Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Marvels’ Most Emotionally Grounded Film Yet.
Marvel Studio’s has come under lots of stick for its’ content over the course of Phase 4, but one film always felt like it could shift that and end this chapter of the ever growing franchise on a high, teeing up a huge Phase 5. That exact film is now finally in cinemas, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.
After the tragic and sudden death of King T’Challa (RIP Chadwick, we miss you) Wakanda is left without it’s King and without its’ protector. This leaves the country vulnerable on a political scale with the world hungry for the chance to get its’ hands on precious vibranium. While naviating this threat, Wakanda faces a new danger in the form of Namor, from the underwater nation of Talokan. How the Wakandans navigate all of this is what forms the key part of the story.
It makes sense to start with Shuri and Ramonda. Letitia Wright as Shuri undergoes a very emotional and meaningful journey here. She took the bubbly and charismatic Shuri and turned her into the focal point of the MCU’s most emotionally grounded story yet. She has a very well rounded arc that displays everything we want a protagonist to be — imperfect with moments where we feel conflicted and yet able to take us on a journey that we’re invested in.
Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda is absolutely flawless in this film and is some of her best work. She is an extremely talented actress as we all know but there were moments in this film where she had me gripped to my seat and unable to move for sheer awe and emotion.
While these two carry the film on their shoulders, we also see a strong showing from Okoye once again who actually plays a bigger role in this film. We are also introduced to a new character who stuck around for longer than I actually thought they would (no spoilers here!) and it was nice to see that their introduction didn’t overshadow the theme of the film while still being a key plot element.
Huge mention and credit must also go to Tenoch Huerta as Namor, a character I was very excited to see on the big screen. Becoming the MCU’s first, chronological mutant is no easy role to play but he does it extremely well. He has an aura about him and commands screen presence.
Director Ryan Coogler was heavily praised for how he represented Killmonger in the first film, and once again he nails his villain here — giving him layers and moments to really explore his side of the tale so we almost empathise with him and understand his motives. It’s a wonderfully written character and executed extremely well.
Having to totally plan your film from scratch after your lead so tragically passes away is the most difficult thing one would imagine a director has to handle, so to do that and still produce a story that is well thought out and is engaging has to be praised.
Admittedly, there are a few narrative liberties are taken that do feel like cop-outs but there are elements to the film that work so well that you simply just don’t care — and that’s why I don’t want to focus on that too much. Yes, there are parts that could have been cut and it could have been better thought out in places but considering the context and what the overall feeling you have is when you leave you can excuse it.
That feeling is one with a heavy heart. The entire film feels like it’s speaking from the emotion of every cast and crew member — the key theme being dealing with grief, being there for your loved ones and how you react to the trauma of losing them and move on. It’s powerful, and there are some scenes in this film that will have you on the verge of tears thanks to some beautifully written dialogue and a musical score for the ages. The emotion just works and it carries for the entire film.
In a chapter of the MCU that has been critcised for focusing more on introducing new elements and setting up the future rather than ensuring the foundations stay strong and sticking to what makes them work so well, Marvel Studios caps it off with easily their best film of the phase, and possibly their most emotionally grounded film yet. That’s where this film wins big — it’s not only a tribute to Chadwick Boseman but it’s such an emotionally strong film with themes that will resonate with anyone that has lost a loved one.
As always, a heads up — there is only one credits scene here and it comes after the initial credit rolls.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is out now in cinemas only.
Rating: 8/10
