Directed By Ryan Coogler

Starring – Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’O

The Plot – Queen Ramonda (Bassett), Shuri (Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje fight to protect the kingdom of Wakanda from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Nyong’O) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for their nation amidst a newfound threat.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and some adult language

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | Official Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

Picking up the pieces to a franchise after the star’s untimely passing is no easy feat, but Coogler embraces the challenge, bringing with it what is easily one of Marvel’s most emotionally stirring installments in the entire MCU. It’s a film with many thematic impulses, but particularly about the confines of grief, and how everybody’s reaction to the universal conflict is every bit as complex as that of the idea of death in the first place. In conquering this element of the film that transpires on-screen and off, the film is tastefully and emotionally able to pay respects to the late Chadwick Boseman, but also maintain maturity in the tonal consistencies throughout that made this a refreshing experience when compared to the rest of phase four, which has been marred by the need to turn these films into almost parodies of themselves. There are momentary instances of humor spread tastefully throughout, but they materialize naturally in the depths of the scenes and sequences they spring from, all the while maintaining the emphasis on the somberly dramatic that it approaches with patience and articulence. Aside from this, the film is equally blessed in the instances that it improves upon, mainly the special effects, which were awful in the first film, and the antagonist addition of Namor, who is fleshed out with a motivation and menace to his mayhem that offers some endearing angles of war and resolution when held in contrast to that of our world’s own contemporary conflicts. Namor, like the people of Wakanda, is just there to protect and enhance his community, and will go to war with anyone who threatens that instance. It brings a few unique aspects in the dynamic between he and Shuri, but in particular illustrates the frailty of communication, and how it can all come tumbling down with materializing conflicts that feel almost accidental but nevertheless paralyzing for those held in tow. As expected, the performances are all exceptional, but for my money the work of Wright, as she is called upon to do some emotional and physical heavy lifting as a result of her role being unceremoniously shifted into the limelight of this franchise, as well as Bassett’s thunderously powerful command as the queen, are the true show-stealers. Call it a matter of the material being more dramatic than its predecessor, but I truly believe that each of them supplants a commanding presence and complexity in psychology to their respective characterizations, illustrating women in superhero films as the strong, resilient and beautiful forces of devastation that they are in real life, instead of a gimmick that lends itself like a wet blanket to aspects like a film’s color pallet or heavily intentioned soundtrack. While on the subject of the movie’s technical capacities, this is once again another triumphant turn from composer Ludwig Goransson, whose versatility on emotional and influential tracks cements an assembly of work that instills an underlining element of tragedy and even personality to what he continuously conjures. In particular, the scenes with Namor breed an almost Egyptian essence with instrumentals involving clarinets and flutes to give scenes in his underwater world an ages old channeling that not only feels diversely satisfying in contrast to the drums and keys surrounding them, but also proof for the pudding that Goransson constantly challenges himself to invoke something freshly satisfying for the respect of the characters he musically narrates. Finally, while the film’s climax might be a bit divisive towards audiences seeking impact, the mid credits sequence actually justifies something beneficial and pivotal, but to this one chapter in the MCU. That might disappoint some people, as these sequences are typically used to tease a future character or conflict, but for my money I loved that it prescribed depth and resolve towards one particular character evolution, which feels like the release and reprieve that they need after the untimely death of their powerful leader.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, phase four of the MCU still has yet to produce that film that completely blows my mind and reminds me why their twelve years of storytelling is the very best and most consistent in cinema history. Part of the problem for “Wakanda Forever” lends itself to the overtly ambitious run time of 165 minutes, which highlights more than a few problems with its cobbled together script. While the entertainment factor is there in keeping me constantly gripped to the characters and their respective conflicts, the second act feels like a Frankenstein project of subplots that continuously keep stacking plates until they all eventually fall over on the pacing of the picture. Sometimes this lends itself to arcs that virtually go nowhere with no kind of satisfying pay-off, other times there are arcs that only serve as baiting for future MCU installments, with no connective tissue to this film or its characters, and most of the time this lends itself to long-winded sequencing that essentially feels like the first cut in post-production editing. It’s definitely too long and could’ve easily surmised the same story with 110 minutes of trimmed and concise storytelling with more urgency to its unraveling narrative. Beyond this, I was also burdened with an abundance of plot conveniences and plot devices, which eviscerate some of the unpredictability of the experience. Because of such, this is one of those films where a new piece of technology magically gets constructed before a conflict that it can be used in appears, and just as you can bet it will once again come into play somewhere later in the film, you can equally expect that its characters, particularly anyone but Shuri, will have no problem what so ever in learning how to adapt to them with little to no experience. Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly to anyone who knows how much I worship at the altar of Coogler, the action sequences depreciate from the crisp, cohesive choreography of the previous film. To be fair, the problem isn’t with the choreography itself, here emulating the same kind of believability in motions and energy, but rather the editing and camera work itself, which borders on frantic while constructing sequences that I sometimes truly couldn’t interpret who was hitting who. It’s bad enough that there are only four action sequences in the entirety of the 165-minute run time, but even worse when you consider the depiction is deduced to these rapid-fire cuts between claustrophobic camera angles that not only saturate the sting of the conflict’s clarity and effectiveness, but also in the case of Wright, undervalues the commitment to craft that should’ve been the biggest evidence of her character’s gritty transformation.

OVERALL
“Wakanda Forever” isn’t quite to the level of its cultural juggernaut of a counterpart, but it is the emotionally hefty and consequential side of the MCU that we unfortunately don’t get enough of. While an overtly ambitious run time and disjointed second act obscures focus and key characters from the forefront, the performances of those asked to enhance their influence continuously rise to the occasion while shouldering the tremendous load of responsibility left by Boseman’s irreplaceable legacy scattered passionately throughout Coogler’s hearty goodbye to his iconic leading lad.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-