Whether you’re of the mindset of recasting T’Challa, scraping the movie entirely or continuing the movie without Chadwick Boseman, we can all agree that the people over at Marvel were left in the worst position that they’ve ever faced with. It was a shock to the world when we lost Chadwick Boseman, and knowing he was battling with something that he kept a secret to the world while still shooting movies, going to press tours and doing thousands of interviews shows the kind of dedication the man had. Outside of his work in the MCU, Boseman was a phenomenal performer in films such as 42, Get on Up and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which was his final on screen performance. The man had talent and despite all that, we were just getting started to see what kind of performer he was.
As stated earlier, the loss of Mr. Boseman caught everybody off guard and it really begged the question on how director Ryan Coogler and producer Kevin Feige continue without their most valuable asset. Disney and Marvel made it abundantly clear during a shareholders meeting that the role of King T’Challa would not be recast nor would visual effects be used to digitally recreate him. With that as a factor, the rest of the cast from the first film was set to return in the hopes that they could crank out a movie that continued the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had a lot of challenging circumstances going into it with loosing its main character and its overall placement with the MCU. Thankfully, the movie delivers in ways that supersede its struggles and even faults to a smaller degree. With Ryan Coogler back at the directors chair, he poured so much heart, passion and love in continuing this story by honoring the work that Chadwick Boseman laid the ground work for. With this being the 30th film in the MCU, it’s the first film that really explores the ideas of grief, loss and pain, and while it does jumble a lot in its two hour and forty minute runtime, it does it gracefully. Performances from the entire cast, particularly from Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett, are top notch, Namor is a credible villain and the expansion of the MCU is another home run.
As Wakanda mourns the loss of King T’Challa, Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their entire nation from a new threat from an ancient civilization known as the Talokan and their leader, Namor.
Some moments in Wakanda Forever have to be discussed by revealing story points, which is not the case for this review. Be that as it may, there’s really two glaring issues with the movie. The first is something might be cliched or a simple criticism and its the runtime. It does tend a feel bit bloated and too much of a circus in certain chunks of the film. It’s not that the movie looses all of its focus, but for a movie that’s on the predicate of paying a tribute of Boseman’s death and the development of newcomers in Namor and Riri didn’t sync up that well. In essence, the movie would been stronger if you trimmed about 15-20 minuets. Like this year’s The Batman, which was a great film, could have been stronger if the runtime was cut down a bit.
As far as raw positives go, Wakanda Forever is filled with terrific qualities that still make it an arousing and satisfying comic-book movie. First and foremost are its performances. Each actor in this film walks up to home plate with determination, gravitas and angst. The two major players in this sequel are Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett. Having seen the movie, there’s no argument to be had about Angela Basset not turning in an Oscar worthy performance because this woman absolutely kills it and might give one of the best performances the MCU has ever seen. Letitia Wright serves as the focal character in this follow up and for all the skepticism there was with her prior to the release of the movie, she really delivers something special and it’s executed wonderfully. Winston Duke, Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o all make a return and while more focus is on Letitia Wright, they all serve crucial roles and give the film and extra layer of emotion. Dominique Thorne makes her MCU debut as Riri Williams (aka Ironheart), who serves as this films comic relief, which is something to expect in any MCU film.
Wakanda Forever also introduces us to a brand new villain in Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta. He may not be as formidable as Thanos or even as compounded as Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger, but Huerta really brings his A-game in this film. Plus, the introduction of the Talocan warriors is one of the most memorable moments in the MCU. They’re completely menacing and the ideas circulating around them were handled well. The action in this movie is also handled well and more visually appealing than the first film. This is also a beautifully constructed movie with some of the best cinematography in phase four. Ludwig Göransson’s score is yet another slam dunk that delivers on every beat possible and might almost better, if not superior.
Overall, the main issues with Wakanda Forever are there and are very noticeable. However, the thing to keep in mind is to remind yourself what the crew had to face with when making this movie. The focus on Riri and Namor while respecting Chadwick Boseman doesn’t always work and the runtime could have easily been reduced a bit. Having said all that, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a good conclusion this era of the MCU, and while you really miss the character of T’Challa, he still feels present and that all stems to down to Ryan Coogler.
Rest in peace, Chadwick Boseman 💜
My grade for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: B+
Zane's take at the Cinema's 