This could have been two films, mainly because the
runtime clocks in at 180 minutes.
The first might have paid tribute to the late T’Challa
and how Wakanda recovered. The second could have narrated a fight the country has
with an underwater realm that also has so much vibranium.
Instead, director Ryan Coogler puts all of this in one
movie, making moments with other Avengers seem superfluous.
The tribute to T’Challa (and Chadwick Boseman) is
beautiful. The torch is passed to his mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett),
and his sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), who have to keep the home fires burning,
despite that they’re grieving.
Bassett is very good, bringing her worries to the
United Nations and standing up to the outsiders who want to threaten Wakanda.
Bruce Miller said in his review, “If Academy voters want to honor someone from
a superhero film, now’s the time. She’s exceptional.”
Wright is also trying to put together medical thoughts
that could explain what happened to her brother and how the underwater people
and their leader, Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta, manage to survive.
Namor wants Wakanda to create peace with Talokan, the
underwater kingdom that seems to have made interest from the United States and
its vibranium-detecting machines. There’s a lot to collect from Shuri’s visit
underwater, but there’s also a big question that is asked: Could this be a
little too close to “Avatar” for Disney’s comfort? The underwater population is
blue, able to make things shine and blessed with knowledge simple mortals
couldn’t even think of.
To settle her own worries, Queen Ramonda tries to find
Nakia, reprised by Lupita Nyong’o, who has been gone since the blip. Living in
Haiti, she didn’t want to be caught up in the conflict that could have joined T’Challa’s
death. However, she still has skills and comes to Shuri’s rescue when the
underwater realms become an enemy.
Coogler accepts ceremony and, in many ways, makes us
feel like we understand what Wakandans are like. Even better, he gives us a
look at the Talokan that makes this relationship interesting, even though it
may not be.
To make things better, Everett Ross (Martin Freeman)
and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) are here, trying to
make the CIA an important part of Wakandan decisions.
Miller credited, “Ruth Carter’s spectacular costumes
score again (extending to the underwater folk who, in Namor’s case, have winged
feet to worry about) and Ludwig Goransson’s music is both reverent and hopeful.
When Rihanna sings “Lift Me Up,” you can tell this isn’t just another superhero
film.”
In fact, “Black Panther” is higher than most. It makes
a world, resides it and gives reasons for its people’s actions. It’s a huge
mission statement that’s mainly due to Coogler. He makes the 180 minutes worthwhile,
even though it’s missing its important parts.
When the Marvel Studios logo was showing, they had
pictures of Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa and I applauded at that. After the
mid-credits scene when they paid tribute to Boseman, I applauded and had the
entire theater join. Speaking of which, the mid-credit scene (spoiler): Shuri
is introduced to Nakia and T’Challa’s son.
This movie does have a lot of emotional moments, great
character moments, important dialogue, nice evolving of the characters, and, as
always, amazing action scenes that keep you engaging. However, I didn’t like
the underwater people in here. They felt like something out of “Pirates of the Caribbean”
or Greek Mythology. If they had changed that around, maybe it would have better.
Even though this isn’t as good as the first movie, I still liked it and it was
a good finale to Phase Four, and another one of my favorite comic book films.
Tomorrow I will look at the next MCU show in “Disney
Month 2022.”
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