Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Dir: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Dominique Thorne, Florence Kasumba, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, and Tenoch Huerta

2h 41m

It's been four years since the cinematic cultural phenomenon of writer/director Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther," a film that broke box office records but, more importantly, celebrated black culture, diversity, and inclusion. So much has changed in four years, both within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the vastly changed landscape worldwide. 

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" reflects the many changes felt throughout the world, the political power struggle, the desperation for advancement, and the grief for loved ones lost through the changing times. For fans of "Black Panther," the tragic death of actor Chadwick Boseman is an emotion immediately felt. All of these topics are examined within Ryan Coogler's nearly three-hour-long runtime. This sequel honors the memory of Chadwick Boseman and continues the celebration of cultural diversity but struggles to find its stride amidst a mix of new characters and diverging storylines. 

The film begins with Shuri (Letitia Wright) delivering a prayer to help her brother, King T'Challa, who is dying from an unknown illness. Shuri is unable to heal him. The kingdom of Wakanda mourns the death of their king while Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), T'Challa's mother, takes over leadership. At the same time, the rest of the world looks to take advantage of a resource-loaded country without its protector, the Black Panther.

As Wakanda stands strong, maintaining control of the valuable resource vibranium, a research team starts looking deep within the ocean for additional reserves. Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the ruler of an underwater kingdom known as Talokan, protects his people by aggressively retaliating against the researchers. Wakanda is blamed for the assault. Namor, an indigenous descendant of a group of people enslaved by colonizers, understands the danger of vibranium in the wrong hands. Namor hopes to enlist the support of Wakanda in conquering those who threaten their kingdoms, but Queen Ramonda refuses, leading to an ultimatum for Wakanda. 
  
Ryan Coogler does an exceptional job of weaving the narratives associated with the ever-changing Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with the emotion of paying tribute to Chadwick Boseman. It's an intricate balancing act that Coogler deftly accomplishes without depending on extravagant action set pieces. "Wakanda Forever" deliberately examines the emotional, political, and environmental changes in the absence of the Black Panther. And, refreshingly, allowing the weight of the story to be carried by the strong female cast. 

Letitia Wright does a fine job filling big shoes as the film's lead, Shuri, and Danai Gurira is still intimidating as General Okoye but also allows more emotional resonance in this film, offering their characters more depth and complication. Angela Bassett, who has displayed countless exceptional characters throughout her career, leads the cast with another powerful performance.

As "Wakanda Forever" moves away from examining grief for Shuri and Ramonda and the historical trauma for Namor and his people, the film begins to function like the recent batch of Marvel films. The conflict between Namor and Wakanda inevitably leads to a forgettable fight. While Namor is offered ample time for character development at the start, the final act provides a hasty one-note resolution. Shuri's plight is more complicated as the stakes grow more significant for Wakanda, but her journey also feels underdeveloped. 

"Wakanda Forever" soars when it provides the time to explore the characters and their connection to the powerful emotions that motivate their journey. While the pacing can weigh heavy at times, and the action sequences operate as a necessity for the genre, Ryan Coogler is still an exceptional filmmaker. The director composes more than a few great scenes, imbues characters with interesting emotions, and structures a unique vision of culture into comic book filmmaking. "Wakanda Forever" always had high expectations to meet, and in moments it exceeds and excels beyond them. 

Monte's Rating

3.50 out of 5.00

Judas and the Black Messiah Review

Judas and the Black Messiah

Dir: Shaka King

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, and Martin Sheen

2 h 6 m

 

The moment the credits rolled in director Shaka King's impressive "Judas and the Black Messiah," my primary emotion was anger. Heartbroken anger over the many injustices forcefully dealt to people of color throughout America's history. Frustrated anger that progress for equal rights and treatment of people of color doesn't seem too far removed from the feelings found during the 1960s where this film takes place. 

 

If we judge films based on how they can make you feel, whatever emotion that may be, "Judas and the Black Messiah" wins, hands down. But what director Shaka King and co-writer Will Berson do with this remarkable film is provide a form of clarity to a precarious moment in time, through a cinematic lens and with heartfelt, honest, and controlled storytelling. Pulling the past back into the present to clear the fog of time off events and try to bring the focus back to situations history might otherwise try to forget. 

 

The situation focused in "Judas and the Black Messiah" centers on Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois branch of the Black Panther Party in 1968, and J. Edgar Hoover's (Martin Sheen) paranoia over the rise of African-American militants who he deemed the greatest threat to national security. 

 

Bill O'Neill (LaKeith Stanfield) is a thief who often impersonates an F.B.I. agent to steal cars. After he's caught, an actual agent, Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), recruits O'Neill to invade the Black Panther Party's ranks to take down Hampton and the societal movement he is leading. 

 

Shaka King utilizes two characters, Hampton and O'Neill, to build a tense and provocative story. Betrayal, as the title implies, is the ultimate focus of the story here. A betrayal that reaches beyond just personal ties, showcasing a more tragic and upsetting reality of betrayal, one where America betrays the African-American community. These narrative motivations are always present. During scenes of persecution by authority figures, during moments of peaceful protest, and even in unexpected scenes in fancy restaurants or during intimate moments between two people falling in love. The issues and politics of race are handled deftly by King and Berson throughout the story, layering this historical depiction with subtle and blatant representations of what it was like to be a person of color in an urban community in the 1960s. 

 

LaKeith Stanfield is spectacular in only a way LaKeith Stanfield can be. Examples of this might be the twitchy, nervous, and anxious moments like when two Black Panther organization members interrogate O'Neill. Or the relieved and happy-to-be-paid demeanor when sitting across from Agent Mitchell, a calm yet downright menacing Jesse Plemons, while devouring a steak and snapping his fingers for more wine; Stanfield wholly owns the character with his unique characteristics. 

 

And even with Stanfield's impressive performance, Daniel Kaluuya has an equal amount of shining moments playing the embattled Fred Hampton. It's not the bravado of fiery speeches or the impassioned motivational dialogs he provides his comrades that are most striking for the performance (do not be dissuaded, these moments are memorable). It's the smaller personal moments that give substance to the character. The way Hampton falls in love with fellow activist Deborah Johnson (Dominque Fishback) or the sadness in his eyes when he is forced to watch the world he built crumble through newspaper headlines, the anger he indulges when every small step forward is countered with violent pushback resulting in friends and fellow activists' death. These moments that Kaluuya embraces provides the tragedy and subsequent fury felt when Hampton's fight song comes to an end.  

 

"Judas and the Black Messiah" is a powerful and poignant piece of cinema. Taking a moment in history and shaking off the dust that clouds the underlying sentiments felt during a moment in time, a moment where feelings and attitudes were not so different from what is supposed today. That's the power of filmmaking and its ability to boldly hold a mirror up to the past.  Its power to display that anger and frustration felt then, isn't so different from how we feel today. Its power to show that change and hope are worthy and essential to continue to pursue, so that one day that mirror will begin to show the difference made by revolutionary people.

 

Monte's Rating

4.50 out of 5.00