Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Starring: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke
Directed By: Ryan Coogler
Rated: PG-13
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the continuation of the Black Panther franchise after the tragic passing of star Chadwick Boseman. There was obviously no easy way to continue the series after the heart and soul of the series passed, but the film attempts to pay tribute to his memory.
After the passing of King T’Challa, Wakanda grieves the tremendous loss. As Shuri and Queen try to make sense of their grief, a new threat emerges from Namor, a Merman… I mean water god who controls a massive amount of vibranium with the underwater Talokan civilization. The Wakandans must band together to fight off Namor in the midst of their grief.
Director Ryan Cooler (Black Panther, Creed) returns for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Coogler directs the film with meaningful dedications to Chadwick Boseman. The ultimate theme of the film is the heavy weight of grief. Everyone grieves differently and that is shown through T’Challa’s family and friends. His mother moves through the grief while Shuri pushes it away and buries herself in work. All of Wakanda attempts to process the loss, but the grief of such a tremendous loss affects everyone. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows that grief has different faces. The film explores that dynamic well.
In a lot of ways, Wakanda: Forever feels like two separate movies packed into one. There’s the movie that deals with the untimely passing of T’Challa as Wakanda tries to figure out its new identity without the King. Then there’s the movie with Namor, the immortal merman ready to wage a new World War. I understand this is a comic book movie. There has to be a villain! I wouldn’t dare take that away from Marvel, but there are many moments where the storylines feel detached from one another.
One of the biggest strengths of Wakanda: Forever is the cast. Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke reprise their roles wonderfully. Angela Bassett, in particular, is phenomenal as Queen Ramonda . She’s Angela Bassett, of course she’s great. Everyone knows she’s a phenomenal actress but she reminds us of that in every one of her scenes. One scene in particular between Ramonda and Okoye (Danai Gurira) is an exceptional acting moment, showcasing Ramonda’s tremendous grief.
Letitia Wright has a massive undertaking here as Shuri practically becomes the lead of the film. Shuri must navigate an entirely new life without T’Challa. Letitia Wright conveys different stages of grief throughout her performance in a very realistic way. I can’t imagine how difficult this film was for the cast to film after Chadwick Boseman’s passing, but I hope it brought them some healing.
On a technical level, Wakanda Forever has its ups and downs. The world building of Wakanda itself still looks incredible. The production design remains impressive. We have to talk about the elephant in the room. The Talokans look exactly like the Navi in Avatar. It has to be acknowledged. James Cameron is somewhere screaming into the void right now that this Marvel movie with Talokans (blue water dwelling people) came out 1 month before his Avatar sequel (a movie about blue water dwelling people.)
I just talked about this in my Armageddon Time review and I’ll bring it up again. I love lighting. I think lighting in movies is a dying art form. Why is half of this movie so dark? Not to sound like a 75-year-old but imagine if we could see what was happening in the night scenes! That would be really great. I have heard people say “it’s dark to convey the grief” No. I could not see people’s faces. Also, you can convey the emotional spectrum of grief and still let your audience see what’s happening on screen. Lighting is so important.
The loss of Chadwick Boseman is deeply felt with the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While I admire the film for paying tribute and tackling grief, Wakanda is not the same without the heart and soul of the franchise.
My Rating: 6/10