*Premise spoilers.*
I lucked out with this one. I really thought I wouldn’t find a showing opening weekend with few enough people to make me feel comfortable-ish and was sadly preparing myself to dodge spoilers while I anxiously waited for my chance to see it. However, I was actually able to head out opening day, thanks to 1) crappy weather and 2) my local multiplex offering showings every fifteen minutes on a Thursday afternoon. No waiting for me!
A year after the unexpected death of T’Challa, Wakanda has been trying to press forward without their king. Ramonda sits on the throne as the queen mother, but the country has no Black Panther—the heart-shaped herb is gone, and Shuri gave up on trying to manufacture a synthetic one after she was unable to save T’Challa in time. Now that the rest of the world knows about Wakanda, western nations are hungry to get their hands on vibranium, and when the rare and priceless metal is discovered outside of Wakanda, it pokes the hornets’ nest of a hidden nation that doesn’t want to be found.
Honestly, I loved it. I went in knowing it would be emotional, and it definitely was. The tributes to T’Challa/Chadwick Boseman are deeply moving, but the film honors him without feeling weighed down by his absence. Though it’s painful to see the other characters grieving him, especially knowing that the cast and crew were doing the same thing during filming, the characters perform admirably—this is not a T’Challa-shaped hole in need of a story. Everyone, characters and cast alike, pull together under extraordinary circumstances to carry on and be the heroes Wakanda needs.
The introduction of Namor and the underwater nation of Talokan are so cool. Namor is an antagonist of the Killmonger variety, someone who comes by his grievances very honestly but lets his anger and pain push him too far. His scenes with Shuri are captivating, and I just love his kicky little ankle wings—for the mutant god-king on the go! And oh man, Talokan. What we see of the nation is amazing, I love that they ride whales into battle, and their water bombs are the coolest.
This film also introduces the MCU’s version of Riri Williams. I was already excited for Ironheart, but seeing Riri onscreen just amped me up even more. Her characterization really works, and she and Shuri together are a friendship match made in nerdy Black girl heaven.
As for the returning characters, I like seeing where all of them are right now, even though it hurts. I can honestly say that everyone has their role, and while some characters have more to do than others, everyone gets to be a badass and the resolution couldn’t have happened without each of them coming in and being awesome.
I don’t know, maybe I’m still riding that new-movie high, but I found very little to quibble about, and there aren’t many Marvel projects I can say that about. Ryan Coogler and co. have done it again, this time really digging deep to put their own heartache onscreen and create a beautiful film that undoubtedly would’ve made Boseman proud.
In the years since we last saw Shuri onscreen, Leticia Wright has courted several controversies that’s been disappointing for a lot of fans, myself included. That said, while I was in the theater, all I could see was Shuri, so the real-world stuff didn’t intrude at all on my enjoyment of her character. The film takes her to some interesting, complex places, and Wright rises to the task. Angela Bassett is regal as hell as Ramonda, every inch the badass queen of Wakanda while also being a grieving mother who’s worried about her one remaining child. Danai Gurira tears it up as Okoye, and while I wish we got more of Nakia and M’Baku both Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke make the most of every moment of screentime (seriously, I love Nakia in this.) Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who I first saw in Narcos: Mexico as Rafa, is fantastic as Namor, equal parts charismatic, commanding, and scary. Dominique Thorne makes for a terrific Riri and steals more than a few scenes. The film also features Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross and Florence Kasumba’s Ayo, and Michaela Coel gets in on the action as a new Dora Milaje character.
Warnings
Violence (including historical genocide,) language, and thematic elements.
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