CARRYING THE TORCH (BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER)

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This is a pretty hard thing for any critic to admit but I've reached a place where I'm really struggling to summon up any enthusiasm to review Marvel or DC Comics' films and TV shows.

This isn't just because there's so much of the damn stuff.

It's just most of what they produce is so dull, smug and formulaic.

If the movies and series they have a bit more ambition, if they are willing to break new ground and plumb deeper themes, they have the ability to float my boat.

© Marvel Studios

That's why I've rushed to review 'Joker' or 'The Batman'.

But most of the time I find myself dragging my heels at the prospect of having to review 'Doctor Strange,' 'Black Adam' or 'Ant Man and the Wasp' - that is, if I review them at all.

That weariness doesn't sit comfortably with me, though.

Marvel movies and to a lesser extent DC Comics' output are incredibly popular.

© Marvel Studios

They put bums on seats which is a very good thing for cinema.

However the last 15 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have felt a bit like a chore.

It's like sitting in a sushi bar and trying to eat every dish that comes your way.

Not only  do you feel full after a while, your love for it quickly wanes.

© Marvel Studios

I accept I may not be the best person to review a Marvel film.

However one of the exceptions in recent years was Ryan Coogler's 2018 smash hit 'Black Panther' whose take on the superhero genre felt genuinely fresh and exciting.

Not only was it thrilling to see a story propelled mostly by African characters, it was long overdue.

'Black Panther' was dominated mostly by American or British talent of African or Afro-Carribbean origin.

© Marvel Studios

It also had a genuinely thrilling plot and was worth every inch of its Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Coogler's film boasted a dynamic lead performance from the late Chadwick Boseman.

Four years on, however, from the original, Coogler has returned with 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'.

However from the outset he faces a mighty challenge.

© Marvel Studios

Boseman's death robbed the franchise of its charismatic central character.

So how does the film address the tragic loss of its star to colon cancer in August 2020?

Understandably, the passing of Boseman casts a huge shadow over the sequel.

But with Coogler sharing screenwriting duties with Joe Robert Cole, they waste no time addressing it in the movie.

© Marvel Studios

Audiences are immediately plunged into a story where Boseman's unseen character, T'Challa is dying from an unnamed terminal illness which his sister Letitia Wright's Shuri is trying to cure with a synthetically made heart shaped herb.

Shuri fails and for the rest of the film the loss of T'Challa hangs heavy not just on her but the rest of his family, friends and allies in Wakanda.

It isn't just Wakanda that is feeling the loss, though. 

The international community is also struggling, with Wakanda coming under pressure to share with other nations its stocks of vibranium, a powerful protective metal that can repel bullets and absorb sound, vibration and kinetic energy.

© Marvel Studios

Angela Bassett's Queen Ramonda is aware that without the Black Panther her homeland is exposed as other nations threaten to raid their supplies.

Meanwhile the CIA and US Navy Seals believe they have sourced a quantity of vibranium underwater in the Atlantic Ocean.

However the crew of their vessel are wiped out in an attack by blue skinned, water breathing  superhumans.

Unaware of the identity of the attackers, Richard Schiff's US Secretary of State mistakenly blames Wakanda.

© Marvel Studios

The leader of the creatures responsible for the attack, Tenoch Huerta Mejia's Namor rattles Ramonda and Shuri by easily penetrating Wakanda's defences to deliver an ultimatum to them.

Either Wakanda delivers him the scientist behind the vibranium detector or he will attack their kingdom.

With the help of Martin Freeman's CIA agent and Wakanda ally, Everett K Ross, Shuri and Danai Gurira's warrior Okoye identify the scientist is actually a MIT student, Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams.

Pursued by the FBI after tracking her down, Shuri and Riri are intercepted by Namor's Talokanil warriors and are taken prisoner, leaving Okoye to face the wrath of Queen Ramonda.

© Marvel Studios

But with Namor keen to forge an alliance with Wakanda against the rest of the world, will they resist his overtures?

Will Shuri also resurrect the Black Panther, stepping into the suit her brother once graced?

Coogler and Cole approach their sequel with great respect and sensitivity to the memory of Boseman and his character T'Challa. 

In many ways the first section of the blockbuster feels a little  bit like a wake as we watch the cast mourn his loss.

© Marvel Studios

There is also a sense of the characters processing their grief, with Shuri, in particular, reluctant to take over T'Challa's mantle.

For the most part, Coogler and his cast handle the difficult task of adjusting to Boseman's loss very well.

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' however, soon settles into the usual Marvel crash, bang, wallop despite flirting with some interesting ideas.

Huerta Mejia's Namor turns out to be an intriguing character who is certainly much more complex than your average Marvel villain.

© Marvel Studios

Through him, Coogler and Cole allude to Spanish colonialism and can also explore the arrogance of Western superpowers.

Wright and Gurira do a decent job flying the Wakandan flag.

The same goes for Lupita N'yongo as Nakia, Winston Duke as the mountain warrior M'Baku and Michaela Coel as a new warrior Aneka.

Martin Freeman and Julia Louis Dreyfus as CIA director and his ex-wife Valentina Allegra de Fontaine provide some light relief.

Dominique Thorne is good enough value as Riri.

© Marvel Studios

However it's all a bit meh.

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' doesn't feel like a huge advance on its predecessor.

Andif there is another big gaping hole in the film, it is the absence of Daniel Kuluuya's W'Kabi who only merits a passing mention but was undoubtedly a charismatic presence in the previous film.

As for Angela Bassett, her Oscar nominated performance is fine but nothing special.

She has turned in better performances during her career.

© Marvel Studios

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is exactly what you expect.

Well made with breathtaking visual effects, a bit bloated and not that deep.

But hey, that's what the punters want.

Who's going to argue with $858 million in box office receipts?

Ok. Maybe this weary old critic.

('Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on November 11, 2022)

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