Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

This action drama movie is now available in theaters and Video on Demand.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 41 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje fight to protect the kingdom of Wakanda from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for their nation.

Ryan Coogler directed the superhero movie, as well as wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole.

THINGS I LIKED:

The fantastic cast includes Lupita Nyongo’o, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta, and many more!
Clearly, Chadwick Boseman will be missed. He was a fantastic actor. His brother has opposed retiring the character and thought that Chadwick would have preferred that the role be simply recast in his absence. The director said that making this movie without Chadwick was the hardest thing he had ever done.
Fun fact: The actors who played Talocan actually learned a Mayan language for the movie!
This is an incredibly emotional movie
Before filming this movie, Tenoch Huerta didn’t know how to swim. When the director asked him if he knew how to swim, Huerta simply replied, “I’ve never drowned before.”
This film is absolutely gorgeous to look at.
Fantastic costumes.
Stunning set designs.
Beautiful cinematography.
Impressive stuntwork and plenty of action sequences.
Super cool technology

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some of the CGI doesn’t look that great, particularly under the water.
The scenes at night time are dark and might be hard to watch on small devices when streaming.
This movie is VERY long!
Men are completely emasculated in this movie. The big, muscular black men of Wakanda do nothing but stand around. The male villain with superhero powers gets defeated by a skinny, young woman. The only Wakanda warriors who are featured are the women. Why does Hollywood think that the only way women can be shown as powerful is by making all men weak and worthless? As a mother of 4 sons, this narrative infuriates me.
Reversing consequences is lazy writing.
I loved the closing song by Rihanna called Lift Me Up.
As with all Marvel movies, keep watching until the end of the closing credits for a shocking and exciting reveal!

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Lots of violence
Destruction
Some profanity
Talk of death
Spanish is spoken with subtitles

THEMES:

Death & Grief
Legacy
Family
Healing from sorrow
Honor
Culture
Tribute to Chadwick Boseman
Female empowerment
Culture
Pride and honor
Vengeance

FUNNY LINES:

“They think we’re vulnerable. They’re welcome to find out.” – Shuri (Letitia Wright)
“That is some super-villain shxx right there. It’s in every movie.” – Riri (Dominique Thorne)

INTERESTING LINES:

“I am queen of the most powerful nation in the world! And my entire family is gone. Have I not given everything?” – Ramonda (Angela Bassett)
“I found your brother in the breeze.” – Ramonda (Angela Bassett)
“I need to know if Wakanda is an ally or an enemy.” – Namor (Tenoch Huerta)
“My ancestors would often say, only the most broken people can be great leaders.” – Namor (Tenoch Huerta)
“How is never as important as why.” – Namor (Tenoch Huerta)