{"id":25620,"date":"2022-11-09T23:53:12","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T07:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25620"},"modified":"2022-11-09T23:53:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T07:53:12","slug":"black-panther-wakanda-forever-is-overstuffed-but-entertaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25620","title":{"rendered":"BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER is Overstuffed But Entertaining"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 161 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Marvel Studios and Disney will be\nplaying exclusively in theaters on November 11th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many sequels face production challenges, most notably living\nup to the original film and adding new elements to avoid feeling like a\nretread. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever<\/em> has an even bigger challenge to\ncontend with. Sadly, the charismatic star of the original film, Chadwick\nBoseman, passed away less than two years after its release. Instead of\nrecasting the role, the studio has used this tragic event to inspire the\nstory\u2019s narrative. Like several other titles in the Marvel universe, the film\nfeels overstuffed. However, there is plenty of heart on display as well as\nthrills to make up for any deficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film opens with audiences learning that Wakanda King\nT’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) aka Black Panther, has died after an undisclosed\nillness. While mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) grieves, sister Shuri (Letitia\nWright) harbors anger after her sibling\u2019s unexpected death. As word spreads,\nother nations seem ready to take advantage of the situation and secure the\ncountry\u2019s greatest and most powerful resource, Vibranium. When a US vessel\ncontaining a machine that can identify the substance is attacked, tensions\narise between Wakanda and world leaders. With assistance from special forces\nhead Okoye (Danai Gurira), Shuri decides to investigate the incident. The trail\nleads the pair to brilliant Cambridge student Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne),\nas well as new foe Namor (Tenoch Huerta) aka Sub-Mariner and with his undersea\narmy, who want to see the surface world destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned previously, the movie has a lot to contend with\nover its running time. This includes handing the reins over and focusing on a\ndifferent lead, updating viewers on numerous supporting characters, as well as\nintroducing and providing backstories for new additions. One bit of good news\nis that Letitia Wright is excellent as Shuri and, despite being a considerably\nyoung protagonist, manages to successfully carry the film on her shoulders. In\naddition to being sharp-witted, the filmmakers also take time to deal with her\nfeelings of loss and fury, depicting it as both a motivating force and a\npotentially negative trait. In fact, in general the movie should be\ncomplemented for trying to add more layers to familiar characters that are all\nexperiencing loss in different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie also looks spectacular (it was screened in IMAX for this reviewer). There is a nice visual contrast between the fictional African nation of Wakanda and Namor\u2019s undersea world, resulting in some pretty photography as the two different kingdoms are put into potential conflict. While likely augmented with computer effects, the underwater photography in the ocean depths is particularly striking. And when the action set-pieces do occur, they are well-edited and exciting to watch. Memorable moments include a tense confrontation on a bridge and an elaborate raid that results in several casualties.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yet, like in other recent Marvel adaptations, there are a\nfew minor hiccups. In addition to all the characters described, there are\nsubplots involving Nakia (Lupita Nyong\u2019o), as well as CIA agent Everett K. Ross\n(Martin Freeman) and his relationship with recurring figure Valentina Allegro\nde Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). While delivered efficiently, all of the\nsubplots and exposition slow the pacing. Additionally, foe Namor poses a threat,\nhe doesn\u2019t always look intimidating while flying around with bird wings on his\nankles (I\u2019m sure it works better in the comics). And while Riri Williams has a\npart to play in the story and is being primed for bigger things in the future,\nshe is similar to Shuri in too many respects and quickly fades into the\nbackground. The climax also fails to resolve a lot of the conflict that has\nbeen set up (although this is intentional in order to set up more movies).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these oddities and the overabundance of supporting\ncharacters, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever<\/em> is still a good-looking and\nimpressive comic book spectacle. Yes, Marvel superhero fatigue is beginning to\nset in, but the unique approach taken to this story is intriguing. Overall, it\nis one of the stronger chapters from this phase and will keep this reviewer\u2019s\nattention throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And one final note to Marvel enthusiasts. There is a\nwarm-hearted extra scene at the close of the first section of credits, but\nunlike other franchise titles there are no additional add-ons at the close of\nthe feature. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 161 minutes This feature from Marvel Studios and Disney will be playing exclusively in theaters on November 11th. Many sequels face production challenges, most notably living up to the original film and adding new elements to avoid feeling like a retread. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has an even bigger challenge to contend with. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[209,697,1424,2859,2862,2863,2864,2865,4082,4668,5109,5922,6053,12296,13333,13340,14544,19255,19362,19717],"class_list":["post-25620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-209","tag-action","tag-angela-bassett","tag-black-panther","tag-black-panther-wakanda-forever","tag-black-panther-wakanda-forever-film-review","tag-black-panther-wakanda-forever-movie-review","tag-black-panther-wakanda-forever-review","tag-chadwick-boseman","tag-comic-book","tag-danai-gurira","tag-disney","tag-dominique-throne","tag-letitia-wright","tag-marvel","tag-marvel-studios","tag-namor","tag-sub-mariner","tag-superhero","tag-tenoch-huerta"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}