Movie Review: Black Panther – Wakanda Forever
Rating: 4 of 5
Star Cast: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Dania Gurira, Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, Dominique Throne
Director: Ryan Coogler
Ever thought a superhero fantasy film based on a widely popular comic, banked by Disney will ever teach you how to process grief? The Marvel Cinematic Universe in phase 4 has more duds than hits. The studio decided to close it with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and now I can tell you why. It is the passing away of a King, the void of his absence, the new enemy at door, and the weight of the mantle he left. A lot has changed since 2018. The biggest change is of course Chadwick Boseman’s untimely passing away. He led an evolution in cinema as he dressed as King T’Challa for the first time. He practically even took Marvel to the Oscars. Even the viewers have gone through a pandemic and a gazillion amount of lukewarm Marvel content. So this is of course a redemption, and what follows now is a love letter.
Story by Ryan Coogler with Joe Robert Cole’s help for the screenplay, Wakanda Forever is how you define a good film. Marinated in intricacies but sorted to an extent where you can see the makers dealing with a single storyline one at a time. There is no rush to reach from point A to B, but the journey is what you must see. And the journey begins with a tribute. Boseman’s death for every fan and cinema lover, was a personal loss. Coogler in his writing shapes the funeral like we all are present in there. The homage is so heartfelt, the tears so real, that first 5 minutes and the viewer has Goosebumps with a thudding sound that signals the last visuals of T’Challa leading to a dead silence. Ryan and the team’s language makes you feel Chadwick’s void is silences. Every time he enters the frame there is zero music, a vacuum almost, and I felt that to my core.
And begins the life after the passing away of the King, and what is served ahead. Queen Ramonda played by an incredible Angela Bassett has taken over the throne for the time being. Coogler makes sure that he doesn’t let the pain die even for a minute because the loss is that big. Amid that, he also continues to build his story leading to a successor. What is surprising is that Wakanda Forever has all the trait of a perfect Marvel movie, chase sequence, fights both land and underwater, and a lot of action, but there is also a heart to it all, and one that is vulnerable. With Shuri (Letitia Wright) he makes sure you are reminded of the responsibility and the pain of bearing it. The world while is very personal and intact in the vicinity of Wakanda but the approach is much larger. A thing every other MCU project has failed in phase 4 except for a couple of them.
First, we miss you Chadwick Boseman, our one true King T’Challa. Second, it is the women running the show baby! Letitia Wright as Shuri is an actor par excellence this time. She not only has to retain her beliefs as a youngster, but with it has to process the grief of her brothers demise. And the responsibility is a byproduct already. Wright does an amazing job of keeping this camp together. With Angela she brings the emotional core of the movie alive. Sit through the post credit to see a zoom in shot of hers where she aces it without a single dialogue.
Angela is anyways an actor who hardly goes wrong. There is power in how she approaches Ramonda because she doesn’t allow her to visually break at any point. So the constant pressing of pain does lead to a blast and when she does, she puts up a brilliant exhibition of her talent. So does Dania Gurira as Okoye. She is put to test and comes out glorious with Lupita, who I feel should have had a bit more than what she got.
Talking of the antagonist, Tenoch Huerta was born to play Namor. The actor almost confuses you if he is good or bad and then manages to also make you root for him. There is a lot of him in the future of MCU and it is made clear. He has the potential to be the next Thanos with a story even supporting his cause like the now-dead baddie.
The void is felt, a new hero has risen, the future of Wakanda looks glorious and we must thank Ryan Coogler. Everyone else in the MCU, please take notes.
