Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the most anticipated sequel to Black Panther (2018), directed by Ryan Coogler, staring Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Dominique Thorne, and Michaela Coel tells the story of Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje defending their nation from an intervening world power following the death of King T’Challa. To set a new path for the beloved kingdom, they must band together with Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new chapter for the Wakandans.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review —
Wakanda Forever is expectedly a poignant film that pushes to tell the next Wakandan’s story with the given material under unfortunate circumstances. The director, Ryan Coogler was able to structure a proper script that fit both the real-life circumstances and fictional events, and within that box, he succeeded in highlighting the themes of grief, death, and life that all contributed to Wakanda Forever becoming a pretty good film, yet powerful at its core.
Together with its better direction, wonderful performances, great score, and surprisingly better CGI in an MCU film in a long while, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is probably the standout film in Phase 4 ( Still need to think about this ).
However, that’s not to say that the film is without its flaws. The biggest qualm with Wakanda Forever is its thin plot, which actually has very little depth, besides spending most of its time grappling with grief as an overarching theme. As the story progressed, it diverged from what was initially set up in the first 15 minutes, which in the end did not lead anywhere, and left questions unanswered or should I say to the next MCU project (a lame decision). Also, just like every other typical MCU film, there were choices & scenes in it that felt generic, and could have been better written, particularly with Namor’s character whose motives are off, and didn’t feel as strong as it could have been – which may have had taken a toll on the overall film.
Furthermore, I can’t help, but address this; “Would the film have been the same as it is now if Chadwick Boseman had not passed away?” “Would the film have had the same impact, if he hadn’t passed away?” “In a scenario where Marvel decided to make the same film even though Chadwick was still alive, would it have worked?” IDK. That’s a catch here since the film is kinda taking advantage of the real-life demise of Chadwick Boseman to make viewers feel, without really working on it — if you know what I’m talking about, but it’s a smart choice.
Still and all, Ryan made the film in the best way he could, given the circumstances, ingesting visceral themes that will resonate deeply with the audience, and will surely bring tears to whoever is watching it.
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