Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review

Chadwick Boseman's presence hangs over every aspect of this film. When he died, this movie had already been mapped out, and it had to be completely re-done. 

Some said his role of T'Challa should be re-cast. But that wasn't the path taken. Instead the decision was made to work Boseman's death into the story. 

So Wakanda Forever is a totally unique movie experience, mourning not just a lead character but the actor who played them. And they drop you right into this. T'Challa dies offscreen in the opening scene, as Letitia Wright's Shuri works feverishly to save him.

The opening ten minutes are an emotional gut punch, with the death, the funeral, and a silent Marvel Studios logo featuring just Chadwick.

But then the film gets down to its proper plot, one year later, when other world governments have begun scouring the earth for other untapped supplies of vibranium. This brings into the story a race of beings who live deep under the sea, the Talokan, led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who want the Wakandans to find the scientist who created the machine that can find vibranium, and bring them to the Talokan to be killed. 

That scientist is an MIT student Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). She will have her own Ironheart series soon. So yes, this is the 2nd MCU film this year where the good guys have to protect a teenage girl from the bad guys.

Obviously once the Wakandans get ahold of Riri they don't want to give her up, which causes Namor to attack Wakanda. His army is even more powerful than what Wakanda has to offer.

This clash makes it necessary for Shuri to bring back the actual Black Panther. It's not too much of a spoiler that Shuri herself becomes the new Black Panther by the end of the film. 

That central conflict between Wakanda and Tolokan, with the backdrop of the death of T'Challa, is all the film really needs. But this is a messy, overstuffed film, and may be the first MCU film to actually suffer from its greater responsibility to the U part. 

Riri is fine, and I'm sure her Disney+ show will be good, but she is an awkward fit in this movie. The movie also shoehorns in some scenes for Martin Freeman's Agent Ross (plus an extended cameo by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) that really could have been lifted out of the film entirely.

It's a messy film, and too long, with a middle third that really sags. If anything this is the film that should have NOT gone big and sprawling. There are so many locations and characters in this that it dulls its most compelling aspect. 

I liked Namor. He's a surprisingly grounded villain, and well acted. Lupita Nyong'o comes back in this and is terrific. Danai Gurira's Okoye is the best she has been yet. Winston Duke's M'Baku has a few excellent scenes. And Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda is a total powerhouse.

The weak link, unfortunately, is Wright. She is an appealing actress, and was a scene stealer in the first Black Panther for sure, but I'm not sure she is up to some of the heavy dramatic lifting that this film requires of her. It's tough. She was never meant to be the lead of a huge movie like this.

The film obviously misses the combined star charisma that Boseman and Michael B. Jordan brought to the original. When Jordan has his cameo in this it jolts the film in a big way. And it hints at this dark side of Shuri that just is not convincing.

The finale is pretty good, and brings things back around to the opening of the film. Whenever the film comes back to the theme of grief it works very well. The ending is quite powerful. I honestly didn't think the MCU would ever hit these kind of emotional highs again after Endgame.

Under the circumstances, Ryan Coogler and company deserve immense credit for turning tragedy into something positive like this, and a fine tribute to Chadwick Boseman. Whatever this film's flaws, the franchise remains in capable hands.