Riot’s Movie Reviews: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The state of the MCU Phase 4 has been chaotic at best. At the end of the day, the few quality films and television shows the last year or so stand in stark contrast to the rest of the field (the winners being Spider-Man: No Way Home and Loki). Every other entry, in my opinion, has either been middle of the pack or so embarrassingly bad, I’ve found myself questioning why I continue to follow along (looking at you, Eternals and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law). As Phase 4 progressed unsteadily, I often told friends and co-workers that the future of the MCU was riding on three upcoming titles: Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With the tragic and untimely loss of Chadwick Boseman, no matter what, it was going to be a mountain of a task to advance the story away from one of the most talented actors of this generation. Replacing him I think would have been a colossal mistake and I am certainly glad the creators decided to take a different route. With writer/director Ryan Coogler back at the helm and a near full return of the original cast, the expansion on the Black Panther legacy was a heartbreaking and emotional journey that will surprise every viewer.
Though I deviated from my spoiler-free template on my last review, I feel it’s best to get back to that format. Wakanda Forever really set itself apart from every MCU project out there, quite literally from the start. It is clear that the cast and crew needed to process their grief about Boseman’s passing and this they did in spades. It’s been a while since a movie had me tearing up as much as this one did. It speaks extremely highly of course to the performances of the film, particularly of its three main ladies: Shuri (Leticia Wright), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) (holy moly, she was amazing). Though it might turn some people away, the bulk of the film was straight dialogue and emotionally riveting conversations that struck deep at the heart. Grief is certainly an aspect of life that is difficult to overcome but the combating emotions that surround it are often harder to deal with themselves. Watching Shuri and the Wakandans search for their identity away from Boseman and the Black Panther mantle (since Killmonger destroyed the Panther’s source of powers) was a pleasure to watch and was such an unanticipated divergence from other Marvel films. The original cast got a number of amazing looking upgrades throughout the film and costume design certainly gets gold stars all around, particularly for the new Black Panther and Midnight Angel armors. Coupled with a surprise cameo that absolutely floored me, returning cast members really brought their A-game to the sequel.
Besides being an emotional journey, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had another unexpected strength: its ingenuity and creativity. Primarily, this applies to the film’s antagonist: Namor (Tenoch Huerta). Like many others, I was skeptical at first about reimagining Namor and Atlantis into a Mesoamerican background. But unlike online reactions, after Huerta’s big reveal in photos and trailers, I immediately had high hopes for the project because simply put, he looked dope. Though I know plenty about Namor’s origin story, I am not as familiar with the extent of the conflict between Atlantis (in this film it’s been renamed Talokan) and Wakanda. But the absolute burning tension that I saw in brief shots of Huerta was enough to have me sold on the reimagining of the character (plus, having him and his followers speak in Mayan sounded tough as hell). The only thing I never liked about Namor as a character in the comics were the wings on his feet. It seemed beyond obscene that he had the ability to fly with those things and they looked sillier than their supposed function. The special effects team should all be given raises for what they did with this aspect of the character. Their little flapping did look silly, as I expected, but his movements, speed, and flight patterns actually made him somehow more menacing than he already was.
With all the good that came with this film, unfortunately it wasn’t a complete success in my eyes. Stepping away from the action, though its biggest strength, ended up being its biggest problem as well. The action scenes were fairly lackluster and never really felt like they carried much weight or threat. The two major battle scenes between Talokan and Wakanda were awkward and didn’t make much sense. Only one particular fist fight had enough intensity to keep the audience riveted in and I’d venture a bet the writers could have taken notes from Troy and Aquaman on how to set this up in the plot properly. I would have preferred a “choose your champion” one-on-one showdown versus the awkward battle scene that ensued. All-in-all the action was simply lacking. Also, a couple character’s involvement in the story didn’t feel at all necessary; particularly Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and Riri/Ironheart (Dominique Thorne). While they served their roles in the plot well enough, their impact on the story was minimal at best. In regards to Ironheart especially, the MCU has a future generation problem. None of the new youth, the next gen of characters for future projects, are proving themselves interesting enough to carry on the MCU film legacy. It’s a fair argument to say that some characters had to work their way up into the comic shoes they were filling (Chris Hemsworth as Thor is the biggest example of this). But I didn’t know a single person who watched Iron Man and was saying, “Robert Downey Jr. was awkward huh?” Finally, while I am super impressed at all the actors that came out to film legitimate underwater scenes (being a seasoned swimmer, even I couldn’t hold my breath that long) I think they would have been better served taking another note from Aquaman and making it look more like they were far more comfortable in the depths of the ocean. That being said, underwater acting is beyond difficult and I applaud all the extras who came out and gave it their all.
Riot’s Rating: 8.2/10: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a beautiful tribute to Boseman and a testament to the incredible acting of its remaining cast. It certainly gave me hope that the MCU still has a bright future in cinema and I certainly hope it will serve as the marker for the MCU’s turnaround.
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