Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review: Formulaic Flick, Legendary Homage

 

"People move on". Quite a common expression in today's world. Chadwick Boseman's demise was something that hit hard. But this was yesteryear. People moved on from their tinges of dismay. But Wakanda Forever does everything it's supposed to do: bring back all those memories of the late Chadwick Boseman, of his slick rendition of King T'Challa, his humility, and charisma, that evokes a poignant yet warm feeling in the audience. Chadwick Boseman may be dead, but his memory lives on.

Wakanda Forever, directed by Ryan Coogler, highlights Shuri's (played by Letitia Wright) journey as she picks up the mantle of the Black Panther. But the movie shoulders too much responsibility: to be a suitable origin story for Shuri while also serving as a homage (the latter of which it executes perfectly). She loses all the likeable wittiness she'd had in the previous two movies, into someone who is overwhelmed by grief due to the loss of her brother. But Marvel fails to market this grief. Think Peter Parker in Far From Home. The relationship between Peter and Tony were fleshed out enough that we could sympathize with Peter. The same can't be said about Wakanda Forever. 

Tenoch Huerta plays a well-established Namor, the antagonist with a dominating screen presence. He helms the role quite well, serving as one of the most memorable parts of the film. But like the protagonist, this character also fails to gain the audience's sympathy, unlike someone like Wenwu from the Shang-Chi movie. Dominique Thorne plays Riri Williams, another major character from the film, who's just there. She doesn't get enough screen-time and it feels like she's just there for comedic relief. This film has a serious problem with crafting characters people would like to watch in action, something which did not happen in the first Black Panther movie. 

The plot isn't out-of-the-world either. If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be possible for you to predict most of the plot points. The lack of likeable characters and the plot devoid of twists and turns does prove to be underwhelming at times. But the movie isn't exactly "boring". It just fails to keep the audience hooked at times, stuffing the movie with redundant plot points that disrupt the flow of the major conflict at hand.

The movie provides a dominating ambience, from the music to the overall look. The constant blue in the scenes is a marvel to watch, and there are a number of shots that are bound to get you agape. Rihanna's Lift Me Up is quite soothing. The stunts are amazing, especially the final battle and a chase scene in the middle of the movie which is quite reminiscent of Matt Reeve's The Batman.  

Ryan Coogler manages to produce a flick that's good. But the bar of Marvel movies is raised so high that the movie underwhelms at many points. The movie is rife with inaccuracies in the writing, but the gorgeous visuals, the masterful acting, the callbacks to previous films, and of course, the tribute to Chadwick Boseman make it worth watching. If Chadwick Boseman was watching up in the stars, he'd surely be proud.

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-Dharshun