“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”: In Honor of Chadwick Boseman

On November 11, the sequel to Marvel’s “Black Panther” was released to the USA. The movie was highly anticipated by fans after its announcement due to the death of Chadwick Boseman. Boseman passed on Aug 28, 2020 after a long-term battle with stage 4 colon cancer. 

   Boseman was the lead role in the first film of the series, released in 2018 as King T’Challa and his superhero alter-ego, Black Panther. Fans everywhere showed their tributes to the actor and how much his role had an impact on their lives. Many of his fellow actors that he worked with in “Black Panther”, such as Letitia Wright, paid their own tributes to Boseman. Wright most notably wore a similar suit that Boseman once wore while walking the red carpet in Los Angeles, CA.

   “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is an action thriller released by Marvel Studios that has aspects of science fiction. The film takes place roughly six to seven years after the first movie. The kingdom of Wakanda mourns the loss of King T’Challa who dies of an illness about a year prior to the central plot. Queen Ramonda has taken her son’s place as the ruler and continues to oversee Wakanda’s growth while being strong in its most desperate hour. While the queen may be strong, other members of the royal family are still struggling to overcome T’Challa’s passing, more in particular his younger sister, Princess Shuri. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” puts emphasis on the outside dangers Wakanda faces while in a period of grief and mourning. The nation is continually pressured by other world powers to share their vibranium (a rare metal alloy) in order to create powerful weapons that can deal massive amounts of damage. This has been an ongoing issue for Wakanda for some time now, however a new threat appears and proves to be an even bigger danger. This new nation has people like the Wakandans and their leader seeks Wakanda’s help in their plans to take over the world. 

   This movie and most Marvel movies are known for being action movies with other elements thrown into the mix. One of the biggest elements that “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has is the usage of fictitious technology; technology is one of the biggest parts of this movie and heavily impacts the plot of the story. Complex robotics are the main reason why Wakanda has an upper hand on the majority of other nations and why world superpowers seek to gain access to vibranium, which can only be found in Wakanda.

   The writers hit the mark by using futuristic aspects blended with African culture in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. However, one of the criticisms about the film has been the Wakandans’ usage of their technology is not realistic. For example, the invisible shield that protects and hides Wakanda from the outside world is opened by a water drum every time it is opened. This is not practical because the notes played on the drums must be exact in order for the shield to open. It’s understandable that the point of the drums is to show off African culture, but the whole thing just seems too convoluted. Overall, it would be more realistic just to have a button or something more simple in order to open and close the Wakandan shield.

   “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has the majority of the same cast that was shown in the first movie of the series. The first movie was also produced by Ryan Coogler and made more than its sequel during opening weekend. “The first Black Panther earned $202 million domestically in its opening weekend in 2018, putting Wakanda Forever 11% behind it (Forbes).”
  “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” gets 4 stars for its storyline, assuming the viewer has seen the first movie in the series. The plot progression overall does not have many points where it seems like extra space is being filled to make the movie longer. Nearly every scene had a purpose, whether that purpose was to inform the viewer of background knowledge, add additional information, entertain the audience with combat scenes, etc. The story would be more difficult to follow if you had not seen “Black Panther” because there are many references to the first movie. It is recommended that viewers see the first movie before the second to better follow the plot line. The characters and the acting get 4.5 stars because of the combination of the two things together. The actors did a great job expressing emotion throughout the movie, and the characters that were both returning and debuting were interesting and unique. The goals of the two kingdoms involved and what they fight for increased the intensity felt throughout the movie. Overall, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” gets 4.5 stars with all of these details in mind. The only knock on this movie’s score is due to the soundtrack. The music was not bad, but many viewers have argued that the soundtrack in the sequel lacked in comparison to “Black Panther”.