Weekend Watch - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where, each week, we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the follow-up to 2018’s wildly successful Black Panther. This film stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, and Dominique Thorne in what is easily one of Marvel’s best outings since the end of Phase 3 (Endgame and Far from Home). Let’s get into it.
Letter Grade: A-; the overall feel of the film is great, even if there are some minor flaws.
Should you Watch This Film? Yes, and do it in a theater if you are able. It looks and feels great, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, even if you didn’t love the first one.
Why?
Wakanda Forever is a culturally and emotionally rich film, paying beautiful tribute to the passing of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, while also giving its ensemble of characters plenty of space to establish themselves as the new players in the MCU. Its runtime can be a bit daunting at 2 hours and 41 minutes, but it fills its time well and never seems to drag. It paces itself well, bouncing back and forth between scenes of mourning, action sequences, introductions of new characters, and scenes of plot development, keeping its audience engaged in each with gorgeous cinematography, quality acting, a brilliant score, engaging characters, and fun action sequences. Visually, aside from some minor CGI issues here and there, this film is as stunning, if not more so, as its award-winning predecessor, showcasing director Ryan Coogler’s capabilities as a director on an even greater scale.
The performances that go along with the visuals go a long way in making this film as great as it is. Most of them are not giving anything awards-worthy, but they play their roles well and make the characters come to life. Letitia Wright gives a performance that makes the character of Shuri legitimately likable with emotional depth and reasoning behind her decisions. Tenoch Huerta plays Namor with all the charisma, power, and even menace that the character requires. Even Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o bring real character to their portrayals in a way that some MCU side characters don’t always get. Dominique Thorne as the newly introduced Riri Williams might be the film’s low point in its acting, though not for lack of trying. Her character feels a bit more shoehorned in, and so her performance feels out of place and gets a bit lost at times, but her potential is definitely there. The film’s best performance comes in the form of Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda. She dominates the screen every time she is on it, bringing a new weight to the character as a mother in mourning for her family who also happens to be queen of one of the most powerful nations in the world – it’s a brilliant performance that rightfully has been receiving some fringe-level awards buzz.
Through all of its length and characters, Wakanda Forever’s through line is an engagement with the concept of mourning, which allows the film to serve as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman in the process. I was not sure how the actor’s tragic passing would impact this sequel going in, but having seen the film, I can say with surety that the filmmakers and performers pay homage to the actor and his character in a way that is both moving and true to the film’s story, weaving Shuri’s, Ramonda’s, and Nakia’s grief into the fabric of the narrative, celebrating Chadwick’s/T’Challa’s life without dwelling too heavily on his death. The film moves its audience, giving them the opportunity to mourn as well while looking forward to the next phase of the Black Panther saga – waiting to introduce a new figure to the costume until everyone has reached something close to acceptance.
Wakanda Forever shines in this new phase of the MCU thanks to some of the best acting Marvel has yet produced, an engaging story that pays tribute to the past and looks forward to the future, and excellent technical work on the part of Coogler and the rest of the production team, all of which far outweigh the film’s perhaps excessive runtime caused by some mildly unnecessary additions to the plot. This currently sits in my top five films of the year. I anticipate some of the more “film-y” films to knock it out by the time it’s all said and done, but this was a phenomenal time. Go see it if you have the opportunity.
