Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Grade: C-

If I’d wanted to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I would have much sooner, in its initial theatrical run. I had to see it because it has a major Oscar nomination: Best Supporting Actress. Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda attacks her role with fervor, and is certainly a bright spot. She has a grasp of the craft and a passion for the character that will make you lean in and pay attention, even if you don’t care. And boy, did I not. The apathy was strong in me.

The movie begins with the death of King T’Challa, played in the first film by the late Chadwick Boseman. It’s interesting and bittersweet to think about how the story would have continued if Boseman hadn’t died, and it’s especially poignant to see the characters talk and get emotional about T’Challa. His presence must have been heavily felt on that set, and I bet it was difficult but cathartic to film.

A key plot point in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the protection and fighting over a valuable resource called vibranium. I’m not completely sure what it is, what it does, why everyone wants it, and why the Wakandans are hoarding it, but I’m willing to allow a movie its MacGuffin.* Things become a bloated, overlong, meandering mess when we drift away from the vibranium business and get introduced to unwanted subplots. Performances are generally good, especially from Bassett, Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. You know that convention in the movies where a character turns on the TV, and the news is on, and – whattaya know – the top story being talked about at that moment just happens to be the main thing going on in the film? That happens here, and I was reminded that I got tired of that 20 years ago.

The movie officially lost me – and never got me back – during a climactic fight scene on the beach. A character is stabbed THROUGH the stomach, exit wound and all, which pins them to a large rock. Not to worry, they just walk their way out, continue fighting (including doing flips over their opponent), and the worst repercussion from this injury is they have a slight limp for a second. Look, I’m able to accept time-traveling and intergalactic talking raccoons, but recovering this easily from an episode like this? Nuh-uh.

If it’s convenient to keep a character alive, the movie will find a convoluted way to do so. I have favorably rated all previous Marvel movies I have seen. I’ve given as much benefit of the doubt as I possibly can. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a chore to watch, and I’m glad to have gotten through it. Sitting out Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania later this month just became an easier decision.

Grade: C-

*In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself.