Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Movie Review

Black+Panther%3A+Wakanda+Forever+Movie+Review

Uriel Pimentel, Staff Reporter

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Movie Review

 

With Thanksgiving break we all had the time to relax ourselves from the worries of school, and jobs too, we all had the opportunity to celebrate the Holiday season with our family. Of course, with every special holiday comes many new events, shows, and movies. On this occasion, Marvel Studios™  gave us thanks by giving us the long-awaited sequel of Black Panther. Many fans worldwide hyped up the sequel of one of the most beloved heroes in Marvel media, but how did this movie hold up? 

 

Understanding the impact and absence of Chadwick Boseman

 

It’s without a doubt that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was clearly a sequel created to have Chadwick Boseman in mind to star in the movie. The audience, as well as the producers, were eager to see Boseman’s next big performance on the big screen. However all of this would immediately change when Chadwick Boseman would unfortunately pass away on August 28th, 2020 when he unfortunately lost the battle against colon cancer. Not only did this affect many fans worldwide, it would ultimately change the future of Marvel movies without Boseman’s performance. The great majority of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s script and story was greatly changed in order to keep moving on after Boseman’s passing. This movie wasn’t intended to move on without Boseman, this movie clearly honors his legacy both in-universe and in real life. Keep in mind that the movie was made in honor and respect for the fallen hero. 

 

The Good about Wakanda Forever

 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever immediately hits us with the death of T’Challa, as his family and the nation of Wakanda are grieving his unfortunate passing. I think it’s amazing to talk about how powerful and meaningful this opening plot of the movie was. We’re immediately hit with grief and sadness because it doesn’t just say goodbye to a character of a story, it’s apparent that Marvel Studios is saying goodbye to Chadwick Boseman himself, almost like a breaking of the fourth wall while also staying in character to the movie. The sadness and grief actually feels more than real in this film, these actors aren’t just playing their character, they’re feeling the absence of Chadwick Boseman and his role as T’Challa. These actors did more than an amazing job to display their character’s feelings while also displaying their real life emotions. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever definitely deserves the spot as one of the best movies to perfectly display grief and sadness in a film. This film’s spotlight isn’t just about the feelings and emotions, I personally feel like the actors did an amazing job most of the time which is great because we’ve been getting a lot of lackluster Marvel content this year. These actors don’t just put effort into the movie, it’s clear that there was passion and honor through their actions and emotions in the film. The action and the CGI in this film was also a very major upgrade compared to the first film’s action and CGI. Not to mention how empty and cheesy the action and CGI for this year’s marvel shows were, watching Wakanda Forever’s superior quality was truly relieving. Second to last, the new Black Panther chosen to take the lead for the future of the MCU was pretty predictable but overall it was a nice and understandable pick. Although we all know deep down that the role of Black Panther will never be the same without Chadwick Boseman, it’s safe to say that the character chosen to take the new role of Black Panther is an understandable and respectable decision from the producers. This character does have a bumpy and messy story arc throughout the film, but their performance will definitely improve later on which gives us hope for the future of Black Panther. Finally, the movie perfectly holds itself up pretty well without T’Challa in the film. Once again, the film was originally planned to have Chadwick Boseman star and revolve around his iconic character. Although the story will never be the same without Boseman involved, the producers did a good job to produce a film that honors him while also moving on without him. This movie definitely felt like a final goodbye to one of the most iconic and loveable Marvel actors today and they did it in an honorable manner.

 

The problems of Wakanda Forever

 

Of course a movie can’t go without its pros and cons, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is no exception. Despite having good action scenes, better CGI, amazing acting, and a very good scene that perfectly displays grief and pain. Wakanda Forever struggles in many aspects and falls short on being good in those certain aspects. First off, the movie awkwardly shifts from a dark and depressing tone to suddenly being a fast-paced action film. Of course Marvel films are meant to be action, however Wakanda Forever suddenly goes from grieving the passing of T’Challa to sudden conflict against the enemy. Two completely different plots that awkwardly shift from one scene to another. I believe plots should combine like warm coffee and milk, but Wakanda Forever does it like water and oil. The villain is not that threatening or intimidating as other Marvel villains, Namor, the villain in question, is one of the weaker characters introduced yet, not weak in terms of strength but weak in terms of writing and character. Namor and the Atlanteans are described as being a strong, wealthy, and technologically advanced nation like Wakanda. The film presents us with the idea that Atlantis can rival or even destroy Wakanda due to its strength and technology. However the movie fails to display the power and technology Atlantis supposedly has. We’re only shown a few things about the Atlantean technology, however compared to Wakanda, who’s technology and advancements are very often shown throughout the film, it’s clear the film portrayed Atlantis as inferior. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also seemingly kills off a key character in the story without much meaning to it, we lose T’Challa but then seemingly lose another character and the problem is that it’s so sudden and unexpected that the characters in film as well as the audience didn’t have time to grieve the death of this character as well properly, killing off this character felt really forced in my opinion. 

 

Overview:

 

In conclusion, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever definitely has its ups and its down. We’re given a long-awaited sequel that handled itself well for a lot of the film with the absence of the fallen hero/actor. The movie doesn’t just commemorate and give one last farewell to Boseman, which is why one of the themes is about moving on and honoring the loss of someone important. Wakanda Forever has its weaknesses that truly downgrades it compared to its first film but if you are a loving fan of Boseman or Marvel, or you’re tired of the boring and lazy Marvel releases this year, or you are a new fan or newcomer to the Marvel films, then this movie should be a green light for you. Personally, I would give this movie a 66% rating; The actors did an amazing job, the action scenes are good, the CGI is a major improvement (compared to many of the phase 4 Marvel releases at least), and it gives you hope on what to expect for the future of Black Panther. However the film fails to make a story that flows well like water as it has sticks and stones that disrupt the movie’s flow such as; An underwhelming villain, very rocky character storylines, and overall the feel that the producers and writers didn’t give it their all for this movie. In the end, Wakanda truly lives on forever in the hearts of the fans and the actors as this is surely a movie that will touch the hearts of the people.