Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review: A thunderous ode to love and death

Wakanda for Ever: Black PantherThis film is full of contradictions. At its heart, it’s a story about grief: the ways people grieve, the love born out of grief, and the anger that emerges from having lost something worth grieving. It’s a film about the ebb and flow between science and faith, the struggle between technology and tradition in the frantic search for answers to unanswerable questions. Ultimately, it’s a story about the resiliency of those who fight and live on in the face of insurmountable odds, and in honor of those who left us far too soon, yet still live on in our hearts.

[Ed. note: This is a spoiler-free review. Further in-depth coverage of the film’s plot points to come, marked with spoiler warnings.]

The premise of Ryan Coogler’s follow-up to his 2018 film Black Panther arises so organically from its predecessor that most of the turbulence around the film’s production is left invisible. In Black Panther, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) destroys Wakanda’s entire supply of the heart-shaped herb — the bioluminescent flower responsible for endowing Wakanda’s hero-protector, the Black Panther, with regenerative vitality and superhuman strength. And T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) chooses to reveal Wakanda’s true power on the global stage.

Each element is equally important. Wakanda for Ever: Black Panther, as Boseman’s death in 2020, a loss so monumental that proceeding without acknowledging it — via the “I’m a different person now, let’s move on” method the Marvel Cinematic Universe used to recast Edward Norton’s version of Bruce Banner, or Terrence Howard’s take on Col. “Rhodey” Rhodes — would be an unconscionable disservice. And not only to his memory, but to the impact Boseman had on developing Black Panther’s character, and that Black Pantherhatte on their audience.

Image: Marvel Studios

King T’Challa is dead. A year and a half after King T’Challa’s sudden death, his loved ones and friends continue to grieve, retreating to the safety of their own obligations and habits to protect themselves from the pain of the loss. Outsiders are focusing their attention on Wakanda as they try to seize its precious resources. An even greater threat emerges in the form of the mythical underwater city of Talokan and its leader: the winged-footed mutant Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who’s worshiped by his people as a living god.

As a consequence of T’Challa deciding to share the truth about Wakanda’s technological advances with the rest of the world at the end of Black Panther, Namor has reason to believe the surface world will soon discover Talokan’s existence. He is motivated by this threat to declare war against the surface planet from the seafloor. Quickly, his actions make him an enemy for Wakanda as well as its ruler, Queen Ramonda. Namor will not be deterred. If Wakanda will not back his war against the surface world, as far as he’s concerned, they can catch these hands too.

Similar Black PantherBefore it Wakanda ForeverThe film arrives at American cinemas during a period of significant significance and uncertainty in American culture and politics. The original film — which brought to life the dream of the African diaspora in the form of Wakanda, an African nation that was never conquered or despoiled of its resources by Western powers — was released just a month after Donald Trump derided African nations, Haiti, and El Salvador as “shithole countries.” The timing was so apt and poetic that it defied coincidence.

Image: Marvel Studios

Wakanda ForeverIt somehow seems even more intricately interwoven with the tapestry that is its moment. This, in itself, is extraordinary and appropriate. With T’Challa’s death (and Boseman’s) at its crux, Wakanda ForeverIt is a darker and more difficult film than its predecessor. Coogler’s script, co-credited to Joe Robert Cole, focuses on the ways grief can morph into something awful and hateful under duress, and if left unresolved for too long. Shuri, Namor and their grief are portrayed as foils. This highlights the destructive ways that denial of grief is only a way to make it worse.

The resemblances extend to their respective cultures, with Wakanda and Talokan — though continents and oceans apart — sharing a common spirit of defensive isolationism born out of fear of the destructive abuses of colonialism. Both countries revere their god-like leaders, who may or not have been derived from the exact same supernatural force. It adds to the tension of the inevitable war.

Coogler’s sequel is a more somber affair than 2018’s Black PantherWhile it is dark, there are times of humor, and they shine even brighter because of the darkness. In the absence of T’Challa, Shuri finds camaraderie in the company of Okoye (Danai Gurira), the general of the Dora Milaje honor guard, and T’Challa’s former lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), an older-sister figure who offers consolation and commiseration. Shuri’s rapid bond with Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), an MIT student and fellow child prodigy, offers her something she’s never had before: a friend who understands what it’s like to be young, Black, and exceptional in a world that casually resents people who are any of those things, let alone all three.

Image: Marvel Studios

But of all the relationships in the film, perhaps none are more significant than the evolving bond between Shuri and M’Baku (Winston Duke). Where years before, the leader of the Jabari Tribe challenged T’Challa in ritual combat for the throne and dismissed Shuri as nothing more than a child scoffing at tradition, M’Baku cares for and now has great respect for her, at one point telling her, “You have lost too much to still be considered a child.”

It is a stunning ensemble. Huerta is full of charisma and power. His role as Namor has him flying through the skies with grace and ease like Hermes in Greek mythology. Angela Bassett’s performance as Ramonda goes right for the heartstrings, conjuring the unmistakable poise and regality of a queen in mourning, forced to shoulder both the grief of her loss and the fate of a nation. Michaela Coel I may destroy you fame shows up in a brief yet significant supporting role as the Dora Milaje warrior Aneka, whose exosuit was inspired by Brian Stelfreeze’s artistic work on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run of Black Panther comics.

And then, of course, there’s Letitia Wright, whose lead performance as Shuri serves as the entire film’s emotional anchor. Wright delivers a powerful depiction of a young woman who, having lost both her father and her brother in such a short period of time, is forced to question everything she’s ever known about herself, her people, and her role in the world, both as a scientist and as a member of the Wakandan royal family.

Image: Marvel Studios

The action on the whole, including the inevitable CG set-pieces, shows a marked improvement over 2018’s Black Panther. In what feels like a reprise of the chase scene between T’Challa and Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) through the streets of Busan, a similar sequence set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, builds to similarly explosive effect. This scene only shows a small portion of the movie’s second half. The film has a lot more to offer, including elaborate choreography and cinematography that is some of the most impressive in Marvel films. The lighting in the evening sequences, however, is terrible. It obscures the actions of characters to the point where it defies any artistic interpretation.

The first movie was a success. Wakanda Forever’s soundtrack and score remains one of the film’s central draws. Ludwig Göransson returns to compose the score for Wakanda Forever, Once again, he delivers. He brings back the African-influenced sound from the original film while adding in Mesoamerican instruments.

Although the movie runs just over 160 minutes, Wakanda ForeverIts action scenes move quickly, but its serious moments don’t lag behind. The film is well-paced. This film is remarkable for its well-planned, economic storytelling, and the overall movie.

Moments in Wakanda ForeverThe film feels as if it is going to collapse under all the demands placed on it. When it manages not only to meet the verve and creativity of 2018’s Black PantherIt will eventually tell its own success story but it is no less remarkable than the man with wings at his feet soaring through space. Just as surely can love blossom from heartache. Wakanda for Ever: Black PantherHe has made tragedy triumphant.

Wakanda for Ever: Black PantherPremieres at theaters Nov. 11.