Movies

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) returned with a sequel to one of its most successful and highest grossing movies, Black Panther. Black Panther: Wakanda forever officially premiered in Hollywood on 26th October, 2022. The movie also made a [historic] premiere in Lagos, Nigeria on 6th Novemeber, 2022. With the agonizing loss of the movie’s star Chadwick Boseman, many were left wondering the fate of the Black Panther franchise. What we get is a sequel that “must grapple with the challenges and expectations born and influenced by the tragic death of the Movie’s star”. The movie unpacks torrents of narratives. It expresses grief and honours it’s fallen hero, it builds up a new lead character, introduces a new superhero and a new villain. All of these, Black Panther: Wakanda forever does in about 2 hours 41 minutes of screentime. That said, let’s get right to it. THE PLOT King T’challa (Chadwick Boseman) is dying from an undisclosed illness and Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) tries to synthetically recreate the ‘heart-shaped’ herb which was completely destroyed by King N’Jadaka “Killmonger” (Micheal B. Jordan). Her attempts are without success and King T’challa passes. A year later, other nations of the world begin to pressure the nation of Wakanda for its most valuable commodity, Vibranium. Unsurprisingly, Wakanda under the rule of Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) have shut their gates to the world, foisted all attempts by outsiders to assess their Vibranium reserves. Meanwhile, the CIA in collaboration with U.S Navy seals have employed the use of a vibranium detecting machine and have detected vibranium somewhere in the Atlantic ocean. Their ship however comes under attack by an unknown force who we later discover to be Talokanils from Talokan, an underwater city ruled by a superhuman with ankle wings called Namor (Tenoch Huerta). An undetectable Namor then appears in Wakanda and confronts Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri. He demands the delivery of the scientist inventor of the vibranium detecting machine and threatens an attack on Wakanda if they failed to turn the scientist in. Okoye, (General of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan all-female special forces played by Danai Gurira) and Princess Shuri are sent to find and capture the scientist. The Wakandan envoys learn from CIA agent Everett Ross that the scientist is an MIT student called Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). They retrieve the scientist but are ambushed by the FBI. While they evade the Feds, they come under attack by Talokanils who get the better of Okoye and abduct Princess Shuri and Riri. Distraught by the loss of her daughter and only surviving family, Queen Ramonda strips Okoye of her rank as general of the Dora Milaje. She then visits Nakia (Lupita Nyongo), who had taken refuge in Haiti and conscripts her to find and rescue Princess Shuri. While in Talokan, Namor recants the history of his people to Shuri. The Talokanils are Meso-Americans that became blue pigmented superhumans due to a struggle for survival and an inevitable resort to an ancient Mayan elixir. The ‘elixir’ is in fact made from a vibranium infused plant. Talokan is located somewhere deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Namor showcases the beauty of his Vibranium ladened kingdom to Shuri and proposes a partnership with the Wakandans against the nations of the surface world (every other nation without vibranium). Nakia locates the underwater city of Talokan and rescues Princess Shuri and Riri but shoots and kills a Talokanil guard in the process. Enraged, Namor attacks Wakanda, wreaking havoc as he struck through the city. Queen Ramonda unfortunately drowns while attempting to rescue Riri. Namor vows to return with a full army to destroy Wakanda. The Wakandans are then forced to retreat into the Jabari Mountains. Shuri eventually manages to recreate the ‘heart-shaped herb’ by utilizing remnants of a Talokan Jewelry given to her by Namor during her time in Talokan. She takes the herb and encounters N’Jadaka on the ancestral plain who urges her to revenge. As a natural consequence of ingesting the herb, she gains the super strength of the ‘Black Panther’. Princess Shuri then presents herself before her people in a remodeled Black Panther suit. The Wakandans accept her and she commands the Wakandans to prepare for a reprisal attack against the Talokanils. The Wakandans device a plan to lure the Talokanils out of hiding and one to trap and weaken Namor. Both plans work and a full blown battle erupts between both nations. Princess Shuri manages to trap Manor in an evaporation chamber, dries him out and takes him to shore. Shuri eventually defeats Namor and gets him to yield. Both monarchs then appear to have forged an alliance and the battle ceases. OUR TWO CENTS Black Panther Wakanda Forever without a doubt pales in comparison to the original film. The movie had several plot holes and discrepancies like How did the Talokanil track down Okoye and Shuri? They are painted to have little to no interactions with the outside world. How did Nakia invade, rescue and escape Talokanil? Even for a superspy, an underwater city with the vibranium advantage ought to have advanced technologies to detect invasions. How did Princess Shuri survive such a fatal impalement? Not to forget that the spear was probably made from Vibranium. If the ‘heart shaped herb’ was that potent in regeneration, why didn’t it save King T’challa. CIA agent Everett Ross claimed to be indebted to the wakandans but conveniently failed to mention to the Wakandans the United State’s Vibranium exploration activities. The Movie also suffers poor character performance, irky stunts and above all, a distasteful jumble of so many narratives. To be fair, the commiseration of Chadwick Boseman which bookends the movie was well done and we are pretty sure it got a lot of people mushy. Other than this, there were barely enough captivating scenes. The movie was also filled with numerous tacky and unnecessary jokes. Even the tough and brutal Okoye had a sense of humor. Also, for the Wakandan throne which was pretty much sort