Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The first Black Panther movie was a critical and box office beast. But, more so, it was a cultural phenomenon. It showed that a movie with that many Black actors, actresses and people on the other side of the camera could be a viable crossover success and it fueled more than a few other opportunities for more diversity in the Hollywood blockbuster world. It was already a massive undertaking for director Ryan Coogler and crew, to take on the challenge of trying to continue a series that has so much weight to it and live up to the expectations of fans and those deeply affected by it’s impact. Then after tragedy struck and the lead actor,, Chadwick Boseman passed The film had his shadow looming over it to contend with also. How do you replace him? Do you replace him? Will the movie as good? How do you outdo one of Marvel’s best villains in Killmonger? With so many questions everyone was ready for some answers

The newest chapter in one of Marvel’s most praised films center’s around the world dealing with the sudden death of T’Challa from a mysterious disease. This piece of the story is art imitating the real life of Boseman as very few knew of his private fight with cancer which led to his passing. With the King now, dead and the world now aware of the precious resource of vibranium metal and all of its power we have politicians doing what they are known to do; trying to figure out how to get their hands on the resources of other countries for their benefit. We see a group of mercenaries breaking into a Wakandan facility to steal vibranium and being stopped by Wakandas chief protectors, The Dora Milaje. These mercenaries are brought before a council of representatives from various countries and the now Queen of Wakanda, Ramonda. With these new threats to Wakandas’ safety and secrets the political intrigue that is prevalent in the comic pages of Black Panther is more of a factor in this film. The mad scramble by the World to find and exploit vibranium takes the search in to the deep seas. This is how we introduce Namor into the storyline. As his up to now, unknown people of Talokan have vibranium as well, he is not so keen to have people in the oceans searching as it’ll lead to the world finding his people as well. Namor says to Shuri, something to the effect of “people have been exploiting people like us for resources for centuries.” He wants to protect his people much like Wakanda did before opening itself up to the world but, is willing to kill to do so like Killmonger in the previous film. This helps slot Namor into line with the”He’s got a valid point” villains that tend to be more interesting than the generic evil-to-be evil villains we usually get from Marvel movies. I did enjoy the choice of actor Tenoch Huerta as the underwater villain. He adds even more diversity to a cast of talented minority actors. The Mexican actor helps give Namor a new Mayan background for his origin and honestly I believe it adds gravity to his reasoning for wanting to get rid of those who may expose his people to the world as he would know how this story has played out through history.

The acting in this one is some of the best I’ve ever seen in the superhero genre, period. Tenoch Huerta as Namor is forceful and ruthless but, able to show grace and tenderness when around his people and it helps make you feel something other than disdain for the”bad guy” Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda gets far more lines this time around and is impactful during her screen time but, the accent is a bit shaky at times. Not, After Earth, Will and Jaden Smith bad but, not the strongest aspect of her character for sure. Shuri (Leticia Wright) does get to open up and bit more and gets to show more than her snarky side this time out as she grieves her brother and her own weakness. Danai Gurira as Okoye is as good as before but, not much is new in her portrayal of the character. M’Baku is now an ardent ally of the Wakandan people and an advisor to the throne. He’s a bit more light hearted but still as tough as before. Trevor Noah as the AI for Wakandas tech gets way more lines and funny moments this time out too.

One of my primary complaints of the initial film was the crap final fight being too FX heavy and taking me out of the film. This I feel was addressed (because I’m quite certain Ryan Coogler takes my opinions to heart) as the fights in general seemed to be better handled to keep you engaged throughout. The final confrontation in this one was far better than T’Challa vs Killmonger. Still, using VFX but, not focusing on it for massive periods helped ground the shots in relative reality. The film itself is better than the first overall, in acting but, slightly weaker in story. The villain is as strong as Killmonger which keeps with a great tradition I hope continues in the next part in the series. This film is truly one of Marvel’s best. In story, acting, and introducing new characters (Namor and RiRi Willaims). This movie was fitting and loving done tribute to Chadwick Boseman and afantastic way to move the MCU and the Black Panther series in to the future.I know I said this one is better than the last and I gave that one a 5 out of 5 but, hindsight and all that a revised review I give the first film a 3.5 and give Wakanda Forever a 4.5 out of 5.