Watch the trailer
Written by: Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole (screenplay by), Ryan Coogler (story by)
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Martin Freeman, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Dominique Thorne
Rated: PG-13
Plot
The people of Wakanda fight to protect their home from intervening world powers as they mourn the death of King T'Challa.
Verdict
This handles the loss of Chadwick Boseman well with a couple of touching moments. There is the question of who will be the movie's hero as Wakanda deals with opposition from a new nation. The antagonist is handled really well. Like the first movie, you completely understand their actions and the why of their reactions. It has the big budget and superior production values of all of Marvel's movies, but there isn't anything that really stands out. That is other than the absence of Boseman.
It depends.
Review
While there were a few options to handle the death of the actor that plays the main character, T'Challa, aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), I think the movie chose the best option. They didn't replace the actor and provided an understated memorial for T'Challa which seemed fitting.
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| Angela Bassett plays Queen Ramonda |
The question is who fills that void? Is it Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) as she puts other governments in their place at a hearing concerning Wakanda and their vibranium resources? Will it be Princess Shuri (Letita Wright)? We're also introduced to Riri Williams (Dominique Throne) who has a planned Disney+ series which will formally introduce her as Ironheart. In this movie she develops an Iron Man-like suit.
Vibranium is the crux of the issue. Wakanda has it and other nations want it. While the other nations feign concern about what Wakanda would do with the resources, the fact is Wakanda has always had it and never harmed anyone else. T'Challa in the previous Black Panther movie expressed a desire to make Wakanda known to other nations. That very decision creates the problems in this movie.
Now that the world knows the capabilities of vibranium, they want it. The U.S. has a machine that can locate it. The machine was invented by college freshman Riri, which seems like a stretch based on her age.
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| Tenoch Huerta plays Namor |
The resource deposit the government finds happens to be belong to an underwater civilization, the Talokan. Led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the Talokan want to ally with Wakanda and prevent nations from discovering their existence in the search for vibranium. This movie does Aquaman better than DC. I completely understand Namor's plight. He's trying to protect his nation from anyone who would try to steal their resources. The first movie handled the antagonist really well. Erik aka Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) seemed like a forced villain. From a different perspective he could have been the hero of the movie as his goal was to protect his people.
I really like how this story logically follows the first movie. This is a direct result of T'Challa introducing Wakanda and vibranium to the world. Wakanda's choices directly threaten them as they want to remain hidden. The major conflict in the movie is between Wakanda and Talokan.
We do finally get a Black Panther. This movie isn't bad, but it doesn't have that awe-inspiring fight scene or the crazy action scene. Sure there are moments of huge spectacle, but that's become standard for Marvel movies. Some of the best parts are the moments remembering T'Challa.
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