Review of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) by Clem666 — 11 Nov 2022

Here comes the sequel of the acclaimed 'Black Panther' the first. And it goes with both notable highlights and deceptions.

I'll start with the original soundtrack which is totally different from the first opus. This was the very first inconvenient to me as I observed the marvelous trap-based soundscape had disappeared from the whole movie. But it is only to let room to another big surprise, an interesting soundtrack orchestrated by Rihanna (making her big return eventually) and Rema in addition to the unforgettable Ludwig Göransson who directly contributed to give the first feature its unbelievable greatness thanks to major orchestral symphonies. Fortunately, they have chosen to retain the intense rhythms of the traditional drums, which are complemented by the Latino novelty. In a musical way it is as highly fluid as changing. The musical theme of Wakanda's bodyguard seems to have been improved and used with great mastery while the creation of the Yucatan theme also underlines Görasson's talent. Anyway the music clearly is what this movie so intense and poetic.

Obviously as we all expeced, there are many black people on screen, and very often gifted with great powers. These powers also belong to women (and more and more as the movie goes on). This is so refreshing. Terrific. But the regrettable thing is that the 'Black Panther' franchise here desperately tries to be overly political by adding more stories of settlers and colonised in a very clumsy way. Of course Latino people (and many more communities around the world) deserve the audience's attention. But it is the right place ?

Their story, and the Namor's one are really disturbing. They finally are shallow based on what Wakanda has to deal with. I mean the movie begins with major international conflicts and we just see the battle between two hidden nations. What is that political sense ? What is the role of France and USA (as they are showcased in the first scenes) in a conflict between two minorities ? There are so many visible holes in the script. Especially the repartition of forces between the characters. The pace is amazing in the first two thirds of the film but it certainly isn't enough to not make us realize this feature is 161 minute-long.

The last scenes (the battle ones) are really interesting as they give off a remarkable tension paced with a remarkable rhythm. Unfortunately, they are also the site of major problems of nonsense and ridiculous power relations.

Special effects are characterized by many highs and lows. Ugly in the air (especially with Namor) while fantastic on environment. However I did appreciate the evolution of M'Baku and Nakia's characters.

Acting skills are okay. Ramonda (Angela Bassett), M'Baku (Winston Duke) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) particularly show great performances while Shuri (Letitia Wright) seems to lack maturity and charism to assume the role she has to. Ross (Martin Freeman) only gives what he can, as in many movies. Namor (Tenoch Huerta) also seems to lack emotions in his palette. His character's speech is so repetitive and dumb it made me sick.

The morale seems to be very much limited to mourning and forgiveness, but this unfortunately seems insufficient for a film of this scale.

Chadwick Boseman's tributes are scattered throughout the film in different ways: sometimes quite subtle, sometimes more abrupt. In any case I found that the silent Marvel logo exposition in the beginning did a terrific job. It the protagonists mention his name very often at the start, it finally feels like they manage to craft a story despite his loss.

In conclusion I recommend watching it because it is the sequel of a precious turn in the MCU. But I recommend watching it as a sequel, not as the beginning as something new. I don't expect much from the next episodes based on this one.