Is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever worth watching? A no-spoiler review

I can remember vividly the very first Marvel movie I saw on the big screen. It was Iron Man and it was marvel-ous. Nearly more than 10 years since then the comic book company evolved into a gigantic cinematic universe where it gets to translate stories once were just drawn on paper to live action. Each hero has its own “signature style” in cinema. Iron-man action, Thor action-comedy, Antman heist, Spider-man a coming-of-age flick – you get my drift. Now here come’s Black Panther.

The first movie starred by Chadwick Boseman was well-received by critics, and one may wonder how this will fare now that he’s gone. The second movie, Wakanda Forever, is a well-crafted tribute to Boseman, Wakanda, and their legacy. 

Black Panther Wakanda Forever is not just another superhero movie, it’s about the stages of grief, and how one copes, especially Shuri. 

The movie starts with of course, as seen in the trailers, a tribute to T’Chala, the Black Panther, and how Wakanda is trying to prove to the entire world that they can still protect their sovereignty despite the loss of their protector. With Queen Ramonda and princess Shuri, trying to process their grief differently.

Iron-heart debuts in the movie and initially I thought she would be a “kid”, but she’s a sassy lady of 18 and a spunky equal to the Wakandan princess. It showed enough of her personality that it didn’t feel forced to “introduce new characters”

There were no “real” villains in this movie and I liked that the heroes weren’t perfect either. Both sides, from their perspectives, felt they were the heroes fighting for their people. The acting from the cast was top notch especially from Angela Bassett as Queen

For the new Black Panther, it didn’t feel like it was “passing over the torch”, rather she found her own way to become one. You’ll understand when you watch the movie! A surprise cameo too from a fan-fave. 

The action sequences were crisp and would satisfy your fight scene cravings. They played out each side’s strengths and weaknesses but I couldn’t help but compare the Talocans to the blue Avatars 🙁 In the comics, they were called Atlantians, but of course, because of copyright issues with DC’s Aquaman who used the term first, they had to change it to Talocans.

A bit of critique, despite seeing it on IMAX the underwater scenes were too dark, including the city of Namor. Maybe they want to show how the deep sea looks like in real life?

I wish they revealed and developed characters in the kingdom of Talocan than just Namor (aka Sub-mariner). The 5-minute montage of their underwater empire felt too short (despite the 3-hour runtime of the movie!). This is me hoping for a separate film for Namor and his people.

There was no wasted second in the 3-hour runtime. Each bit had value. The ending felt satisfying but I won’t give out too much!!

Overall: It is worth watching, and I’ll probably watch it in 4dx next time around for more fun weeeheheheeeee

Don’t wait after the mid-credits scene. That’s it. No more. I expected to see Kang or the TVA but, nadda hahaha