Wakanda Forever
The Black Panther franchise never fails to disappoint with its outstanding performances, amazing visual effects and captivating storyline, and Wakanda Forever was no exception. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released on the 10th of November, 2022 (in Australia). Wakanda Forever is a sequel to the 2018 movie, Black Panther, starring the late Chadwick Boseman as King T’Challa (Black Panther). The cast of Wakanda Forever consists of mostly the same cast from Black Panther including; Letitia Wright as Shuri, Angela Basset as Ramonda, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, and others. There were a few new faces to the franchise such as Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams (Ironheart) and Tenoch Huerta as Namor. As a lot of fans may know Chadwick Boseman passed away on the 28th of August, 2022. His passing was a shock to many as not many people knew about his private battle with colon cancer. Marvel didn’t recast the role of T’Challa which was said by industry experts to be a smart move for the franchise.
The film starts off with T’Challa dying of unrevealed sickness, off-screen before the opening titles are shown. This may make the audience question how the film, which is supposed to be an action-based film can go on without being brought down by the grief. As T’Challa’s mother takes on the throne, she is left to convince the world that Wakanda can and will stand up for themselves, even without their beloved king. After the royal funeral, the scene cuts to a year later when Wakanda is faced with other problems. The big issue in the movie comes after Americans discover vibranium in the Atlantic Ocean. But when the Americans investigate the newfound vibranium their ship was stormed by peculiar sea maidens, killing all but one. It turns out that there is another place where vibranium can be found, which is in the Mesoamerican kingdom of Talokan. The leader, Namor, blames the people of Wakanda for the American forces coming close to his kingdom. Namor gives Wakanda a chance to redeem themselves, but Wakanda refuses to give in, which leads to a war between the two kingdoms.
The thing about the storyline of Wakanda Forever is that if you aren’t heavily invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it most likely wouldn’t grab your attention. The movie checks in on characters from the previous movie such as Martin Freeman who played the CIA agent who was an important part of Black Panther. The film also spends quite a lot of time introducing new characters and going into detail about their lives, which may have dragged out a bit too much. The whole movie is basically about how the country of Wakanda, is getting over the loss of the Wakandan king, T’Challa.
The acting in Wakanda Forever was just as good as the first Black Panther film. The movie begins with the loss of King T’Challa. Throughout the scene of the funeral, there is no doubt that one can feel the sorrow and grief through the screen. There is a part of the scene where Shuri is crying while holding T’Challa’s casket, apologising, as she feels she is the reason for him not surviving. There are parts throughout the movie, where it feels like you want to burst into tears in the cinema. The film’s tribute to Chadwick Boseman was a heartfelt addition that made the viewing experience even more emotional, the acting from the cast helped a lot. During the film there was a bit of humour that brightened the mood a bit, but as well as more sorrow from different characters' backstories.
Despite the few changes that could’ve been made the film was one of the best movies to come out in 2022. The movie has so far made $859.3 million (USD) since it came out last year in November