Wakanda Forever review, written by guest blogger Mutendei Writes

Wakanda Forever review, written by guest blogger Mutendei Writes

With reviewing a monumental movie like Wakanda Forever, just as I did for the first Black Panther movie, any review must be held against what makes this movie, just like the first one so important, and what better place to start than with the title, Wakanda Forever.

With the weight of Black Panther and Wakanda’s historic and cultural linkages to Black and African heritage, consciousness and communities, and their inherent pro-anti-oppression and self-determination movements, the Black Panther movie, and its sequel Wakanda Forever, cannot measured without dissecting it through a multi-layered socio-political lens held against a backdrop of global racial – geo-politics.

Consequently, the Black Panther series as the wonderful first movie depicted is steeped in the mythology of Black/ African political, geographical, and spiritual independence, presented as a holistic haven construct, (akin to the Afrolantis, Cornel West depicted in the foreword of his book, Race Matters), contained in the embodiment of Wakanda and the symbolic stature and strength of the Black Panther. A facet that probably inspired all the historic name dropping throughout the film.

However, as we are aware, we tragically lost Chadwick Boseman, “The Black Panther” leaving us with an unavoidable question that the movie tries to explore. What is Wakanda without Black Panther? Against this uncertainty, the movie further champions the slogan “Wakanda Forever” beyond the measure of its utilisation in the first film.

It is clear that “Wakanda Forever” is supposed to be a paradigm, but a paradigm by what standard or measure? A consideration that is one gaping hole, out of many holes in the well put together valiant attempt at a sequel without the titular character and heroic on-screen and off-screen leadership of Chadwick Boseman.

At this point, to not lose you in a long-winded spiel, let me say everything written before this point is prologue, written to establish a baseline perspective with which to move forward. Starting off, the best point to start to dissect the ethos of the paradigm Wakanda Forever, is by recognizing that the paradigm lacks a true ethos when compared to other paradigms banded around by other unique civilizations of the MCU, particularly Asgard prior to its destruction in Thor Ragnarok. “Asgard is not a place. It never was. Asgard is where our people stand.” This paradigm and its ethos is clear in the context and subtext of the compelling phraseology.

Yet, the phrase, Wakanda Forever, carried over from the first movie holds as an empty marketing catch phrase. On the principle of standing for something, what does Wakanda under the rallying call, “Wakanda Forever” stand for? Is it a people or a place? At a very base level it communicates that “the kingdom of Wakanda will always survive and thrive!”

But as what? F’Y’all isolationists? Yet the real-life dominant power-axis of today’s geo-political construct cannot allow an independent isolationist state, immune and impervious to outside interference and influence to live free.

It is possibly in a direct response to this reality that Wakanda Forever hits its first high note, with Queen Ramonda holding court at the UN, interrupting a call for sanctions against Wakanda, and their “indifference to world problems,” that their unique resources pose. A false flag and label, because it is not one the Western Axis can exploit or pirate, as the Dora Milaje depict, giving the hired mercenaries of one duplicitous member state the business end of their spears, backing up the Queen’s bold pronouncements with the potency of their prowess. Power does indeed give one “moral authority” and the film gets rolling with back-to-back shows of force from the Wakandans and Talocans.

With a well delivered J’accuse, Queen Ramonda and the Dora Milaje and Wakandan military guard return to Wakanda, giving the West, free opportunity to explore the seas for Vibranium where they first encounter the take no prisoner Talocans, who, through physical and non-physical means, prove they are not to be trifled with.

The breadcrumbs left behind snowball into bigger problems as Namor shows up in Wakanda, uninvited, for a face to face with Queen Ramonda and Shuri, on the close of their mourning period, while suspicion lies on Wakanda for their attack, which the US is seeking a means to respond to.

I thought I wouldn’t like Namor, but K’uk’ulkan (put a pin in this for later) wanted all the smoke, earning a Killmonger level of approval from me, being neither sugar or spice, or all things nice, but an otherworldly subtle menace, that sets Wakanda on its backfoot, backpedaling from the threat of war from a superior enemy, against the alternative of locating and handing over the creative genius behind the Vibranium finder technology. Enter Riri Williams, who pretty much is a blank slate. A girl has no name, or backstory or history or personal ethos, beyond shouting “Let’s go!”

So go she does, to Wakanda after an unexpected meeting with O’koye and Shuri, put in motion by every Wakandans’ favorite colonizer, Everett Ross. However, before they can start on the way back to Wakanda, they find they are not on the yellow brick road or in Kansas anymore, as they get ambushed by the feds and then Namor’s very own seal team six.

Talocans 1- O’koye -O

After an amazing, intense bridge fight, back in Wakanda, O’koye faces a harsh judgement, from the Queen, who strips her of rank and service given the sum total of her transgressions, top among them having lost Shuri and Riri. Meanwhile under the sea, Riri and Shuri are afforded dignified hospitality by Namor, who upon realizing the Rubicon has been crossed, elaborates on his origin story weaved with the fact that he wants to wage war with the surface, and in accordance with the age-old mantra, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, expects Wakanda to help him do so.

Shuri as expected declines and is escorted back to her quarters to think about it while Namor has another tete a tete with Ramonda on the surface. Yet the meeting is just a pretext for the long absent Nakia to execute a daring rescue.

Returning to learn of their treachery and fatalities left behind, Namor (Mr. speaking about it and being about it), unleashes the wrath of Talocan, and boy does Wakanda get a smack down. Subjected to another tragedy, Shuri must now deal with rage, in the quest for justice and revenge, which she centers around restoring the heart shaped herb courtesy of a fauna-based relic from Talocan and getting on that Killmonger flow, after an awesome cameo from the man who should have been king. N’Jadaka was right (read more about that here - Killmonger Forever ).

As the council debates in the house of M’Baku, the new Black Panther makes a glorious return, and with co-opting everyone into her fold, launches a strategic plan to “kill two birds with one stone,” by eliminating the threat to Wakanda and simultaneously getting revenge, inspired to doing so after an ancestor realm debate with King Killmonger.

It is with this new Black Panther that the film stumbles the most. In the first film we are introduced to a teenage Shuri with a love for science and geeky fandom, contrasted against other characters, Okoye, T’challa, Nakia, M’Baku and N’Jadaka who have spent their whole lives training and becoming seasoned warriors with real life practical experience. To have her go from a lovable quirky embodiment of woman intelligence and humor to someone who can trade blows with the one screen introduction of this Namor, regardless of the heart-shaped herb, in under a week, is pure fallacy. This also substantiates my belief that Wakanda Forever should have been a two-part movie, rather than just one, allowing us to see more of a possible crash course training montage if any, of Shuri having her barely existent fighting skills honed by Nakia and Okoye. It would have also allowed us to see the hierarchy or relationships between Namor, Atuma and Namora, all high notes that the film misses out on not exploring.

The heart shaped herb provides the user with brute power and durability but not the necessary skill required to take on someone like Namor. The factuality of this has already been put on display in the MCU when Hulk received a vicious beatdown from Thanos in the beginning of Infinity War. Brute force is not enough to beat brute skill, and it’s surprising that this massive power imbalance between a steroid enhanced, young woman and an over 400-year-old warrior demi-god is ignored. Seeing Shuri learning how to knuckle up from Wakanda’s best of the best, vis a vis Nakia, O’koye and yes, M’Baku, would have made her toe-to-toe fight against Namor, a centuries old warrior god-king, much more plausible.

It would have been much more feasible and dramatic if Nakia had taken the new heart shaped herb given her training and the legacy that she has a huge stake in fighting for. A legacy that is revealed in the post credit scene. Shuri would have been better of orchestrating the battle plans (something she again doesn’t have experience in, and leaving the physical fighting to others, while laying her best plans to fulfill her agenda.

Yet as for the best laid plans…things get thick very quick, with the Talocans once more giving the Wakandans a dog fight. It is here that logic gap I previously mentioned exposes itself, Despite garnering the strength of the Black Panther, without the lifelong training that T’Challa underwent, Shuri is outside doing beyond Simone Biles gymnastics in a minute.

New tech along with The Midnight Angels costumes are revealed, as Wakanda digs in, while Shuri having found Namor’s weakness, exploits it to make their well-choreographed beach fight as even as it could possibly be. Namor however drops more beats than Dre, and Shuri only wins out by her perseverance and fury driven determination (aided comically again by technology), in a manner that is a stretch.

Using the business end of Namor’s own spear, that she was made real intimate with, Shuri is urged to “show him who you are”, by Obi-Wan Ramonda, and forges an alliance between Wakanda and Talocan, effectively ending the war and keeping Talocan’s secret, in return for mutual aid if they both should ever encounter problems with the surface world. A surface world that has a pending unfulfilled course of action; destabilization, initiated against Wakanda by America. Another logic plot hole…satellites anyone?

All in all, this was a good movie, despite the multiple logic gaps and the ignored backstory which would have been better served by a two-part movie like Infinity War and Endgame.

Doing so would have allowed for Riri Williams to have a back story, which will maybe give What If? The opportunity to bring my pre-release fan theory to life. My money was on Riri-Williams having been Killmonger’s daughter who built her own iron heart suit to attack Wakanda in a bid for her own revenge and get the ball rolling. Alas, one can only hope. I do hope they give her more gravitas, as she felt too much like Shia LaBeouf’s Transformers character in his dorm room drama phase in the second Transformers movie.

It would have also allowed for them and the multiple facets of Wakanda to be explored and utilized in line with the narrative, rather than being rendered superficially non-existent. That however doesn’t happen, which also would have been better served by my other fan theory, Nakia taking on the Black panther legacy when no one else is capable, allowing Shuri to remain her lovable tech genius self, as Nakia protects T’Challa’s legacy with her superior physicality, for … drum roll please … T’Challa’s son, Prince T’challa or Toussaint as he first gets introduced as.

The film ends with Shuri turning away from rage, honouring the warrior code of peace her brother embodied, leaving M’Baku to claim the throne and rule with the gravitas and honour he has portrayed throughout both films. A turn of events that presents an interesting terra firma for the unknown direction the third Black panther film will take, if we ever have a third film.

Final Verdict: Wakanda Forever is well worth the watch, and the best film of phase four, despite its multiple logic flaws, supported by the wonderful introduction and embodiment of Tenoch Huerta’s K’uk’ulkan, aka Mr. You better ask somebody, aka Namor and Angela Bassett’s performance as Ramonda.

I give Wakanda Forever a solid 7 out of 10, and end with a final note to recast T’Challa.