‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Review: Tears, tributes and struggling screenplay

We are also introduced to whiz-kid scientist Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) who has devised not only a vibranium detector but her own version of an Iron Man suit, to fight off the bad guys. Meanwhile, a new nemesis has arrived — Namor (Tenoch Huerta) leads an underwater Aztec civilization, Talokan, that not only has access to vibranium but is also keen on waging all-out war on the surface world as reparation for the bloody colonisation inflicted on their people. To succeed at destroying mankind, Namor and his Talokan people want to forge an alliance with Wakanda — an offer that is made as a threat as opposed to an equal partnership.

As much as Boseman’s absence is felt, the best part about ‘Wakanda Forever’ is also the absence of a widely acknowledged protagonist. The void has the potential for girl power to take centre stage in all its glory. It lives up to that expectation too as Shuri, Riri, Okoye and Nakia join hands to fight Namor (although one might argue that Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia could have done with a bit more screen space). The continuity element obligation comes to the fore here again, as the film seems to go to great lengths in order to establish Riri’s Ironheart story arc for future films.

Then, there’s your dose of emotion too. A cold opening followed by a silent montage of Boseman against Marvel’s branding is poignant and heartrending, as is another silent and tear-filled tribute to him towards the end. You feel Shuri’s pain as she mourns her brother, and the general air of loss in the film is ever-permeating. “Bury your dead, mourn your losses,” says a menacing Namor too, almost as if speaking to us, the audience. The film’s portrayal of grief in real yet artistic ways is its redeeming feature.

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While Shuri makes for a great Black Panther, even going so far as thrash the gender barrier of the character into smithereens, you can’t help but want more from the action sequences. Sure, Namor leaving the dark ocean to fight the Wakandans mid-air before he rips through their dragon flyers is breath-taking at the very least, but you can’t help but think that there’s so much more action that director Ryan Coogler could have drawn out of the film.

There’s the frustrating yet familiar lack of adequate lighting as we are introduced to some parts of the Talokan kingdom, located deep beneath the ocean (Select episodes of Game Of Thrones and House Of The Dragon were subjected to this criticism). Even still, the tapestry of Namor’s world is still miles better than the Wakanda we see in this film, which seems lacking in the futuristic and avant-garde architecture that came to define it in Black Panther (2018). In fact, some scenes even went so far as to show Wakandans, in everyday clothes, going about their daily lives like people in other countries and cities would — somehow shattering this image of an advanced race rooted in an indigenous culture that the first film established.

Don’t let these limitations put you off, though. ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is, by all means, a decent movie that just happens to falter in places when benchmarked against its predecessor. A post-credits surprise goes a long way in bracing you for more action to come (conscious integration with the MCU, remember?) and you can’t help but consider the film to be a necessary stepping stone to hopefully better visual narratives as the years roll by.