Starts very well, the way they handle the death of Boseman is very tastefully done (so many well executed emotional beats) and I like the new conflict that they set up, which is a little more grey and intelligent than the usual blockbuster, like the first movie. The new villain is an interesting character, and I quite liked the creativity that went into the design of his powers and world, but for the love of god, never show me those goofy wing boots again. From the second act onwards, the movie starts to get bogged down by the Marvel machine, i.e. the movie slips out of Coogler’s hands. It’s unfortunately forced to function as a backdoor pilot for Disney + shows and used to drive the corporate machine forward, instead of focussing on the development of its own premise and character arcs. The way it rushes through the arcs of Okoye, Shuri and Namor leaves a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, cutting/writing out Riri, Martin Freeman and [spoiler] Julia Louis Dreyfus [/spoiler] would improve the overall cohesion and pacing a lot. What doesn’t help either is that the action and visual effects get increasingly worse and worse as the movie goes on, to the point where we again have an ugly third act on our hands, which includes some of the most hideous looking costumes the MCU has ever put out. Moreover, the soundtrack is kinda bland this time around. It’s not like Kendrick et al. were putting out their best material for the first film, but the music here is just so vanilla and forgettable. Finally, I’m not enitrely sure what the script is trying to communicate on a deeper level, besides being a general statement in favour of diplomacy. If it’s meant to be just that, I don’t think this is anywhere as bold as the first movie. Not that it needs that in order to be good, but it’s another layer stripped away from what made the first movie special. What saves the film ultimately is a lot of its craft: the directing, worldbuilding, acting, score, cinematography, costume and set design (underwater world looked great, much better than _Aquaman_ IMO) are all very well handled and stand out in the blockbuster field. It has those strong foundations in place that make it hard to produce a flat out bad Black Panther film, but man does this movie also show that Marvel is its own worst enemy at this point.

5.5/10

Oh and the post credits scene is absolutely perfect, very melancholic. Rest in peace, Chadwick.

Just off the bat, I want to say I thought the original film was....not great. The character worked extremely well in Civil War, but the original Black Panther had too many problems to get into (mostly involving an overused plot, terrible CGI and some very questionable acting choices). THIS movie however, I very much enjoyed. Not to say there weren't problems, because there sure were, but I thought as a whole, I can get behind this installation.


Before anything, the acting was phenomenal. Angela Basset and Letitia Wright FAR EXCEEDED what I expected for their roles (with good reason) and honestly, it's worth the price of admission and your time just to watch them on screen. Tenoch Huerta, Danai Gurira and, as always, Lupita Nyong'o were excellent as well, giving so much life to their characters beyond the script.

The cinematography was inspired and beautiful. The choices Coogler makes is much more elegant than the first film, and you can tell he was much more meticulous about his decisions in this one, which made for a really exciting experience. The score also really made the scenes come alive and was absolutely perfect (more than I can say for the random pop songs that show up at points in the film and completely took me out).

Not to say there aren't criticisms. The pacing was off at certain times. We spent too much time with certain characters or in certain locations when it really doesn't pay off much later on. There were a few scenes that could have been completely cut and it wouldn't have changed a thing. While I'm assuming these were there to tie the MCU together, it really didn't have much of an impact on the plot at all. And finally, not everyone is going to agree here, but there was a lot of emotional manipulation going on at certain times. There are a few that I found respectful and quite moving...but then there were some that were completely just there to make you break down and felt a bit exploitative, just to make the audience feel like they loved the film.

I did very much enjoy the film. I love a film that isn't just action scene after action scene. I'm here to see the story develop, not just a bunch of things explode and vehicles dancing on planes. And this film delivered a lot of character development and well-timed action scenes when necessary. Besides the fact that the villains here all look like the Na'vi, which was a bit tacky, I loved them. I thought they were a perfect threat for an unstoppable well-armed country such as Wakanda - and the backstory of Namor and his people worked so incredibly well.

I love when the MCU does comedy (and don't understand the new aversion to a comedic film), but I also love when they hit it out of the park with the drama and this film did that so well, besides the few pacing issues I discussed earlier. This was a good film and I enjoyed it so much better than the first. A great ending for Phase 4 of the MCU.

[8.2/10] The death of Chadwick Boseman looms large over *Black Panther: Wakanda Forever*. The film, and director Ryan Coogler, treat the loss with the gravity it deserves. The drumbeat of the need for ever-more franchise fare marches on unabated. Much of the time, though, you will find yourself forgetting that you are watching another crown jewel in the infinity gauntlet of Marvel megaproducer Kevin Feige, and feel like you’re watching a sober reflection on loss and the irregular patterns of grief and mourning.

There is great artistry in the way Coogler and company choose to use silence to give the death of King T’Challa, and by extension the man who plays him, the emotional space it needs. Creating that absence of sound at the bookends of the film make the moments when his family mourns him feel sacred, unsparing, and real when there’s none of the usual distractions to take your focus away from the sad sentiments of these moments. *Wakanda Forever* features a beautiful funerary tribute, rich with the sort of culture and detail that elevated the first Black Panther movie. But it’s these more stark moments, where simplicity, performance, and reflection take over that have the most impact.

The hardest task before *Black Panther: Wakanda Forever* was to say goodbye to its title character and star in a way that was appropriate to the real world and to the fictional one he once inhabited. Coogler and company not only thread that needle, they turn it into something moving, and organic to the story of the film.

The story does not try to simply replace Boseman or T’Challa. One of the sharpest choices Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole make is to turn *Wakanda Forever* into more of an ensemble piece. T’Challa’s sister Shuri eventually claims the mantle, and she is the film’s main character. But rather than anchoring the film on her as *Black Panther* did T’Challa, there’s a greater balance and willingness to explore the impact of these events on those left in their wake.

Angela Bassett, who was underutilized in the prior film, is volcanic as Queen Ramonda in this one. The film takes the time to explore her status as a grieving mother called to lead her people, desperate to protect the remaining children in her care, and she repays the focus with a performance that is Shakespearean in its gravity, emotion, and intensity. Okoye, the head of the Dora Milaje elite protectors, is once again the film’s secret weapon, a vessel to explore the marks of duty and personal connection amid seismic change and shared loss. Nakia, T’Challa’s paramour, is the prodigal daughter of Wakanda, separating herself from her homeland and the finality of its loss, while getting involved in the issue du jour and protecting a hidden legacy. Each of these women command the film at various intervals, reflecting the death in the family in different ways, and channeling the story through different experiences.

The non-Wakandan additions to the proceedings fit a similar mold. The exception is Everett Ross, whose business with ex-wife Val and the dealings of the U.S. government play like narrative set dressing and setup for later films than anything essential to this one. Riri Williams, a.k.a Ironheart, feels a little shoehorned into the film at times too, but she, by contrast fits the thematic aims of *Wakanda Forever*.

She too is mourning a loss, her stepfather; she quickly becomes another child for Ramonda to defend, and as a tech-minded young woman, she has a natural accord with Shuri. The film finds a way to make her plot-relevant -- as the creator of a vibranium-detection machine that threatens to put the powerful substance into hands the Wakandans and their undersea counterparts don’t trust -- but she largely succeeds as another figure coping with the death of a loved one and the intersection of different worlds with different expectations and demands.

None fits that bill more so than Namor, the king of an undersea civilization called Talokan. *Wakanda Forever* smartly makes Talokan and its inhabitants a funhouse mirror counterpart to Wakanda. Both are rich, capable communities that hide away their talents and resources from the rest of the world. Both benefited from a localized cache of vibranium, whose properties in the soul created plants that allow the citizens to do amazing things and pose a threat, if they choose to, to anyone who would oppose them. But the undersea setting of Talokan, their animosity rather than reclusiveness toward the surface world, and the distinct cultural heritage makes them different.

Coogler and company do the same stellar job for Talokan that they did for T’Challa’s homeland. One of the joys of the original *Black Panther* film was simply seeing Wakanda itself, looking at the beautifully-realized world with distinctive cultural touches mixed with futuristic flair that cultivated a real sense of place. The same is true for Talokan, only the production and design teams imbue it with a Mesoamerican flair, imagining the culture that might have thrived, with a supernatural twist, in the absence of colonial oppression. The attention to detail helps the audience appreciate both communities, alike in dignity, recognizing their equal stature and prowess, while they’re dancing on the edge of being allies or enemies.

Such is the provenance of Namor, himself a mirror image of Shuri. He, like all the major figures, lost someone close to him -- his mother. He too is royalty in a unique and closed-off kingdom, suddenly finding itself having to confront incursions and demands from the outside world. His pointy ears and winged feet from the comics scan as a little silly in the more grounded tone of the MCU, but reimagination of indigenous dress allows him the benefits of so much of the great costuming in the film -- helping to make the character more memorable and give them an added presence through aesthetics alone.

Namor represents the dark path that Shuri might walk down. The question at the heart of *Wakanda Forever* is “How do you respond when someone you love is lost forever?” Having lived for centuries, Namor has watched so many he considers family die, and it has hardened him. It makes him want vengeance, bloodshed, a pound of flesh to fill the hole in his heart where his mother once rested. He wants to wreak havoc upon those who inherited the largesse of the people who colonized and oppressed his ancestors, to strike at them before they impinge on his people’s peace and tranquility.

Shuri has the same anger, the same desire to make someone pay for having lost her brother, for taking away the tools that might have allowed him to save her. She is tempted to go to war against the rest of the world hand-in-hand, especially when Namor shows her around Talokan and explains his people’s achievements and their forebears’ suffering in terms that resonate. But she ultimately refuses, valuing the life of Riri as an innocent bystander, a refusal that results in an attack from the sea god himself and the death of her mother. In one heartbreaking death and act of selflessness from Ramonda, Shuri is in charge, and has an enemy who has taken someone important from her with a plan to exact revenge upon those who’ve done him wrong.

In that, Shuri has her own Killmonger, which makes it a deft choice to return him as the vision Shuri sees after imbibing the artificial heart-shaped herb. She is tempted to let the anger in her heart bear out after so many painful parting of souls. Like almost everyone in *Wakanda Forever* she is still smarting from all that has been taken from her in so short a time. And as she stands over her foe in single combat, having assumed the storied mantle of the Black Panther to protect her people, the images of those thefts, those hearts ripped away from hers, she seeks to avenge those lost and quiet the tempest with metal and blood.

And yet, at the moment of truth, she sees the concordance shared by her people and his, the way their civilizations are built with the same richness, the same blessings, the same joys. She chooses to honor the legacy of her mother and brother, whose nobility spurred them to protect those who need it and show mercy in lieu of vengeance. She spurs Namor to yield, vows to defend him and his people, and finds peace and shared community in lieu of conflict and opposition between the two peoples.

With that, she heals. She allows herself to confront those losses as something to be felt, not a thing that can be solved or fixed. She joins in the shared strength of her brothers and sisters, the support of her community. She lets go of hate and begins working toward the type of future they would want to see, one founded on mutual trust and connection, knowing that their legacy will live on, even if they do not.

It takes *a lot* of movie to reach that landing spot. There’s a ton going on here. With an extended runtime, Coogler does not waste it on the inessential (give or take the “Director Fontaine wants to strike” material). While Shuri’s arc takes center stage, she, Ramonda, Okoye, Nakia, Riri, and even tertiary characters like M’Baku and Ross carry the weight of T’Challa’s death and what it means for Wakanda. He extends these lived-in corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unveiling another civilization as powerful and fully-realized as the stealthy African nation. The latticework of the film’s plot and world-building and themes is intricate, heavy, and not always clear. But it’s all worthwhile, building to a greater whole even in the parts that seem a touch overloaded.

I liked the original *Black Panther* film. Boseman’s performance anchored the film’s central dilemma and humanized the role. The layer of detail to the Afrofuturistic world dreamed up and exacting but communal themes resonated. But it still fit into the superhero movie formula, with appropriate twists and touches to make it Coogler’s own, but hitting the expected sorts of beats the traditional versions of these films must.

*Wakanda Forever* is different, and if I may be so bold, better. Yes, the final reel includes a grand, climactic buffet of CGI spectacle and fisticuffs, and this is still centered on the ascendance of a new superhero. But in its aims and its counts, it deviates from those formulas.

The story is more diffuse, more personal, more individual. Its ensemble focus is unique. Its reflections on the common fears but stronger common ground between oppressed peoples is novel and piercing. While not as tight as its predecessor, what the film lacks in precession, it makes up for in the sheer volume of heartfelt, mournful, genuine material it includes in a tale built on notions of processing loss. To see a movie under this banner given the freedom to craft a unique work of mourning and catharsis, syncopated in its rhythms and raw in its emotions, is a genuine marvel.

After a questionnable year for Marvel we finally get something good! It's exactly what I wanted from a *Black Panther* sequel. As good as they could have done it with what they were left with and no Chadwick Boseman. I think it's actually an upgrade from the first such a better story dealing with grief and loss. Those themes were done greatly and you can feel the emotional impact on the characters. The story is engaging to the point where Chadwick Boseman's absence wasn't as strongly felt. There are of course moments where he's missed but the transition and execution was done right so I wasn't missing him as much.

The acting was good all around but the standout is Angela Bassett who gives her heart and soul into an incredibly powerful emotional performance. The CGI has it's flaws at times but they're minimal and didn't bother me. The action is fantastic I was on the edge of my seat most of the time.

The world building was truly excellent. Namor is a really cool and badass villain and so layered he isn't just black and white. His civilization underwater loved it and the whole adventure of discovering them and how they're brought in was a treat.

Some characters felt unnecessary like the new girl, not a fan of her and her suit looked cartoonish. The whole politics subplot should of been cut out it brings nothing to the stoty. I was satisfied by pretty much every characters arcs but it needed way more Okoye and M'Baku. Also Okoye was absolutely right that blue suit looks like shit honestly it felt like *Power Rangers* when it was on-screen.

Loved the ending and mid-credits, so emotional. Overall a great time at the theater watch it in IMAX if you can!

About on par with the last couple years of Marvel content, which is to say, serviceable, but unspectacular.

My biggest problem with the film were the antagonists, who were not only underdeveloped, but also a bit too goofy for my liking. I just can't take winged ankles seriously. The blue skinned Aztec people felt similarly odd, and with _Avatar: The Way of Water_ just around the corner, a civilization of water focused blue folks doesn't even land as original. Additionally, the connection between Wakanda and this other vibranium based civilization doesn't really make sense. Why did the same flower have such dramatically different effects for the two groups and Namor himself? That question is posed by two of the characters at one point, but the movie never bothers to provide a satisfying answer. I also thought the tactics of the antagonists were questionable. Given everything we had already heard from Namor, [spoiler]his mid-movie attack on Wakanda felt like convenient plotting. Such a successful attack and the assassination of the queen feels like it wouldn't culminate in a simple withdrawal and ultimatum.[/spoiler]

While the antagonists weren't my favorite, I did generally enjoy all of our heroes. Shuri's emotional arc was quite strong, and the use of [spoiler]Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger[/spoiler] was an excellent way to punctuate it. That said, Marvel's reputation for avoiding darker turns deflated the arc somewhat, as I was quite confident that things wouldn't go in the more extreme direction that was hinted at (although I kind of wish they had, as the set-up was solid).

Getting into some smaller thoughts/critiques, I thought the action was a mixed bag, with some of the smaller scale fights being well choreographed and weighty, where as the bigger moments and set pieces feeling a bit too CGI-packed and cheesy (the aforementioned ankle wings definitely didn't help). Also, it may have just been my theater, but I found that certain scenes felt too dark, to the point that I was straining to make out details (e.g. during the first attack at the vibranium drill site in the ocean).

As one final positive note, the Marvel logo tribute to Chadwick Boseman was a touching gesture. His gravitas/presence was definitely missed.