BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER

For a movie that lasts an indefensibly long 161 minutes the plot of Wakanda Forever is very slight, not to mention excruciatingly predictable.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever addresses the passing of Chadwick Boseman in the opening minutes, but the film does this in such a ham-fisted way it gets this sequel to one of Marvel's biggest megahits to a rocky start.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really improve from there. For a movie that lasts an indefensibly long 161 minutes the plot is very slight, not to mention excruciatingly predictable, while nearly every scene contains endless badly written dialogue whose sole purpose is to spoon-feed the audience exposition.

There is a glimmer of hope that Wakanda Forever will find its footing around the halfway point, when the fascinating antagonist Namor comes to the fore, played with true gusto by Tenoch Huerta Media, but it turns out this sets up an ever bigger problem for the film: as an audience you sympathise a lot more with him and his valid motifs than with the Wakandan heroes.

Coupled with a third act riddled with unconvincing action and a message that ends on a thematic thud, Wakanda Forever is yet another instantly forgettable Marvel flick.

release: 2022

director: Ryan Coogler

starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta