Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ☆☆☆

Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett

Directed by: Ryan Coogler

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sets out to do two things: pay homage to a departed comrade and deliver gripping superhero action. It succeeds in only one.

The film lovingly pays tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, saying farewell to T’Challa onscreen as Wakanda mourns its late king, while his grieving mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), ascends the throne. His sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), meanwhile, is carrying the weight of her failure to create the heart shaped herb – something she believes could have saved T’Challa’s life – and is determined to synthesise the elusive plant.

Wakanda is also being forced by other countries to share their vibranium, with their resolute queen standing up to international pressures and the fierce Dora Milaje – led by general Okoye (Danai Gurira) – defending the nation from those attempting to steal the coveted resource.

It’s all touching, compelling stuff, driven by the very unusual circumstances around the film’s existence, circumstances that give the project the opportunity to do something different. But instead of letting the inherent conflicts in its core premise surface and a nemesis emerge naturally, Ryan Coogler chooses to go off on a more typical superhero caper by introducing a new antagonist who takes the movie in an entirely different direction.

After American forces try to use a vibranium-detecting machine to locate deposits of the powerful metal in the Atlantic, Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejia) – the leader of the underwater kingdom of Talokan – decides he wants to not only kill the scientist who created the aforementioned device but also wage a war against the surface world, giving Wakanda the option to either join him or face battle.

Namor is a fascinating character and would have potentially made an interesting nemesis for T’Challa. But here, his aquatic adventure doesn’t quite fit in, and the eventual, climactic combat his presence leads to feels more obligatory than exciting.

It does help, however, that the acting is generally terrific. Angela Bassett, in particular, is phenomenal and gives a memorable performance, shining especially in a scene opposite the wonderful Danai Gurira. The underwater world is visually interesting, plus it is obvious that a lot of heart went into the production of this film. It would have been nice, though, to see a few more familiar faces (especially if these faces didn’t belong to Ross (Martin Freeman) and Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) whose presence feels very unnecessary in this instalment).

All in all, as a superhero adventure, the film is fairly predictable and not terribly exciting, but Wakanda Forever is at its best when it’s dealing with the grief surrounding T’Challa’s death and the fallout from this immense loss. And while it may not be the most solid chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is still to the movie’s credit that it does leave you looking forward to more.

Rating system: *Not on your life * ½ If you really must waste your time ** Hardly worth the bother ** ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only
*** Good enough for a look see *** ½ Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection