"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" Review: This Feels Personal
You can hear a pin drop in the first five minutes of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It’s intense and doesn’t let go of wrestling with loss, the cycle of violence and how we respond to it all throughout its running time. Even with that, this film is a vibe! It pays tribute, takes you in directions that you expect and does an intentional job of curving your expectations at the right time. This is one of the best MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) installments in a while!
The loss of Chadwick Boseman shook the world. It was a death we didn’t expect. He was a talented actor and better human being to all who knew him. He endured in silence, proving his quiet strength and giving us a lot to think about in hindsight. Whether it was not to make fun of a celebrity’s (or anyone for that matter) weight loss because you don’t know what they’re dealing with or his words in interviews, we all had to wrestle with his death. Writer/director Ryan Coogler and the rest of the cast had to do this as well. The original sequel script had to be re-written. It’s in the spaces of deep pain as a reflection of deep love that you can get a focused script like Wakanda Forever. It’s not a perfect script/story, but it’s deeply personal in every frame.
This is a spoiler free review, so I’ll only speak based off of what you can gather from the trailer. The world of Wakanda is familiar yet matured here after the Blip. Her people are dealing with the loss of their leader. Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) is mourning as a mother would, with maturity and grace, while keeping the outside world at bay from using vibranium in a way that would harm others. Shuri (Letitia Wright) is going through it! Her grief is manifested in overworking and anger.
In the outside world’s zest to find vibranium, a new underwater nation called Talokan is awoken. With a desire to stay hidden, its’ leader Namor (Tenoch Huerta), will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Even if it means taking down Wakanda to do it. So Wakanda calls on her heroes Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), M’Baku (Winston Duke) and new comer Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne).
Ruth Carter’s wardrobe in the film is once again Oscar worthy. Part of the reason the film is a vibe is because of how cool the cast looks throughout the film. Whether they are wearing street clothes or traditional garb, Carter nailed it! The production and art design is incredible grounded in a tangible future. The music from Ludwig Goransson is haunting, inspired and sets the right tone for the film. Listen to the music playing in the lab while Shuri is working. It fits seamlessly to the point you might miss it because so much thought has been put into this world from head to toe.
There is an element of this film that we have to deal with. While the story does a great job of giving us Afro and Latino Futurism visions, the fact remains that the majority of the film is about two brown communities fighting each other. While the Talokan people are blue on land, they’re brown under water. They’re of Mayan origin. So it’s easy to forget this point. At a micro level, two brown nations are willing to go at each other in order to save themselves from colonizers out of fear of colonization. It’s not even guaranteed. It’s strategy for a possibility. Yet, it’s evident that they are two of the strongest nations in this world. There’s an invisible chain at play that just feels a little all too familiar for me.
That said, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a serious character drama with super hero action in the background. Their are noteworthy performances from Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira and Letitia Wright as the women take the stage in a way that feels lived in from my black experience! Equal to the performances are the character arcs of the protagonists and antagonist. Just as Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) was a great idealogical foil to T’Challa, Namor is another villain who could be considered a hero depending on the side of the coin you align with. It’s an entertaining film that will be remembered in the MCU due to the loss of Chadwick Boseman and the universal themes it deals with. There’s only one post credit scene, so you don’t have to wait until the credits finishing rolling this time!
Rating: B+
P.S.
Look for the male extra on the left side of the screen dancing in white in the beginning of the film. Someone should have been watching the dailies to remind him to stay in character! He was having too much fun I guess. If it wasn’t such a serious moment…I would have been laughin’!
