Marvel's Black Panther Wakanda Forever Review

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a beautiful tribute to Chadwick Boseman. The film opens with a 7-8 minute scene dedicated to the passing of King T’Challa. It’s raw, emotional, and uplifting all at the same time. You’ll definitely want to bring tissues. Scroll down to continue reading our no-spoiler Wakanda Forever review.

I was invited as media to cover this screening. All opinions are my own.

Marvel’s Black Panther Wakanda Forever Review

About the film: In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation 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 (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, ruler of a hidden undersea nation.

Will Marvel’s sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever live up to the highly-rated original film?

Wakanda Forever certainly has some big shoes to fill. Marvel opted not to recast Chadwick’s role as Black Panther which left fans wondering what the film would be like without him. I can tell you, his presence is missed. While Chadwick’s unexpected passing sent fans and his castmates on an emotional rollercoaster, including a nod to that in the film displays just how impactful he was to everyone. The film does a nice job of weaving this real-life tragedy into the film’s storyline.

Although Black Panther and Marvel films in particular are superhero films, Wakanda Forever feels more like an emotional journey. Yes, there are intense fight scenes and plenty of CGI (maybe too much IMO) but the 2 and 1/2 hour + film is heavy and dark at times.

The women of Wakanda spearhead the film, and each of them deals with King T’Challa’s death in their own unique and beautiful way.

Is Black Panther Wakanda Forever for Kids?

If you have young ones who are grieving a great loss, this might not be the right time to see this film. Wakanda Forever is rated PG-13. It has strong action and violence. I don’t recall hearing any bad language in the film.

Wakanda and Talokan

Talokan is an underwater nation introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The ruler, Namor, does not hail from Atlantis like in the original comics. Instead, Marvel opted for a leader with Mesoamerican roots and therefore the name Namor means “the boy without love” translated from Spanish to English.

Will the two great nations work together or against one another in the film? As I mentioned previously there are intense fight scenes. This film felt less like a typical superhero film and more like a war film to my husband and me. At two different parts, I felt myself wondering when the storyline was going to move along. Again the film is just shy of 3 hours long.

A New Black Panther

As teased in the Black Panther trailers, there is a new Black Panther. How long will this person remain in power is up in the air….as always, I do not reveal movie spoilers and therefore plead the fifth.

The film does a great job of moving the storyline forward. But as a reminder, it is heavy, and emotional, and deals with a lot of grief throughout. It wasn’t entirely what we expected for the film. We prefer the original to the sequel, however, I can not go without mentioning the incredible performance the women do in this film. They are strong, fierce, and deserving of awards.

As true Marvel fans, you’ll want to stay for one post-credit scene. It is absolutely worth the wait!