Black Panther: WAKANDA FOREVER - Did the Movie Work? (Ft. Reel Rejects) | ScreenCrush Rewind
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Published 2022-11-12
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a worthy successor to marvel's most successful film. But it isn't perfect. IN this video we break down some of the movie's problems and celebrate what made it work.
Featuring:
Matt Singer: twitter.com/mattsinger
Greg Alba @ReelRejects
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Written and Hosted by Ryan Arey (twitter.com/ryanarey)
Edited by Harriet Lengel-Enright, Randolf Nombrado, Brianna McLarty, Sean Martin, and Ethan Lavinsky
#WakandaForever #marvel #Review
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a hard movie to watch. Not saying that because it was bad–it wasn;t perfect, but I’ll get into that in a minute. For a movie about magic plants and people living underwater and mutants–it has a real emotional heart at its core. Because everyone in the audience is mourning the loss of Chadwick boseman–just like the characters on screen are mourning T’Challa. It’s the kind of personal connection to a movie that you don’t usually get, apart from documentaries.
In a franchise that was not the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they probably would have delayed this movie for a few years But, that’s not reaLly an option with Marvel, because this film exists in part, to set up more movies and TV shows. That’s actually this movie’s biggest drawback that I'll talk about in a second.
Writer Director Ryan Coogler stopped into this movie with a broken heart, mourning his friend–and I think they found the perfect way to write T’Challa out of the franchise. For one, it was brilliant to give T’Challa a mysterious disease that he kept hidden from everyone–because this is a reflection of Chadwick Boseman’s life, and makes the onscreen death more tragic.
I mean think about it, there are hundreds of ways they could have handled this that would have just felt off. T’Challa could have been attacked and killed by Namor’s people in the first scene. Or he could have been assassinated by some splinter group loyal to Killmonger. Or hell, they could have had the character go into space only to return as a different actor in the future.
Instead they used the character’s death to motivate the character, and not plot. Shuri is the focus of this film. She begins the move with a prayer, and she ends it by sparing Namor’s life. She is angry at T'Challa;s death. Angry at Killmonger for destroying the herb, angry at herself for failing to save him–and probably, angry at her brother for keeping his illness a secret.
That rag drives Shuri’s heart through the whole story, as she has to eventually answer the question: what kind of ruler is she going to be?
And Ryan Coogler also, once again, gives us one of the best–if not the best–MCU villain in namor. Namor in the comics has never been a household name. Even though Aquaman debuted later, Namor doesn;t have that name recognition. No comic readers know that he is a badass-sometimes a good guy, sometimes a bad guy–but always an a-hole who’s trying to bone Mr Fantatsic;s wife.
Aquaman comics even borrowed Namor’s edginess into the 90s. Reviving him into the king of the bro-cean that Josn Mamoa embodies. So namor was ripe for reinvention on the big screen, and this was perfect. Killmonger was reimaged as a villain who carried the scars of slavery and poverty–a perfect counterpoint to wakanda’s isolated civilization.
Namor is another reflection of wakanda. What if the heart shaped herb was found by people who were already oppressed? People who wanted nothing to do with the colonizers. In the comics, namor is always mad about humanity spoiling the seas. But in this movie, the reaction is to something less ambiguous–he is protecting his people form genocide.
He’s a Moses figure, leading his people away form slavery and genocide–or imagine if superman was able to lead survibirs of kpyon into a afe location.
Okay, yeah, like Kandor. So talocan and wanda are flip side of each other. In the comics wakanda and atlantis were both always secret societies, but this movie’s brilliance is the reason those societies each stayed secret. Talacon felt like a real place, filled with real people–a million times better realized than the Atlantis we got in Aquaman.
All Comments (21)
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I think everyone is overthinking the introduction of Tchalla's son. For me, i dont think its not because Marvel is setting him for the future (because thats going to be a disservice to Shuri who just became BP), but to close off her plotline about her "feeling alone" because all of her family is dead. In the funeral of Queen Ramonda, she said her heart was buried along with her, so with introducing her nephew, she can now have a renewed sense of hope and source of familial love.
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Dude with the glasses completely misread the prince T’challa scene. It’s about beauty of having kids and she literally thought her entire family was dead. Her entire family died within like 6-7 years. Her realizing she still has family and a connection to T’challa and that his spirit will be passed on through Tuson/T’challa was so beautiful. It was the best part of the movie for me. Wild that someone didn’t like it as much he seemed to
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The reveal at the end of prince T’Challa was more than homage to Chadwick. It was Shuri realizing not all her family is gone. She thought she was the last of her family and I thought it was heartwarming to see her realize she wasn’t alone.
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Angela Bassett alone made this a great film. I’m glad she got to showcase that amazing talent on such a big stage.
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I think some people are missing some of the biggest themes. The Riri character’s inclusion is a continuation of both T’challa and Killmonger’s legacies and is central to the story. Shuri is continuing their legacy of extending the protection of Wakanda to the 6th tribe. She is viewing Riri as a part of her people who she needs to protect. She also sees herself in her: a genius intellect, young, gifted, and black. She becomes a big sister to her and mentors her the way her big brother did. The reason Wakanda and Talocan can’t agree is that Wakanda won’t allow Riri to be harmed. This makes her a key piece of the story.
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Val is not a distraction at all. It's a rare tie-in that actually makes sense and serves the story. World governments despite bad intentions are no threat to Wakanda. Val's involvement and what she is up to shows that Namor's position on the surface world is in fact justified and he is right when he says they will come for Wakanda.
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When my sister died I was upset. I was mad at her for not taking care of her health. Dying so young and something that could have been avoided. They did a great job presenting that level of grief.
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My experience coming out of the theater was different compared to Thor LT. Watching Queen and Shuri trying to hold on as the only 2 left behind to lead the kingdom and when Shuri screamed the battle cry in her own BP suit were so emotional for me. Letitia's performance deserves the praise. Angela Bassett, gosh, you can feel her emotional struggle while trying to do her role as a Queen protecting her country and also her only family left. Riri is likeable enough. Namor is not an annoying villain in any means. People in my theater clapped hard when something epic happens, it's the Marvel movie experience I guess lol.
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Matt: Ironheart was unnecessary. Also Matt: This movie has me more interested in ironheart. 😭😭
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Dude in the Kang shirt is right.... Nothin was really "out of place".... I think people are just in a constant state of comparison for some reason to the point where they're always in search of flaws
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I'm a little surprised that you guys didn't talk a little bit more about the themes that Ryan coogler emphasized so heavily in this films that were in a lot of ways more important to the movie than the idea of grief and that is a colonialization. Especially on how talocan contrasts with wakanda in their relationship with colonialization and neo colonialism. To me those themes are what set this movie apart from any other marvel film of the teams were so much more mature so much more interesting than your average marvel film
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The main opinion I have on on Okoye and M’Baku is that they both have story arcs that span multiple movies. 1. M’Baku went from someone who was an outsider who wanted the throne to someone who respected T’Challa, to someone who was a friend and ally, to someone who could take care of Shuri, complete arc. 2. Okoye made mistakes in BP 1 and did not get any consequences for it. She was forgiven and moved on. Her losing her status was a good story for her. Now we can see her redeem herself as a midnight angel. She can become her own person not just a loyal fighter.
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Ryan C. had a HUGE job ahead of him. The only thing I have seen like this was the head actor of Spartacus dying from cancer and having to be replaced. Ryan had to 1) make a memorial to Chad Wick which he nailled 100% 2) keep the MCU moving forward, which he did OK, but similar to Avengers 2, the moving the universe forward parts are felt ( the movie was too long to me, not in a boring way, but in a logistics way that it didnt NEED to be this long) and 3) tell a completed sequel story. Knowing a little about the comic book that this is sort of based on, I see why they went in a lot of the directions they went. One thing I 10000% hope more marvel movies do, is have the final battle look more like two actors fighting , rather than 2 cgi creations fighting. They learned this lesson in the original blade and seem to have almost completely forgotten it since then.
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After She Hulk and Thor L+T this was a breath a fresh air for the MCU. It was about a half hour too long and Riri Williams was basically a plot device but I enjoyed this one as much as the first. Namor was another brilliant villian and the real life connection to the passing of Chadwick helped add emotional weight to the story. Angela Bassett also killed it and I hope she gets nominated for her performance.
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The movie was heavy.. very emotional, and very deep. Some people can’t relate to the significance of how emotional this movie really was.. it was amazing
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I envy people who don't understand how impactful the story of grief in this film was and how well they handle it. For me who recently lost my father, this movie hit home and gave me comfort and understanding in a way that I never expected a Marvel movie to do.
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Namor wanting to kill Ironheart because of a vibranium detector is reaching but Mysterio wanting Spider-Man dead over some glasses isn't to far fetched huh? Ironheart could've easily been introduced in a new Spider-Man movie with their MIT connections but Spidey is ironed out. They even made Mysterio Iron Man's villian 🙄 I'm over basic origin stories like in She-Hulk. Riri would not have made sense debuting in a Ant-Man or GOTG movie. This was the perfect place to introduce this character. It was great!
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I guess my question for this review is: how would you have an end of phase four movie without having connecting characters? You have to give the director credit for ending a phase, paying tribute to an amazing actor, and introducing a new character all in one movie.
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Aneka is not pronounced "A-nee-ka", it's "A-neh-ka", Nakia is pronounced "Na-keey-a 😝 1. Okoye's story was purposely underdeveloped here for good reason because she has her own show coming up which will explore her misguided loyalty to the throne as a General in BP1 which led to her dismissal by Queen Ramonda in Wakanda Forever. Coogler's choice here is brilliant. 2. Ayo and Aneka's romantic relationship should absolutely have been more prominent and it seems it was Disney's top brass choice not to show prominence of it versus Ryan Coogler who we know would never shy away from showing any relationship dynamics. 3. The inclusion of Riri, Val and Ross were effective plot devices and there has to be a connectivity to the outside world because the world is coming for Wakanda. 4. Recasting T'Challa would have been a disaster and so glad they went with having T'Challa having a son with Nakia and having him named Toussaint is honour of the Haitian revolutionary leader as well as T'Challa is a stroke of genius. 4. Matt completely doesn't get the multi-arch importance and purpose of Wakanda Forever and to be brutally honest it's because this isn't his culture nor does he care to grasp it, he has such a white, westernized perspective which comes off as patronizing and bland. 5. Thank you Greg Alba (the reel rejects) for really grasping why the movie was weaved and crafted the way it was.
