Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) Movie Review
Synopsis:
In the wake of King T’Challa’s passing, his younger sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), and her mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), help Wakanda heal. A new adversary soon emerges in the form of Namor (Tenoch Huerta). He rules the underwater kingdom known as Talokan. After an incident with the Wakandans, Namor declares war on their people.
Review:
Ryan Coogler's Black Panther (2018) saw major success at the box office. He soon returned to direct its sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Wakanda Forever presents a familiar with its tone and story. It also includes yet another tired CGI effects-heavy 3rd act.
Wakanda Forever's visuals outside of the 3rd act are above average, though.
Also, judging by its almost 2-hour 40-minute runtime, this film’s length is a problem.
As an example, it takes time to establish a solid foundation.
Wakanda Forever has difficulty deciding on two separate plots.
These are Shuri’s guilt over losing her brother, T’Challa, and Namor’s distrust of the Wakandan people.
These two ideas are often jumbled together during the film’s first half. This leads to moments where the plot is at a standstill.
Tenoch Huerta’s Namor provides a new perspective on how his underwater kingdom, Talokan, differs from Wakanda.
Wakanda Forever's approach to portraying Talokan is very surface-level.
Namor’s backstory, for instance, takes a very standard approach to narration. This leads to minimal investment.
Yet another character who enters this film is Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams. As a whole, she adds very little to the proceedings.
Besides being a young teenage genius, the film doesn’t explore how she acquired these skills.
She also serves the typical purpose of being a plot device to drive the narrative.
Furthermore, she also appears during some of the action sequences and contributes little to them.
Also, Wakanda Forever's action doesn’t have a distinct standout.
Most of the film’s action scenes are either hidden with quick cuts, up-close shots, or filmed in the dark. This, in turn, makes most sequences difficult to comprehend.
Whenever CGI is on screen, a character’s movements appear unfinished.
It’s almost as if Marvel Studios yelled “Stop” to their visual effects artists. As a result, it left certain action sequences looking cartoonish.
This film’s main problems are its action sequences and a jumbled plot.
It also has unnecessary side characters. Despite these flaws, the film's performances are good.
Take Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda as an example.
She commands a solid on-screen presence, being this film’s most believable performance.
Letitia Wright can also be good, depending on the plot’s direction.
At first, she’s abrasive and self-centered, yet matures somewhat by the film’s conclusion.
Also, this film’s original score by Ludwig Göransson, apart from the licensed tracks, is above average.
Göransson’s score for Wakanda Forever doesn’t contain as many solid tracks as the previous entry. Despite this, they serve their purpose well.
Conclusion:
As a whole, Wakanda Forever is a much more jumbled film compared to its predecessor.
It often encounters problems in establishing its own identity. This includes action sequences that feel unfinished and lazy.
Wakanda Forever's positives are its performances as a whole.
It also has some good visuals (aside from the 3rd act). It also has a good soundtrack.
As a film, Wakanda Forever has its moments. Despite this, it could've had many more finishing touches.
Sam’s Action Reaction score:
Characters - 5.5/10
Story - 5/10
Action - 5.5/10
CGI and visuals - 6/10
Soundtrack - 6.5/10
Overall score: 5.7 out of 10
