Hello, My Movievaures! I hope you had a great week. I’m back with a new review on one of the most anticipated Marvel movies of the year: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Chadwick Boseman’s death was a shock to all of us, and beyond the sadness that this tragic event created, a big question arose: what would happen to The Black Panther? Well, Wakanda forever was released a few days ago, and we can finally have an answer to our question. But before getting to that, you know the drill: the non-spoiler part:

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: After the tragic death of T’Challa, Black Panther and king of Wakanda, from a mysterious sickness, leaving behind a grieving kingdom and family. Queen Ramonda and Shuri, supported by their faithful friends and subjects must navigate the tedious waters of diplomacy and international surveillance since the world discovered their existence. This will unleash a confrontation with a mysterious and dangerous underwater nation dreading the consequences of this revelation.

Let’s get straight to the point: Wakanda Forever is a good movie for the Marvel universe, but not a great movie overall. I would have loved to enjoy this second opus, as much as I did with the first one, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the case. There was much disappointment; at first, it was difficult for me to point out why. Don’t get me wrong, I did appreciate the tribute to Chadwick Boseman, and some plot elements were quite interesting. However, I believe they tried to do too many things simultaneously and it was a mistake.

It was a great idea to highlight the fact that Wakanda has huge power over the world due to the fact that they are alleged, the only ones having vibranium. It was such a disappointment, this movie doesn’t go deeper into how far other nations are willing to go to get this rare resource. Moreover, when we realize that they are not actually the ones having it, with the introduction of Talokan and Namor’s army, they could have exploited this cold war topic much more. In a way, even though we could sense that Namor’s powers were far beyond those Wakanda had at the beginning of the movie and that both nations are the most powerful ones, there was never a real perceive danger.

Grief was probably the subject best addressed, especially through Shuri’s evolution throughout the movie. But that’s all actually because even Namor’s aspirations were flawed and made little sense, knowing that one of his main goals was to preserve his people from the surface by keeping their existence a secret. Unfortunately, there is also the question of Black Panther’s legacy and, in my opinion, Shuri wasn’t a good character to carry the torch. I like the character, but she doesn’t have the presence necessary for this role. I will not even address Ironheart’s role here because it was kind of a bad joke for me.

As opposed to other great characters and actors that keep this movie alive: Angela Bassett as queen Ramona is not only convincing but absolutely stunning. I believe her death was not necessary to the storyline, because T’challa’s absence was enough to approach the subject of grief. This is mainly due to the fact that the plot was just adapted to Boseman’s death and not rewritten entirely. I cannot move forward without talking about Okoye (aka Danai Gurira) whose presence is always a highlight for me. I’m actually quite disappointed she doesn’t have much more of a role in this new Black Panther era because she could’ve been a great leader. Of course, I cannot leave without mentioning Nakia’s role (aka Lupita Nyong’o) which we really needed more throughout the movie.

In short, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is a disappointment because we were all expecting more, but it doesn’t mean is a bad movie. Actually, I had a good time and think most of Black Panther’s fans will, but it misses something. You can feel that this wasn’t the first approach to the storyline and they got too ambitious adding many interesting subjects in one movie. This gives the feeling of underachievement and doesn’t allow us to get excited about the future. The last-minute revelation was not as bad as I thought at first so, at least we have that, but I hope we will have more time to get to know Talokan’s characters and background. Well, this is all for today My Movievaures! Let me know in the comments down below your thoughts on this movie and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram. Stay tuned for next week’s review!