(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Doug (vo): All right, here we go. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a movie that had, I'll just say it, probably the best trailer of the year. I got goosebumps watching this trailer, so I was mad excited to watch this flick, and, man, oh, man, I thought it was...good. Yeah, sorry to be that a-hole again, but much like the first movie, I thought it was good, it was very impressive, but it just didn't connect with me the way it connects with a lot of other audiences. But again, with that said, it is good. I actually think it does a lot of things in this better than the first one, and some things a little weaker. I'll give you a heads-up, this is gonna be a spoiler review. If you want to see my thoughts on it without any spoilers, go ahead and see my Doug Reviews video on it. So you've been warned. If you don't want to know who Black Panther is yet in this and you want to discover it for yourself, go see the flick first.
Story and review[]
Doug (vo): With that said, goddamn it, I wish the general was Black Panther. I know everything was kind of pointing to Shuri being the Black Panther, and, yes, that makes sense, she's the sister, and I hear that's what happened in the comic, it all checks out. But come on, Okoye is just so damn cool. However, I do buy her being a ruler. I kind of like this journey is very much trying to figure out how to be more diplomatic and figure out peace talks and reasoning with other sides and everything. That makes sense. I actually think that was done a lot better here than in the first Black Panther. In the first Black Panther, it feels more of like a physical struggle, like, you know, being the fighter and taking on pain and stuff like that, and, yeah, there is definitely the diplomacy part, too, but their future's decided by a big duel. Clearly, the physical aspect is the big focus.
(Several clips focusing on Shuri, as well as a few clips showing Namor and his underwater kingdom, are shown)
Doug (vo): Here, it's switched. You see her really talking with the villain, Namor, who is a really good villain. You see how his kingdom works and what he's all about, and she's kind of trying to see if she can find a middle ground or some sort of peaceful alternative, and, yeah, it works. It really does. But then being pushed physically isn't addressed, and I think that's also part of Black Panther. I like that she figures out how to make that...I don't know, Black Panther juice, whatever the hell it's called, that actually turns you into this super-strong character. Though, seriously, what are the limits in these movies? She is literally impaled, and Namor is burned alive. Can these characters die or not? But Shuri's journey is not a bad one, and honestly, given everything that's happened offscreen behind the scenes, with Chadwick Boseman passing away and everything, it's amazing they made this movie as good as they did, and I can't imagine the pressure on this actress to take over that mantle. She's got a lot riding on her shoulders, and she rides it out pretty well.
(Footage and images focusing on the film's other characters, particularly Ramonda and Namor, are shown)
Doug (vo): But, yes, much like I said in the first Black Panther, I do think the weakest part of this Black Panther movie is Black Panther. The side characters, once again, are so much more interesting. I'm sure everyone has said Angela Bassett just knocks her performance out of the park, and they're right, she's fantastic. Namor is a great villain, though, I'm sorry, I cannot take those little wings on his feet seriously. That's just too hilarious. I'm sorry, that never worked for me. But his backstory, environment, and especially his performance really does make us sympathize with him, to a point where I really do find it disappointing that his plan is pretty much every other Marvel plan: destroy most of humanity because they suck, and make the world a better place because of it. And, yes, while it's explained why he would see things that way and how this plan came to be, with Killmonger, I just felt where he was coming from. Everything, from his performance, to how he talked, to what he said, I felt it 100%. Here, I see it. I see what he's talking about, but I don't feel it. Either because this plan has been done so many times in other Marvel movies, or because the film is juggling a lot. There's a lot of characters and ideas introduced in this, and a lot of them are very interesting, but other times, it feels like they are fighting for room. Again, there's pros and cons in this. Every time an older character or a newer character would be introduced, I always say to myself, "Oh, maybe she's gonna be Black Panther", and it started to mix it up a little bit, to where it wasn't 100% predictable.
(Images focusing on the characters of Everett Ross and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine are shown, as well as a few clips focusing on the film's humorous moments)
Doug (vo): But they can also be inconsistent. Martin Freeman is almost pointless to the story, and good God, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is painfully unfunny when she's trying to be funny. The irony is, when she's not trying to be funny, she's actually doing a pretty good job. I actually would love to know more about this character when, you know, they're not forcing in those tired Marvel jokes, which, yeah, there's not many in this, and they're not the worst, but you can just sense a producer saying, "Too heavy. Add joke here." They don't do it a lot, it's not Thor: Love and Thunder, but it does stand out sometimes.
(Footage focusing on the film's action sequences is shown)
Doug (vo): The action and effects, good God, are so much better than the first one. I feel like they took the budget of making Wakanda look good in the first one...which, by the way, you don't see a ton of Wakanda in this, and it doesn't really look that flashy when you do see it...but again, that could be because I think they put all that money into the action sequences. They heard people talking about it, and they said, "Okay. Let's really work on these coming across as really big and really epic", and it does work. I was much more invested in the fighting in this, not just for the choreography and the effects, but also the ideas behind it. These underwater characters are a pretty good threat.
(Footage focusing on the emotional scenes of the characters mourning T'Challa, which also serve as poignant tributes to Chadwick Boseman, is shown, as well as more clips focusing on Ramonda)
Doug (vo): It probably goes without saying, the tributes to Black Panther and Chadwick Boseman are both very well done, and they do make it clear there is a difference. When they're doing the funeral in the opening, that's saying goodbye to Black Panther. When you see his image all throughout the Marvel logo, that's saying goodbye to Chadwick Boseman. And then, at the end, when she closes her eyes and thinks about him, that's a tribute to both. But even with that, as you're feeling that great loss and, man, the funeral is so heavy and everything, you suddenly got to go through it again with Angela Bassett's character. And, yes, I understand why they did it. They want Shuri to be the leader and step up, though...does she at the end? I'm still a little confused how that worked out. I know she's Black Panther, but is she still ruling? I didn't quite follow that. But you know what I mean. We already had some big emotional goodbyes and funeral scenes, and then we have another big emotional goodbye and funeral scene.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): I'm sure they couldn't think of a way out of it, and, yes, it is impressive we got this well-made movie as well-made as it is, given everything that happened in real life. But that stuff is a tad noticeable and does get in the way a little bit. But like I said, it is a little bit. I still think this is a very emotional, very entertaining movie. It just doesn't speak to me like I think it speaks to a lot of other people, and to be fair, I don't think it's supposed to. I thought the first Black Panther movie was good but not great. I had some issues with it. But there's people that really connect with it on different levels, and, yeah, I get that, and go ahead. Keep doing it. It's a good film to connect with. For me, I see them as decent, impressive films, and again, kind of for different reasons. Some parts excel better than the last one, and some parts come up a little short, but nothing's really super-damaging. They both have very powerful, emotional moments that are trying to evolve what the Marvel formula is, and I really admire them for that. But what did you think? Did you think it was better than the first film? Do you think it doesn't hold a candle to the first film? Or do you just admire it for pulling off as much as it did, given everything that's happened in the real world? Let me know your comments below, and I'll see you next time in Wakanda.
(Two scenes are shown, one showing Shuri looking at two Black Panther helmets, and the other showing Black Panther unleashing its claws)