Following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, director Ryan Coogler and team had a tough task at making a sequel to Black Panther that both tells its own story and pays tribute to the fallen actor. Wakanda Forever takes elements from the 2009 Dark Reign/Prelude to Doom War arc and does a mostly good job at translating them into live action. Letitia Wright’s Shuri had big shoes to fill, as she deals with the ramifications of her brother T’Challa’s death. Wright brings a ton of personality, levity, and much needed emotional weight, with her donning the mantle and Wakandan leadership role of the Black Panther. Tenoch Huerta as Namor the Submariner might just be one of the better MCU villains/anti-heroes. He is mostly accurate to his comic book counterpart, displaying extraordinary aquatic mutant powers, a short fuse, and a strong sense of isolationism for the underwater city of Talokan (Atlantis in the comics). Performances are solid all around, with welcome returns from Winston Duke’s Man Ape, Angela Bassett’s Ramonda, and Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross. Danai Gurira’s Okoye and Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia get some genuinely impactful moments here. The underwater scenes are visually impressive as are the sound design techniques for said sequences. The film isn’t without its flaws and one of them is the overlong runtime. Some of the second act meandered, introducing new characters such as Ironheart which would be better suited in a Disney+ spin-off show. Also, like the first film, some of the CGI is hit or miss. The Black Panther action is hard hitting, viscerally exciting, and intense, with Coogler showing improvement in the hand to hand combat sequences especially. I don’t want to give anything away, but just know that the Chadwick Boseman situation was handled with immense respect and I cannot lie that certain moments gave me goosebumps and made my heart sink. Overall, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever may be a small step down from the first film, it still does everything it can under the unfortunate circumstances to deliver a satisfying follow up to the iconic original, full of action, emotional catharsis, an engaging antagonist, and a worthy new lead in Shuri to carry on the legacy of the Black Panther.
Comments