Movie Review: Black Panther Wakanda Forever

The first Black Panther was an incredible film which did a fantastic job in showcasing a world defined by black culture. Pride and respect was layered all throughout the original films runtime as it set to outline a captivating story in a world rich in depth. One of the biggest highlights from this film was the performance from Chadwick Boseman in the role of Prince T'Challa.  The main character of the film, he brought so much weight and prowess to the character and helped establish a super hero for many black fans to relate and look up to. When it was confirmed in 2020 that Boseman had died from cancer at age 43 the world stood still in shock at the loss of such a beloved actor and many were left wondering what Marvel would do in regards to his character in the planned sequel. In many ways the sequel to Black Panther is a honest and touching tribute to the memory of Chadwick Boseman which admirably tries to define a new story alongside it. 

Black Panther Wakanda Forever was directed and written by Ryan Coogler and stars a lot of the cast from the original movie. It serves as the final entry in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and seeks to outline a narrative which pays respect to the passing of King T'Challa as Wakanda and it's citizens grieve his loss. As his last surviving family, Queen Ramonda and Pricness Shuri are struggling to come to terms with T'Challa's death while also facing the responsibilities of ruling over Wakanda after the death of it's king.  With these new responsibilities they also face more pressures from the outer world and a new kingdom of Talokan threatening war on their doorstep. Lead by Namor, a mutant who is referred to as the feathered serpent god; the tensions between Wakanda and Talokan serve as the central narrative behind this's films structure.  

What worked the most for me in this film was it's honest and beautiful tribute to the memory of Chadwick and the character he played. The love for this man is clearly on display within every component of this movie. Whether it's the visuals, writing or acting; the love for Chadwick Boseman is beautifully established throughout the entirety of the movie and it's the best element for me. The other elements of the films narrative that centres around Wakanda facing more pressures from the world is a smart direction to go in in the wake of how the prior film ended. I think the introduction of Namor and his kingdom give Wakanda a great contrast to go up against too. A lot of the character acting in this film was commendable as well and I can never anything away from the performances given by everyone here. 

What didn't work for me all that much however was the pacing of this film and it's incumbent action sequences. The first half of this movie is incredibly slow paced which I can appreciate it needs to be to help establish a lot of the important elements. This slow pace however makes the film feel notably lengthy in runtime when you are sitting through it. The character driven moments are all expertly set up but they can feel rather overdone in certain moments. The films action set pieces are a weak element to pick up on as well. There's only really four major action segments in this movie and they seem to die out quickly.  The last one is large in scale but again feels rather short paced for when the stakes are actually this big. 

I think in one respect Wakanda Forever is a beautiful tribute to the legacy of Chadwick Boseman but it doesn't really do much more for me than that. I appreciate this film was made primarily within COVID-19 lockdowns and maybe the smaller scale of the action is down to that but it's hard to feel totally engrossed in the films long runtime with how little it does to keep you actively engaged with variation. It's a commendable film which does a lot right, but it's just let down in the end by it's major pacing problems.