Wakanda Forever deals with the loss of T’Challa and pays a tribute to Chadwick Boseman in many ways. His absence was felt throughout the movie.
This movie does handles the loss of T’Challa brilliantly. But it’s true that the script of this movie had something missing. I couldn’t resonate much with Shuri as Black Panther. This has been an ongoing problem with Phase 4. The characters aren’t very weakly written.
Wakanda Forever Review: Plot
The movie begins with Shuri trying to find a cure for T’Challa’s disease. With time running out, she’s unable to find a cure and loses T’Challa. You then see a funeral for T’Challa which in turn is Marvel’s tribute to Chadwick Boseman as well.
The story of this movie picks up an year later when Ramonda is in the UN. The plot of this movie is good. I’m writing this considering the fact that originally, none of the characters in this movie were supposed to be central.
Hence, as previously mentioned, this movie is not about Black Panther but Wakanda without a King.
The plot seems to be equally on Shuri and Namor. But the weakest part of this movie is that this movie isn’t impactful.
There are hardly a few good dialogues. Even Ramonda’s dialogue which you previously hear in the trailer ‘Have I not given everything?’ seems a bit forced when she says this. There was no need for her to become so emotional.
The moment when Shuri becomes the Black Panther isn’t a hard hitting moment. It’s more of a formality that she has to become the Black Panther. There is no built up for this. It’s hard for you to see Shuri as a main character because she still carries the image of a supporting character.
The script struggles to find a central character. It’s written to develop both Shuri and Namor equally. But Ramonda steals the show with her performance. So, you don’t know who to focus on.
The climax was okay considering what the plot had to offer. But it could have been a lot better.
However, this movie omits an important fact as to how Riri Williams’ prototype was adopted into a vibranium finding machine. Did someone steal it? Wakanda Forever doesn’t mention anything about this. It was the reason why this movie takes place but still this point was ignored.
The overall effects for this movie are good but there are a couple of scenes of Namor where the effects are poorly done. The CGI for Iron Heart is also of very poor quality. It doesn’t seem real to me.
Wakanda Forever lacks a central character. The plot of this movie tries to steal the focus from T’Challa and puts it on Shuri who has no other choice but to accept the mantle of Black Panther. Hence, the very reason for watching this movie is in question for a major part of this movie.
Despite all of this, Coogler still had a chance to make this movie worth something more than loss and that was the second rumored post credit which was most likely scraped off.
The second post credit scene had a shot of Doctor Doom which Marvel might be saving for Phase 5. But had they shown this at the end, I would have looked at this movie with a different perspective.
Wakanda Forever Review: Character Development
Shuri
Although, Shuri eventually becomes the Black Panther, for most part of the movie, she’s running away from the fact that T’Challa is dead. She ends her mourning only in the end of this movie.
The plot fails to highlight Shuri as the main character.
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Wakanda Forever serves the purpose of being an origin movie for Namor. It surely sets up Namor for future projects.
Namor is fantastic in this movie. But the fact that the creators said the he was as strong as Thor is an outright lie. Because if Thor wanted Shuri dead, well then she would be dead.
His hate for the surface world is shown accurately in this movie.
Nakia
Nakia is there as a supporting character and hardly offers anything to the plot of this movie.
Midnight Angels
This is another disappointment from Wakanda Forever. Instead of defining midnight angels this movie only mentions this terms once. The concept of Midnight Angels could have been explained in more detail but is rather an upgraded suit.
Iron Heart
Riri Williams as Iron Heart is another supporting character. This movie explores a bit of her origin but she’s not impressive.