To honor the unfortunate death of Chadwick Boseman, starring as T’challa in Black Panther, Wakanda Forever’s plot revolves around his unforeseen absence. Shuri the princess of Wakanda and sister to T’challa (Letitia Wright), attempts to manufacture the Heart-Shaped Herb for her brother’s undisclosed illness and fails, foreshadowing the catalyst of the plot.
After the funeral for the late ruler, Ramonda, the queen of Wakanda (Angela Bassett), convinced Shuri, to travel to a secluded area for a mourning ritual. Disrupted by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), an Aztec feather-serpent god who is the ruler of an underwater kingdom, Talokan.
He proposed the Wakandan’s assistance to escort an American scientist, who created a magnet powerful enough to find vibranium, to the Talokans in exchange for no holistic relations; creating the main threat of the movie.
Vibranium is the main power source for the Wakandans and Talokans, but the Talokans are hidden from the dry land, causing trepidation within Namor for the possibility of a modernized colonization against his kingdom.
Striving to not submit to an unworldly power, Shuri and the general of the Wakandan armies Okoye (Danai Gurira), make an excursion to the U.S. in order to collect Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). After a police chase the three women were ambushed by the Talokans, ending the incapacitation of Okoye and the kidnapping of Shuri and Riri to the underwater city of Talokan.
Queen Ramonda stripped the general of her titles for losing the princess; with no one to trust, the Queen begged Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), the partner of the late Black Panther and retired spy, to return her daughter. Meanwhile, Namor brought Shuri to Talokan, as a token for becoming the first outsider into the metropolis he gave her a bracelet infused with vibranium, previously owned by his mother.
Ultimately Nakia freed Shuri and Riri, killing two Talokans in the process, destroying the chance of a compromise. Namor’s rage filled his people, in revenge, he flooded Wakanda and killed the Queen in front of Shuri. Propelling Shuri to take the mantle of the Black Panther, after the success of producing Heart-Shaped Herb, she led her people in battling the Talokan.
The audience and critics alike gave the movie astounding scores, an 84% by the Tomatometer and a 94% received on the audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Although the ratings are extremely high there are fallacies within the plot.
As shown the amount of plot lines in the story were unnecessary, causing boredom. Riri Williams, was only adapted from the comics to introduce a new show, IronHeart, coming out on Disney+. Her involvement had no grounding, any writer could insert anyone and it would still make sense for her character to experience no development.
The inclusion of the U.S. government included no depth for the movie, the government blamed Wakanda for an attack on a ship, the plot line only forced the movie to go faster and the entire engagement could be written out. Ultimately longing out the time creates boredom.
The special effects team greatly executed entertaining fight scenes and the costumes were rightly attributed to the characters based on their culture and attributions.
Overall the production showcased exemplary filmmaking through effects, a good main story line and consistent character arcs evoking sadness, excitement and amusement from the audience. The movie is great for family and friends, but it is rated PG-13 for strong violence, action and some language.
To read another Feather movie review check out, Movie Review: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
