Matthew's Journal

This is a sequel to 2019's Black Panther, and has to deal with the unexpected death of Chadwick Boseman, who played T'Challa / Black Panther in that film. Rather than recast the role, instead Wakanda Forever opens with people grieving T'Challa's death, and other countries sensing weakness in Wakanda and trying to exploit this to get hold of vibranium. The way that Ramonda (suddenly made queen) and Shona (who couldn't cure her brother's terminal illness) respond to their grief makes a significant difference to the plot.

As well as grief, there's a heavy theme of colonialism and its long-lasting impact here, and I think it's good that we largely see it from the point of view of the (formerly-)colonised peoples.

All of which means there is some emotional and thematic weight to go with some pretty good action set pieces. The weakness, though, relates to the plot around the Talokan civilisation. I think, particularly, that the motivations of Namor are inconsistent and unconvincing (particularly how he relates to Wakanda), and this rather undermines the main plot especially since he's the main antagonist. Also, it was clear to me as the viewer that Wakanda couldn't be defeated by Talokan and nor that it would wipe Talokan out; so the main final battle lacked dramatic tension because I was pretty sure I knew how it would turn out.

Overall, then, a bit of a mixed bag.