"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’!
"The 355" Review: You've Seen This...Done Better
The only thing refreshing about The 355 is an all female lead ensemble cast. It has the bones of a decent spy film but is missing the muscle and sinew to bring it all together. You’ve seen this before and done so much better!
The film starts with a military team crashing in on the house of a warlord. The shootout ends with one lone agent, Luis (Edgar Ramirez) retrieving a drive that has the power to take planes out of the sky and shut down power grids. It’s a weapon of mass destruction that will start World War III and that’s all you need to know because how it functions doesn’t really make much sense. Thus we have our McGuffin (an object in a movie that everyone wants) that the film keeps as the center.
We’re slowly introduced to our cast of characters. Mace (Jessica Chastain) and Nick (Sebastian Stan) work for the CIA and are going after the drive when Marie (Diane Kruger) steps in to get it. As not to spoil the plot, one by one other agents from agencies around the world come in to the fold. Khadijah (Lupita Nyong’o), Graciela (Penelope Cruz), and Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan) all step up willingly or unwillingly to help stop possible annihilation of the world.
Character development is poor in a genre that demands it. It takes smart writing to We’re given scenes that inform us that Khadijah has a boyfriend and Marie is a lone wolf trying to evade the shadow of her father’s past, but they don’t have any depth to them. The movie plays out like a beat sheet from a first draft of a better espionage flick. As much as I love Jessica Chastain, she is gifted two fight scenes that seem to go on far longer than needed in this film. Some of the choreography plays out like a one size fits all when it should have played to each particular character’s strengths and physicality.
Co-writer/director Simon Kinberg has good and great films to his producer credits: Logan, Deadpool, Deadpool 2, Chappie, and more. Producing is a different skill than directing though. This film lacks direction. The best action directors can get the audience acquainted with the setting and space a scene is being shot in with an establishing wide-shot and then push in on action. There are so many times where characters enter a setting but seem to have magically appeared in a space due to poor camera direction and editing.
The 355 has the formula of a spy film but lacks needed elements to make the equation add up to a satisfying outcome. The cast have given us memorable performances in the past, but this will be a film that we quickly forget about and that they were involved in. It may be worthy of a Netflix night, but definitely not worth getting out in these COVID streets to see in theaters!
Rating: D+
"Us" Review: Be Prepared for Nightmares
A little over two years ago, Jordan Peele told us to Get Out. This time he wants us to look at ourselves in his new movie Us. While this film doesn’t rise to the masterpiece heights of its predecessor, it sure proves that Peele understands cinema and he’s no one hit wonder. Usually I’d say the hype is real, but the truth is true this time around, and Us is the sci-fi/horror truth!
As a young girl, Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) wandered off from her parents at the Santa Cruz beach. The experience left her speechless and in therapy for years. So years later, when her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) decides that her and the kids should go to the same beach for vacation, she begrudgingly goes. They meet up with the Tyler family and Adelaide learns Kitty’s (Elizabeth Moss) secret to dealing with life is booze, while Gabe and Josh (Tim Heidecker) compare boat sizes.
Once they finally get home and Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) are tucked in, the lights go out and things get weird. A family stands at the edge of the drive way and won’t budge off the property. Once the Wilson family realizes the family is comprised of themselves (called the tethered), a story only Jordan Peele could unveil begins.
Peele hits every note of suspense in setting up scenes that we as an audience are frightened by and using every element of cinema to capitalize on that fear in a way in which you feel like you are in the situation. He uses sound and the lack thereof to build those fight or flight moments that we experience in real life. He’s not afraid to let a moment breathe and build the tension in a scene like some directors in the genre back away from these days. His blocking of characters shows an understanding of a frame of film and how to use it. In a scene with Adelaide riding shotgun in the foreground on the way to the beach with a look of absolute nervousness and Gabe in the background obliviously happy, he allows the story to be told without a useless back and forth of camera shots.
Lupita Nyong’o gives a stellar performance as both Adelaide and her tethered, Red. She plays a range of emotions as both characters and is stellar at it. Red’s presence is almost good enough to put her in the top lists of movie villains. The rest of the cast equally play their parts well in such a way that once the story comes together, you’ll have tons to talk about in the parking lot.
You better believe I’m talking around this film so you can go in as blank as possible. Us does have some story issues, but the setup and storytelling more than make up for those issues. See this film with as many black people as possible! It will only enhance your experience because this is definitely a film you may find yourself talking to the screen in throughout its second and third acts. If you don’t know how to do it, sit back and take notes because it might get hilarious in all the right ways. The best part is, the main characters don’t constantly make silly decisions. It’s old fashion horror and sci-fi with all the good twists and turns it seems we will come to expect from a Jordan Peele movie. With this film, it seems we’re on the verge of seeing a new auteur in the suspense thriller genre.
Rating: B+
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"Black Panther" Review: Why Representation Is Key!
Any thoughtful critic would tell you that there are some films that you just don’t know where to start in writing your review. You may need to see the film more than once. You may need the time to live with the film in your mind to find the words to describe it eloquently in written form. Black Panther is one of those movies for me. It’s a cinematic experience that, having seen it twice before penning this, is equally powerful on repeat viewings.
Following T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) after the events of Captain America: Civil War, the film picks up with him returning to Wakanda as king. So in short, the film is about a young man ascending to the throne and dealing with the weight of that. Yet, writers Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, give us something more. It’s a movie that analyzes what a person is made of. What really makes a king, a leader, or a person great? Similarly, what makes us bad, evil, or the villain?
Wakanda is the most technologically advanced nation on Earth. Hidden in plain sight, it’s main resource, vibranium, has allowed the nation to evolve leap years ahead of the rest of society. Yet, there are those who want to get their hands on the precious metal. As an old and new enemy comes on the Wakandan radar, T’Challa fights to make the best decision for his people and the world as a whole.
The casting in this film is absolutely perfect. Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue is a man you wouldn’t even let your kids say hello to. Danai Gurira’s General Okoye is fierce, intelligent, strong, and has a beautiful spirit that pops out at just the right times between upholding her duties to the throne that she takes seriously. Lupita Nyong’o is another stand out as Nakia, T’Challa’s love interest and friend. Nakia is not diminished to just a romantic interest in this film. She’s a fighter for justice who would prefer to live outside of Wakanda, making a difference with people who are impoverished, over enjoying the spoils of her royal bloodline. Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger is the first villain we’ve seen that we could get behind, at least understand and earnestly believe his motives. His calm, intellect and patience in execution of the long game is what makes him so dangerous. It creates an equally powerful enemy that T’Challa has to go up against and sets the stage for serious stakes! But is he really a villain? The Martin versus Malcolm of T'Challa versus Killmonger metaphor is there. T’Challa’s sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), brings the humor in some scene stealing moments. The chemistry between Boseman and Wright is totally believable as a family unit!
That was just the main characters in the film. You’ll certainly enjoy Winston Duke’s M’Baku as the funny but beast of a leader of the Jabari tribe. Everywhere you look, there’s black star power in Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Sterling K. Brown, John Kani and more. Writer/director Ryan Coogler was the right person for the job. His use of the camera is masterful. His angles stress the magnitude of the environment when necessary, and singles in on intimate moments appropriately. Knowing what to put in the frame and equally what not to show is a skill not all directors have. Watching his set ups and reveals after an additional viewing proves that he’s one of the great directors working today! (I may have to write a separate analysis review as to avoid spoilers here, but Coogler doesn’t play.)
The score of this film is absolutely beautiful. Ludwig Goransson blends in tribal shouts and African drums in such a way that it very subtly pays homage to Africa, while accenting and supplementing the action or drama on screen. The combination only helps you sink further into the world of Wakanda.
The costume design from Ruth Carter is exquisite! Black Panther is a film in which it’s costume and wardrobe is like wallpaper, done well you won’t notice it but tacky wallpaper sticks out like a sore thumb. The colors, designs for different tribes, and materials are incredible. The production design is a beautiful imagining of an advanced civilization in Africa. Everyone came to WORK on Marvel’s first black superhero film in the MCU.
Black Panther represents Marvel’s showcasing of a lesser known character, who after this film will be a global favorite (for those who didn’t know the comic character). It also represents the showcasing of a predominately black cast and afro-futuristic story. It represents! In some ways, the importance of this film with the cinematic representation of a black superhero is on par with Barack Obama becoming president. Whoa! Did I say that? I did. Until this film, we haven’t had a black superhero who is as intelligent, rich, and powerful as his white counterparts. We haven’t seen a King and a hero like this. We haven’t seen black women who are equally elegant, poised, and intelligent as they are strong, skilled in combat, independent yet team players. Can movie characters be role models? They may not be the type you can talk to in the flesh, but they certainly are displayed as examples that little black boys and girls can be inspired by.
Who are you? It’s a question that is asked multiple times throughout the film and in various ways. Knowing yourself and who you are is huge. This film subtly pushes the importance of knowing who you are, where you come from, and charting your path to greatness. Sometimes that takes seeing someone like you do something that you want to do but never thought possible. (Don’t read this next portion if you don’t want a spoiler, but this example doesn’t have any importance to the overall plot of the film.) Those possibilities and the beauty of sparking a young mind is encapsulated in the closing scene of the film when a young inner city kid is exposed to a Wakandan aircraft. As he looks at the aircraft he takes a moment and connects the dots of T’Challa being its owner. For anyone who doesn’t understand why this film is so important from a cultural level, that’s why. When a barrier can be broken, or a glass ceiling shattered, that means everything to the person who has been held back. Everyone should have the opportunity to dream and strive to see their dreams realized!
There is no wasted space in this film...except maybe the ubiquitous Stan Lee appearance. The film hits a perfect pace and tone, and has a great balance of suspense, humor and action. It’s Marvel’s best at-bat in my opinion, and how it represents is just icing on that cake. Ok. You’re finished reading, get to the theater ASAP! Talk to me in the comments section if you’ve seen it!
Rating: A