THB #251: Wakanda Forever: Black Panther (spoiler-free)

The most significant thing to say about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is that it is very, very different from the original Black Panther.

This is not a judgement of quality. It’s just the fact. Amazingly, Ryan Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole delivered a sequel to their own movie that is as much about female energy as the first was about male energy.

I’m not going to spoil anything in the movie for you, but Letitia Wright is absolutely the lead of this movie. Tenoch Huerta, as Namor - he pronounces it with the accent on the second syllable and everyone else in the movie pronounces it with the accent on the first syllable - would have to be considered the #2, though even his macho character is steeped in a gentility that is unexpected, influenced by his mother.

Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, and another woman the mention of whom would be a spoiler feature significantly in the movie as well. Performances are excellent all around.

This is not the movie where the Avengers are going to show up or heroes will be riding wild animals into battle… which was great in the first film.

In some ways, this is a version of Black Panther in which you could make most of the movie without significant computer effects. I mean… a lot of it is underwater and the people led by Namor are of the sea, so, also not.. the effects make that work better. What I am trying to express is that for all the really cool imagery and fx, the film is really about characters and how they see themselves in the context of the world, not about big action sequences. They are there, make no mistake. But a version of this film could have been made in the 1970s and, for the most part, would be just as effective.

It‘s also great that this film creates a world almost devoid of white people without it ever feeling like it is excluding anyone.

If there was a single theme to this film, it would “Men are idiots who can’t help but to indulge their rage instead of trying to work through the issue first.” It’s true of Namor. It’s true of M'Baku (with some balance as the movie progresses) and others in Wakanda, though really, those are the only men that have significant roles in this film. Martin Freeman returns as Everett K. Ross, but he is really a side piece here.

But the film is more thoughtful than it’s most central theme. The women are challenged emotionally in a variety of ways, with Shuri fighting her own emotions about the loss of her brother most significantly. And the screenwriters use a device, subtly, of creating reflections of characters from the first film… Shuri meets girl genius Riri… Okoye finds herself in a competition of sorts with Ayo and Nakia… on the water side, Namora and Princess Fen are reflections of a sort.

And the biggest one is how Namor’s group, the Talokan, reflects Wakanda, both having lived in secrecy from the rest of the world, desperate not to be corrupted by outsiders. The leaders of Wakanda, now known to the world, have to decide how to treat the Talokan… as they were treated or as they would want to be treated. Of course, the Talokan are a different kettle of fish than the Wakandans in many ways… and not so much in others.

The outsider groups, The U.S. and France, are well used, but not as significant to the film as those outside of Wakanda was in the first film.

The weight of Chadwick Boseman’s death is woven throughout the movie. The film offers tribute to his memory as beautifully as any film could… more so than any other film would. But he is not a weight on the film. He is the film’s angelic spirit.

There are surprises to be had, for sure. But really, the film is more about ideas and trying to figure out where the film will take those ideas.

Ruth Carter is likely to win another Oscar - or should - for her remarkable work here… I mean, she really topped what was very impressive the last time. She is dressing a parade of women this time, beyond their “uniforms” and I would be surprised if a lot of the outfits don’t get knocked off for public sale. Everyone looks great. Even Namor’s dumb green woolen-ish bathing suit.

Ludwig Göransson’s score is great again… though not sure it will win again. But truly top notch.

The film is top of the game in every department. But again, what is most impressive is that Ryan Coogler has made a movie that is a movie first and a Marvel movie second.

And now… some interviews with the team from over the years…

Until tomorrow…