Kingdom of Wakanda is left in turmoil, as now without a king or defender, the world's eyes are set on its rich supply of vibranium, a rare resource used to create high-tech cities, power supplies, medical tools, and weaponry. As Wakanda pushes back against the imperialist guns of the outside world, a rich vibranium supply is discovered in a hidden underwater nation called Talokan. The leader of Talokan, Namor, offers an alliance with Wakanda. Together they can wage a war on the surface world, as to keep their people and resources safe. Wakanda can either join or perish under Talokan's significantly advanced military. Without a Black Panther to protect the nation and the threat of imperialism at the doorstep, Wakanda's remaining leaders must band together to protect the interests of their people, without sacrificing their morality.

Wakanda Forever is a film about tough decisions, actions, and consequences. Even when you "do the right thing" someone always has to pay the price. People die, are exploited, and have their lives uprooted. How do you react when you hand the world a flower, and it responds with a knife to your throat? Temptation is a helluva drug. This film takes all the ideas of the first and expands, asking bigger, bolder questions. For a film about underwater nations and superpowered beings, it's surprisingly grounded and geopolitical. Talokan has honest reasons to defend its people and resources, but its methods are violent and destructive. That being said, violence was used against their people to enslave and steal. Is it ever justified to use the tactics of your captures to gain your freedom? With the loss of King T'Challa, Wakanda is both politically and emotionally vulnerable, leaving them open for an attack. When you're at war, where do you draw the line? Do you ever draw the line? Namor serves as quite a complex and multilayered villain. His character brings out the best of the narrative, constantly challenging the beliefs of Wakanda, especially Shuri. Tenoch Huerta plays the character of Namor masterfully, giving him just enough charisma to almost win you over, but enough bite to push you back. It's a constant tug-of-war with the audience, and it's engaging from start to finish.

Even with a complex narrative, this doesn't skimp out on the action. The battles are absolutely stunning, purposeful, well-edited, and hand-crafted. The final climatic battles between Talokan and Wakanda are shot and choreographed especially well, feeling more like something out of a Chris Nolan or James Cameron film. There is a special touch throughout every frame of this film. It's the type of movie that's not being made by studios today. The Story is treated with seriousness and reverence that gives the characters and stakes so much weight. It truly feels like the lives of nations are at stake, not just a hodgepodge of CGI lasers colliding into buildings. Even the credits of the film are delivered with an emotional touch, that not only wraps up the final character arc of Shuri but also brings closure to the passing of Chadwick Boseman. Coogler stepped up his game, paying strict attention to detail in every piece of this film's presentation. The work of cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw is especially unique. Each composition is expertly blocked and choreographed, with beautiful lighting schemes to enhance every scene. Ornate costume designs by designer Ruthe Carter, help to give both Wakanda and Talokan a real presence and authenticity in the world. Their cultures may be fictional but are rooted in real history, which makes the setting and story that much more grounded in reality. The film's high quality is accentuated by the score from famed Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson. Combining the sounds of African and Mesoamerican culture, Göransson creates an overwhelmingly powerful score, that is somber yet commanding, leading every scene like a maestro to an orchestra.

With the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the cast was left a tough challenge. Every single supporting member needed to carry what was left behind, and thankfully they greatly succeeded. Each cast member, leading or supporting, helps to carry this film and give a new significant layer of depth to their motivations and arcs. There is not a single mediocre performance in this film. Letitia Wright especially transforms what was originally a character designed for comic relief, into a leading hero that goes through changes and depths I did not expect from an MCU film. While the entire cast gives stellar performances, the true show-stopper is Angela Basset as Queen Ramonda. Basset absolutely steals every scene that she's in. The best way to describe her performance is raw. Raw and painful. Ramonda is a queen strife with heartache and loss. Her son, her husband, her nephew, all dead. Her nation is suffering from an unwinnable war, all while the world's nations try to plunder their natural resources. Basset's words strike with venom, but also carry the tenderness of a grieving mother. Her performance is one of the best I've seen this year. Maybe it's too early to call, but I'd say it's even Oscar-worthy. It's certainly the best performance by an actress I've seen this year.

But all this praise is probably leaving you wondering, how does Wakanda Forever stack up against the Panther's debut film? It succeeds in every way. It's a bit of a hot take, but I personally thought the first film was just okay. The film had interesting characters and ideas, but constantly stifled itself with outdated "what are those" jokes and poorly shot fight scenes. The film's villain Kilmonger was definitely interesting in his motivations but lacked the depth needed to truly shine through. Given that the third act of the film abandons most of its ideas for a poorly shot, bad VFX spectacle, the film as a whole didn't do much to rise above the standard Marvel formula. Not a bad film, but not the great achievement it could have been. Wakanda Forever on the other hand remedies nearly every issue I had with Black Panther. With an incredibly strong vision from director Ryan Coogler, Wakanda Forever is the product of an artist in mourning, giving everything he has to create a film that is as emotionally resonant as it is visually stunning.

So for all the amazing things this film does right, does it get anything wrong? Well... yes, there are a few issues that slightly bog down what is otherwise quite a great film. Because the film is trying to tackle so much over the course of its nearly three-hour run time, some events are left up to exposition dumps. The kind where someone has to conveniently explain to another character their exact backstory or reason for being in the film. Namor has this exact conversation with Shuri, demonstrated through a series of narration and flashbacks. While the actual scene is very engaging, like the rest of the film, the need to condense information into a tightly packaged sequence is noticeable. This happens a few times throughout the film but is never so egregious that it gets in the way of the story or characters. These exposition dumps lead to another similar pacing issue, this time stemming from the film's prologue and epilogue. Simply put, the opening and closing 10 minutes, could have used a bit more time in the oven. Now I know this is already a bit of a tall order given that the film is running at a cool 2 hours and 41 minutes, but I couldn't help but feel that the opening of T'Challa's death/funeral and closing epilogue went by a bit too quickly. The opening sequence serves as a memorial to Chadwick Boseman, and while shot beautifully, feels like it could have used a bit of padding before jumping into the narrative. As for the film's final epilogue, it's satisfying for the most part but still feels a bit rushed. The actual final climatic battle is great, but the closer comes and goes a bit too quickly. The mid-credit scene works somewhat to remedy this but features another convenient exposition dump. All these issues being said, the film is still able to keep a good, consistent pace, and is thoroughly engaging even with its long, well deserved, run time.

However, there is also another larger conversation to be had when it comes to Wakanda Forever. This is not a film that lives in a bubble, but rather in an entire cinematic universe, one that while growing exponentially, seems to be shrinking in its narrative scope. The MCU has had a problem post-Endgame, leading into Phase 4. They don't know where they're going, and sadly Wakanda Forever isn't much different. The film as a single narrative is excellent but tied into a larger universe starts to create plot holes and inconsistencies that become harder to ignore. Where was Bucky? How about Falcon? The Eternals? Captain Marvel? Literally anyone of the heroes that have even a smidge of connection to Wakanda? This has become a huge problem within the MCU. There's a constant stream of world-ending events, yet if it's a solo movie, nobody else is showing up besides the guy whose name is in the title. I understand that Marvel doesn't want to do constant cross-over events or pay for returning big-name actors, but it stops making sense when there are literal peace-keeping gods that don't show up when the fate of the universe is at stake. It's inconsistent storytelling that lacks a unified vision for the future. With a new show coming to Disney + seemingly every other week, the MCU is expanding at a rapid rate, but can't keep up with its own narrative. Disney and Marvel need to bring back the interconnected tissue that made the original Infinity Saga work so well, otherwise, this is all going to snap away into a cloud of dust.

Despite a few shortcomings, Ryan Coogler has truly created something special here with Wakanda Forever. The cinematography, score, performances, costume design, and more, all feel so intentional. There's a true defining vision behind this project with a story to tell. This is easily the best-directed film in the MCU. It's amazing what can happen when you get a director with a vision and let them do their job. With the cultural significance of the first film and the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the pressure was on, but the creative team behind this film understood the weight of the assignment and rose to the occasion. Wakanda Forever delivers a blockbuster that is not only a worthy successor to the original film but also a memorial to a generational icon that will continue to inspire a culture and industry.