Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Ends Disappointing Phase 4 On A High Note


 

The people of Wakanda fight to protect their home from intervening world powers as they mourn the death of King T’Challa.

I was not a fan when “Black Panther” was released in 2018. I was excited to see his first big solo effort after his appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” but I just found everything in the film to be overly generic; the action, the story, the setpieces, and Michael B. Jordan’s villainous Killmonger all came across as unremarkable. Chadwick Boseman gave an impassioned performance and cemented his status as a leading man, not just within the MCU but in Hollywood, only for him to be taken in his prime. Throughout “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” we are reminded of Boseman’s T’Challa, in flashbacks, illustrations, and just the mention of his name. Thankfully, director Ryan Coogler allows the audience to mourn along with the characters onscreen, for Boseman and T’Challa, especially in the opening scene’s funeral, but then he moves forward with the story.

Danai Gurira as Okoye and Angela Bassett as Ramonda.

One year after T’Challa’s death, his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) is still struggling because she couldn’t save him from a mysterious illness. She tried to replicate the Magical Heart-Shaped Herb, which Erik Killmonger destroyed in “Black Panther,” the only plant that grows in the nation of Wakanda and can offer enhanced physical abilities to those who ingest it, but her tests failed. One night while sitting by the lake, Shuri and her mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett), the Queen Mother of Wakanda, are shocked when a man emerges from the water with tiny wings on his ankles that give him the gift of flight. He calls himself Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the king of Talokan, an ancient civilization of underwater-dwelling people. He claims that an American scientist has constructed a device to locate and identify vibranium, a rare metal said to have gotten on the planet by way of a meteorite 10,000 years ago and the very substance Wakanda relies on for everyday use, including their arsenal of weapons.

Namor informs them that there is more vibranium in the ocean, not just in Wakanda and that his people rely on it, just as the Wakandans do, and have spent hundreds of years hiding it from the surface world so it would not fall into the wrong hands. He claims he will go to war with Wakanda and the rest of the world if the scientist is not turned over to him and the device destroyed. Shuri and Okoye (Danai Gurira) travel to America to locate the scientist but are surprised to discover she is actually a nineteen-year-old college student named Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) and that her creation was actually for a school project, with the blueprints having mysteriously disappeared shortly after that. Shuri knows if they turn her over to Namor, he will kill her, so she formulates a plan by agreeing to surrender to him instead, stating she will keep Riri in Wakanda so she will pose no threat. After introducing her to his people and underwater kingdom, Shuri is torn between helping him and doing what is right. Now she must harness the power of the souls of the former Black Panthers in the Astral Dimension to help lead her people against an enemy stronger than she could have ever imagined.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is a terrific return to form for Marvel, whose past few iterations, specifically “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Eternals,” were mediocre at best. Director Ryan Coogler infuses the film with much-needed action and humor, carefully balancing both components, something Taika Waititi could have utilized in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” After Chadwick Boseman’s death, many fans demanded that Marvel not recast the titular character, but I’m glad they did. Like James Bond or any plethora of action or superhero characters, eventually, actors retire or move on to other projects, leaving an opening for a new actor to come into the fold and make the character their own. That is the case here. While many are still speculating as to who the new Black Panther could be, I think it’s pretty evident, especially from the film’s trailers, but for those who don’t know or don’t want to know until it is revealed, I won’t spoil that element here. Suffice it to say, Marvel made the right decision, and it feels honorably justified. While Phase 4 was very hit-and-miss, with its movies and TV shows, here’s hoping Phase 5, which begins with “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” will rekindle the giddiness and exhilaration we all felt when Marvel announced Phase 3. Here’s hoping, anyway.

 

In Theaters Friday, November 11th

 

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James McDonald

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, James is a Movie Critic with 40 years of experience in the film industry as an Award-Winning Filmmaker. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association.