Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the sequel to 2018s Black Panther. Directed by Ryan Coogler, and bringing back stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Angela Bassett. In the film, the leaders of Wakanda fight to protect their country from underwater powers while mourning the death of their King T'Challa.

Black Panther always does a great job of bringing unique cultures to the forefront. Visually the sequel was no different. The costumes, hair and makeup for the Wakandans and the Atlanteans were beautiful and full of unique cultural touches. As with every Marvel movie the action sequences and CGI were also superb.

This movie did a great job focusing on the power of women. With women in the lead roles, proving they don’t need a male savior was impactful. There were great themes around Black women in STEM, what it looks like when marginalized communities are pitted against each other vs working together, and how grief can be all consuming if you don't channel it properly. The stories pace however, was a little too slow moving for the first hour. There was too much build up and not enough drive of the plot for me.

I liked that they brought a lot of the original cast back. Obviously there was a large gaping hole with Chadwick having passed away in 2020 but they did try to fill it with more Winston Duke and Danai Gurira. I like both of their characters and thought that they did a great job with their leadership, likeability and comedic timing. The anti-hearo Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta, was very similar to Killmonger in his backstory, so I felt that was a little bit lazy, but I did still enjoy the complexity and intelligence of his character. I also appreciated that Ryan Coogler casted a wide range of Afro-Latinos, as the Atlanteans giving shine to a group of people who often are not seen respectfully on film.

Compared to the original, I wasn’t as impressed with the soundtrack. It didn't give me the same excitement and the songs were not as memorable. Regarding the story itself, it obviously had a more serious tone so it could not provide the light hearted comedic genius that the original had. And the missing some of the key pieces that made the first one so special was also an impossible feat. Overall this was a valiant and heartfelt effort at paying tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman but not quite the life altering impact that the original gave me.