Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review

This is a non-spoiler review for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – directed by Ryan Coogler, as well the screenplay written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole.

Synopsis

After the passing of King T’Challa; the people of Wakanda are fighting to keep their nation protected from the outside world.

Cast

Wakanda Forever stars Letitia Wright, Dominique Thorne, Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke.

Review

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a deeply moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman and the movie honoured the legacy of King T’Challa/Black Panther well. This is without a doubt a masterpiece from Marvel Studios! After a few recent projects that I’ve found to be handled quite badly, this is one that has restored my interest in the franchise. It’s a compelling story with impactful dialogue and consistent quality throughout.

The characters are handled with care, and plenty of time devoted to each that furthered the plot. Scenes about T’Challa were very respectful and conveyed with emotions that feel raw from the actors/characters.

Shuri’s character development has ultimately been impressive, Letitia Wright really stepped up significantly, to be the leading role for this movie.

Angela Bassett gave such a powerful performance for her character Queen Ramonda, the anguish felt through the screen exuberated from every line.

The origin of Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) was set up perfectly, his character wasn’t seen as some joke at all, didn’t have any silly punchlines to move his dialogue along. Tenoch did a brilliant job portraying ‘Namor’, he had a striking scene presence, his character is 3-dimensional; filled with depth, personality and purpose.

The character; Ironheart (Riri Williams) played by Dominique Thorne is interesting and likeable, wasn’t expecting to see so much of Riri in the movie, however, the character was introduced into the plot seemlessly and has an intergral part to play in the story development.

I’m looking forward to Riri Williams’ future in the MCU, when the Ironheart series premieres. I didn’t like the bulky shoulder suit design though, and it’s very literal with the red heart shape. Hoping to get a more streamlined version in her series.

The visual effects are stunning compared to the first movie; the fight sequences, underwater moments and many of the designs of the characters. Autumn Durald’s cinematography looked wonderful, Marvel should hire this person for more projects since their work on Loki as well.

One of the best parts about the movie is also the attention to sound; to capture the deep sense of mourning was near enough silence, apart from the breeze of the wind and then at another point in the movie, a great track from Rihanna. There’s also a beautiful track called Con La Brisa by Foudeqush and Ludwig Göransson that grabbed my attention. Although, not just these two soundtracks, Ludwig’s compositions are phenomenal across the entire movie.

Final thoughts

Wakanda Forever had plenty of action, interesting character growth, an amazing tribute to Chadwick Boseman, a great origin story for the antagonist. The pacing is perfect for this movie, this was nearly 3 hours yet it didn’t drag at all. It’s one of the best Marvel films in recent years! Highly recommended.