#96: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a film by Ryan Coogler
A touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman
Happy Friday, folks!
Quick programming info before we get started:
Next week I’ll be publishing my 97th review both here and over on The Big Read: Ten Reasons to Watch the BBC War and Peace. I hope you check it out even if you haven’t tackled Tolstoy’s classic or watched the show (teaser: It’s really good!).
The next two weeks will be #98 and #99 and I plan to cover Rebecca one week and Glass Onion another.
The week of December 16th will be my 100th review! Triple digits! I’m planning to do my “Best of 2022” list, a logo reveal, and a few other fun things to celebrate. A giveaway would be fun! Tell your friends it is going to be a party here on Bite Size Reviews in 4 weeks!
Ok, let’s talk about Black Panther 2.
The Bite Size Review
I went in with huge expectations thanks to that first teaser trailer, which ranks in my top 3 all-time favorite trailers.1 I walked away wondering if it’s a movie I would watch again. There was plenty to love, but it lacked the razor-sharp focus of the first film. It was asking me to care about a lot of different things and I ended up not really caring about any of them.
What I liked
It was a fitting tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who passed away from cancer in 2020. I appreciated that his absence was felt throughout the film, starting with the Marvel Studios logo at the beginning.
In place of the fanfare music that typically plays during the logo, it was completely silent. Instead of the Avengers clips, it was all Chadwick, similar to what you see during the opening of Black Panther on Disney+ (embedded below). That set the tone and sent the message that the loss of the character, and by extension the actor, would be a major part of the movie.
I thought the sights and sounds of this film were masterful. Sets, costumes, make-up, practical effects, special effects, and music were all worth the trip to the theater.
Namor, the new Marvel villain played by Tenoch Huerta, was freakin’ cool. His powers were fresh and intimidating. He had air and sea power thanks to those winged ankles, a super-power that I thought would come across comical. Not so. The way he moved through the air was physical and aggressive.
Angela Bassett (Ramonda) and Danai Gurira (Okoye) were equal parts powerful and vulnerable. Letitia Wright’s (Shuri) conflict and her pull toward “the dark side” could have gone in several different directions.
What didn’t work for me
The plot and central conflict. The two groups fighting each other over…what again? It surprised me that the climactic battle between the two most technologically advanced civilizations on the planet had them punching and stabbing each other. Why do these movies always end with hand-to-hand combat? It doesn’t make sense in this movie.
The runtime of 2 hours, 41 minutes. I was squirming after 90 minutes.
A certain cameo that was completely unnecessary. There has not been a single time when I’ve enjoyed this character showing up. She doesn’t work for me.
Squeezing in Riri Williams/Ironheart. Her introduction didn’t do the job of getting me excited for her origin story, which is coming soon to Disney+. I like the actress and the concept, but this movie didn’t feel like the right place to introduce her.
I hope this didn’t sound too negative. The cast and crew clearly put their hearts and souls into this movie. I’m glad it is getting good reviews and performing well at the box office.
Have you seen it? What did you think? Leave me a comment and let me know, I’d love to discuss it more.
Kyle
Number 1: Lord of the Rings. Number 2: Man of Steel. Number 3: Wakanda Forever.