Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is Marvel’s latest phase four movies, and is projected to be the highest grossing one, earning $64 million in just five days. And I had the opportunity to watch the movie in theaters on November 11th. (slight spoilers)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever follows Shuri (Leitita Wright), the princess of Wakanda and the late T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) sister, as she deals with her grief after his passing and her guilt upon being unable to save him through a conflict with the hidden nation of Talocan and its leader, Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
First off, the compliments. The soundtrack was as amazing as ever, and I loved both the African and Mayan songs that were incorporated into the movie. The visuals and costumes were also stunning, though Ironheart’s design felt a little clunkier than what I was expecting. I especially loved the worldbuilding around Talocan, something I wasn’t expecting to fit in so well with the plot considering Talocan doesn’t come from the comics.
The movie takes on a primarily somber tone, with T’Challa’s death lingering over the whole movie, but it does have its more light-hearted moments. The pacing is slower than most Marvel movies, mostly because of the amount of dialogue, and while it can feel like the pacing can be more even throughout the film, it doesn’t feel particularly jarring.
Shuri as a main character is something that feels quite new, but I don’t hate it. She isn’t given a lot of depth to her character outside of her being a scientist, innovator, and joking little sibling in the previous movie, and much of her emotions revolve around her brother in Wakanda Forever, so I feel like as a standalone, she still needs more work.
Some of the main criticisms of the movie are that Shuri doesn’t quite measure up to T’Challa’s domineering presence in the last movie. And while that may be true, it isn’t something that can be helped as again, we don’t know much about her outside of her connection to her brother. Personally, I felt that Wright’s portrayal of Shuri was stellar. She hits the right facial expressions and emotions, particularly when Shuri is grieving. I do think that because she focuses heavily on the dark, sad emotions, she loses a lot of impact when trying to be angry, but that also seems pretty consistent with the plot. After all, even when Shuri is at her angriest, it’s clear that her anger comes primarily from loss.
My major critique of the movie comes from the main issue: the war between Talocan and Wakanda. The movie builds a logical, respectful character out of the antagonist, Namor (Tenoch Huerta), but does the typical thing to force a conflict by pushing his beliefs so far out of left field that the audience can no longer sympathize with him at all. There were many points in the film where I felt that communication could better solve problems than fighting if either side would listen. And the fighting…
Wakanda has so much technology, but it is almost squashed by an army that likely hasn’t ever seen a phone. Even when they go out to sea to fight the Talocanians, they build a ship that doesn’t look any good for fighting on, and it’s sabotaged incredibly easily. I think Wakanda can do better than that. It’s a little worrisome to see a nation being built up to be so powerful fall easily. I mean, if Namor hadn’t been fighting alongside his people, I don’t think the Wakandans would have succeeded.
Moving on to the characters. Namor is the king (and god) of Talocan, an underwater city formed by the Mayans many years ago after their escape from white colonialists. Originally, Namor was from Atlantis, though he is still depicted in a green speedo-like outfit and has wings on his ankles in both the movie and comic book series. Admittedly, I have not read the comic book series, and so I cannot compare the different adaptations. I did like his character and portrayal a lot, and while I think the flashback to his past could have been done better, it revealed enough about his personality and beliefs that his actions were believable. Tenoch Huerta was amazing in the role as well, able to garner sympathy despite his role as the antagonist.
Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), Ironheart, is also a character who is also making her debut, and unlike the other characters, she fell flat. While her existence is needed, as her actions set off the main problem, she doesn’t take a major role in the plot. Some of her actions slow down the pacing of the movie or seem too convenient (she has a fully operational suit in her garage?) and I think that her and Namor being introduced in the same movie was just too overwhelming. Because the film needs to dedicate much of the plot to rounding Namor’s character, she doesn’t get enough screen time for the audience to feel invested, rather than annoyed.
In the end, Wakanda Forever ends with a lesson about letting go of past grievances to ensure peace, a type of closure that Shuri desperately needs. Is it kind of a cliche? Maybe, but I think it wraps up Shuri’s arc well.
All in all, I think Wakanda Forever was one of the better movies of the year, and one of the best movies produced by Marvel, especially after its more recent movies. Like all movies, it has its criticisms, but I would still give it a 4 out of 5 stars.