Susan Granger’s review of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Disney/Marvel)
When Chadwick Boseman tragically died of cancer in 2020, many wondered what would happen without King T’Challa. But Ryan Coogler solidifies this Marvel franchise’s future in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
A year later, as his mourning mother Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) asserts her authority at the United Nations and commiserates with her scientist daughter, Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright), suddenly, inexplicably, Wakanda is threatened by the unexpected arrival of a powerful, new force.
It’s the Sub-Mariner King Namor (Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta), an ankle-winged, mutant Talokan of indigenous Yucatan/Meso-American descent. Deep in the Atlantic Ocean, the Talokans have discovered and utilized Vibranium, the natural resource that made the African kingdom of Wakanda so powerful – and now others want to exploit the rare mineral.
Will the enhanced, super-strong Talokans and Wakandans become allies against multinational forces or wind up fighting each other?
(NOTE: Since in theaters, “Wakanda Forever” is preceded by previews of Pandora in James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the blue-hued, aquatic characters do bear eerie similarities – although Coogler’s are VFX creations and Cameron’s are animated.)
Scripted by Joe Robert Cole and director Ryan Coogler, the plot-heavy, character-laden story brings back carrot-chomping tribal elder M’Baku (Winston Duke) and super-spy Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), living in self-imposed exile in Haiti.
Martin Freeman plays C.I.A. spy Everett Ross with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as his ex-wife/boss. Plus there are memorable newcomers like Danai Guria as General Okoye, Michaela Coel as her subordinate Aneka, and Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a precocious 19 year-old MIT tech-whiz with an Iron Man-like suit; she will spin-off her own Disney-Marvel TV show “Ironheart” in 2023.
Kudos to cinematographer Autum Durald Arkapaw, along with Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler and costumer Ruth E. Carter who once again make their vividly distinctive, cinematic contributions, punctuated by Ludwig Goransson’s propulsive score.
Running an action-packed two hours, 41 minutes, on the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is an excessive yet impressive 8 . YOU MUST STAY for a surprise during the credits or miss an intriguing glimpse into the future.
