Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) Review

After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, the future of the Black Panther franchise was up in the air but now we have Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees after the death of T'challa, Wakanda is at the mercy of other countries and a force which has chosen now to rise up. 

Main Character

Letitia Wright gets more of the centre stage as Shuri and her character has changed a plenty. Gone is the fun and charming teenager and in her place is this dark and brooding young woman who is clearly angry at the world. Considering the story the film is trying to tell it works and Wright does a really good job in her role and you clearly see a journey that she goes on in the film. 

Supporting Characters

Danai Gurira reprises her role as Okoye and she is really good, she is a really talented actress and her character gets some development here. She is good in the action sequences too with her filling this role as a warrior really well. Angela Basset gets a pretty substantial role as Queen Ramonda and this is the performance that most people have been talking about. She is fantastic in her role, you see the pain that comes from her after the events of the previous films and she does a great job in this royal role. Tenoch Huerta makes his debut as Namor and he is fantastic, even though he is technically the antagonist in this film his character is so well written and realised by Huerta that you can't help but kind of see his point of view on things and that is great to see. Dominique Thorne also makes her first appearance as Riri Williams, she is a lot of fun and her performance reminds me of what Shuri was like in the first Black Panther film and I think that was on purpose. 

Story 

The story is incredibly heavy and emotional, it just feels real. The first act in particular feels like a true tribute to Chadwick Boseman and the character of T'Challa. But it also plays into the story and takes this group of broken people and makes them face this threat from a group of people who are also suffering. This is when the film is at its best, but it does have some issues. There is one part of the story that feels really out of place featuring a returning character that just feels shoehorned in. Also the last act had a few things that didn't quite sit well with me and let the film down a bit from a storytelling point of view. 

Script 

The script is incredibly dramatic, this isn't your typical Marvel film and deals with the true consequences of grief and trauma. The jokes are alright but that isn't why we are here, the characters are well written and proper time is given for us to care. 

Style 

The style of the film is a bit of a mixed bag. The soundtrack and overall sound design is really awesome and Ludwig Goransson continues his great streak of awesome music in film & TV. The film looks beautiful too, Wakanda & Talocan (Where Namor lives) are both very vibrant and nice to look out. But I don't know if it was just me who found the majority of the action scenes a bit jarring to watch, especially at the beginning of the film. There is plenty of shaky cam and it doesn't allow these performers to deliver as well as I think they can. Also the film does drag a bit, it is over 2 Hours & 30 Mins and I think a good 10/15 mins could have been cut off and the film would have been better. 

Overall

Overall, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a great film that feels like a real classy tribute to Chadwick Boseman but also tells its own story that resonated for me and I think it will any fan of this franchise. 

Overall - 8/10