If nothing else, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a loving tribute to Chadwick Boseman. The opening scenes featuring T'Challa's funeral carry with them the sadness of his passing, and yet, more importantly, they are a celebration of his life and the character he embodied. More than that, Wakanda Forever - and all those who worked on it - carries on the legacy that he started with Black Panther. His absence is felt throughout, it's like a driving force behind everything, including some beautifully raw and emotional performances. This is especially so of Angela Bassett and Letitia Wright. Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri are struggling with grief whilst also carrying the burden of leading Wakanda. At times it's like their souls are on fire - I guess in many ways, they were. Even Winston Duke gets some touching moments here and there, without M'Baku losing his loveable roguishness. However, it's Danai Gurira who is the movie's MVP (certainly the first half, anyway). Not only does she kick ass as General Okoye, she also brings real strength, emotion and humour to Wakanda's top military commander.
Wakanda's struggle with the balance of protecting what's theirs and sharing it for the betterment of mankind is not only interesting, it's relevant in this modern world. An early scene in which Queen Ramonda shows both mercy and strength while exposing attempts by certain other countries to exploit Wakanda's outreach program is particularly cool. This includes a rather effective demonstration by the Dora Milaj on the dangers of messing with Wakanda. Unfortunately, this rather interesting storyline quickly falls to the backburner in favour of something a tad more generic.
After the rather brief glimpse of a foreign nation's attempts to find vibranium - which also happens to be a rather tense and exciting introduction to the Talokanil and their abilities - the aggressive foreign policy story becomes little more than an afterthought. This sadly means that Martin Freeman's appearance borders on pointless, and leaves Julia Louis-Dreyfuss with a somewhat odd introduction to the mainstream MCU. Instead of seeing these two vibranium empowered nations come to blows as they attempt to deal with this foreign aggression, the movie quickly devolves into a straight Wakanda vs. Talokan fight. The reasoning for which is more than a little weak. And at times the whole thing feels more like an introduction for Namor and Talokan than it does a Black Panther sequel.
That said, Talokan does prove to be both a curious and beautiful place. While some good performances and some clever writing mean the people of Talokan - including their leader - are much more than just the villains. Much like in real life, it's more nuanced than that. Tenoch Huerta brings a likeability to Namor, even understanding, despite his habit of acting on hatred and fear. All of which does mean that director Ryan Coogler is able to deliver on something MCU movies are known for - big action. This does include the Dora Milaj on top form, and a massive battle surrounding what could possibly the world's most unsafe boat (seriously, all that technology and not so much as a railing?!). Not to mention an epic introduction for the new Black Panther.
Without giving too much away, the new BP is quite different to those that have gone before them. Their path isn't as clear, and watching them try to find their way whilst battling a sense of loss, fear and unsurety can be quite relatable. It also happens to be a lot of fun seeing them kick ass in a very cool new suit. However, the same cannot be said of the Ironheart armour. Both versions of which look like something out of that 90's TV show; VR Troopers - more like cheap plastic than actual armour. This goes for the new Wakandan 'Midnight Angel' armour too. Thankfully none of this prevents Dominique Thorne from exploding on to our screens as Riri Williams. I definitely look forward to seeing more of her in the future!
Ryan Coogler not only delivers a loving tribute to Chadwick Boseman, he perfectly captures the tumultuous effect such a loss would have on any nation. It's just a shame that the rather interesting themes of facing up to the aggression and selfishness of supposed allies quickly fades into the background, leaving us with a weak and rather generic Wakanda vs. Talokan conflict.
8/10
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