Movie Review: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Arriving four years after Black Panther (2018), Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever serves both as an entertaining and worthy sequel to the first film as well as an homage to the star of that film – the late Chadwick Boseman.

Following the offscreen death of King T’Challa, the country of Wakanda is being led by Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) as she and her advisors strive to protect the country’s technology from various world powers demanding that Wakanda share their knowledge with the rest of the world. However, when a new threat to not only Wakanda, but the entire world as well, appears in the form of Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the absence of the Black Panther is felt more deeply than it was before.

Clocking in at 161 minutes, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is almost half an hour longer than its predecessor. But that extra time is spent in service honoring the memory of Boseman, who passed away in 2020 after a long battle with colon cancer, rather than any unnecessary plot tangents. For a film nearly three hours in length, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever never feels as though it’s straining to get to the next plot point or significant event. Instead, the film embraces its epic stature and endeavors to deliver such.

Returning characters such as Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) are well represented, as is this installment’s central character – Shuri (Letitia Wright). As Wakanda falls further into chaos following the appearance of Namor, Shuri is tasked with attempting to recreate the heart-shaped herb used during the Black Panther ritual that Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger destroyed following his transformation so that Wakanda’s protector could not be reborn.

Letitia Wright in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios – © 2022 MARVEL.

Director Ryan Coogler returns along with co-screenwriter Joe Robert Cole to infuse Wakanda Forever with the same energy and wonderment that permeated its predecessor. Also present is an undercurrent of loss and anger that stems from the loss of T’Challa and increasing demands from the rest of the world to share Wakanda’s riches and technology as well as the imminent threat posed by Namor. As did the first film, there is a humanity and emotional undercurrent that resonates throughout the film and allows it to achieve far more depth of purpose than other films of the same ilk.

Although the loss of Chadwick Boseman is felt throughout Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the film treats his absence more as a natural plot point than a hurdle to overcome. That, along with the fine performances from all involved as well as the stellar work of the talented filmmakers involved make this a rare sequel that approaches the benchmark set by its predecessor.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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