Editor's note: The views and opinions expressed in this review are solely those of Marlon Wallace and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of WBOC.
This is the 30th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's a direct sequel to Black Panther (2018), which became the highest-grossing film directed by a Black person. It made $700 million domestically and $1.38 billion worldwide. It was nominated in seven categories at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, making it the first superhero flick to be listed for the Oscars' top prize. It won Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Original Score. By that point, it had become a cultural phenomenon, a touchstone for many in the African-American community.
Unfortunately, its titular actor, Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020. The wheels were turning to put this film together. Instead of recasting the actor, director and co-writer, Ryan Coogler decided to incorporate the actor's death into the narrative and essentially kill off Boseman's character. The opening of this film deals with that death. It's brief and oddly not as impactful or tear-jerking as it could have been. It might be impactful to those who had more affection for the 2018 film, but, for those like me who didn't have more affection might not be so moved. I don't mean to be offensive, but I was never much engaged with Boseman's character, so his absence here doesn't bother me at all.
Angela Bassett (How Stella Got Her Groove Back and What's Love Got to Do With It) stars as Ramonda, the Queen of Wakanda. She took over as sovereign after her son died. Her son, T'Challa, played by Boseman, became sovereign after his father died in a terrorist bombing in Captain America: Civil War (2016). However, the previous film established that the sovereign title can be challenged and taken by anyone, but apparently no one challenged after T'Challa's death, so Ramonda became queen.
Unlike the Queen of England, Ramonda is more than a figurehead. She's seemingly the commander-in-chief of Wakanda's all-female military, known as the Dora Milaje. Her main role is representing Wakanda to other countries and continuing T'Challa's policy that began at the end of the 2018 flick. T'Challa started an outreach program. Prior to that, Wakanda had a policy of isolationism where they didn't trade with other nations. This was mainly because Wakanda had a mineral that no one else had, known as vibranium. Vibranium is very valuable and can be used to create weapons, energy and other technology that could be exploited or used to do bad things and Wakanda didn't want that.
Letitia Wright (Death on the Nile and Ready Player One) co-stars as Shuri, the daughter to Ramonda. She's the last heir to the throne but she seemed content to be a scientist and not get into the politics or the lore that Wakanda had developed over the centuries. A religious or faith-based lore developed around the arrival of vibranium. Shuri doesn't seem to subscribe to that religion. She seems agnostic or atheist in that regard, relying more on science than spirituality. In fact, she's the one who creates the advanced technology using vibranium that certain people in Wakanda have.
Her technology doesn't seem more advanced than the stuff that Tony Stark created in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Stark had nano-technology that could do all kinds of fantastical things. Stark also invented time travel, using tech developed by another American scientist. The question becomes if vibranium really is the advantage that it's hyped to be. Yet, this film doesn't ask that question. This film continues the myth that vibranium is the ultimate MacGuffin.
Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Narcos: Mexico and The Forever Purge) also co-stars as Namor, the King of Talokan, a civilization that has its origins with the ancient Mayans, the Native or indigenous people in what's now Central America. He's a mutant who is amphibious, has super strength and can fly, specifically with wings on his feet. Talokan is deep under water and it seems as though Namor used vibranium to build the city in Talokan using the vibranium that was located nearby.
When the CIA gets a machine that can detect vibranium, it leads them by ship to the area of the Atlantic Ocean near Talokan. Namor and his soldiers kill everyone on that CIA ship. Namor demands that Ramonda help him find the scientist who invented the machine or he'll destroy Wakanda. He blames Wakanda for letting the world know about vibranium, causing groups like the CIA to go looking for it. Namor wants to keep Talokan secret from what he calls "surface dwellers," but Namor later reveals that he wants to wage war against everyone, or all the surface dwellers. Namor says if Wakanda doesn't join with him in his war, he'll attack Wakanda first.
Namor has incredible powers and his soldiers are mermaids or mermen that are amazing warriors, just veritable killing machines. He demonstrates that he's a legitimate threat, which is necessary for a superhero story, but it pits Namor against Wakanda in a way that feels strained or contrived. It's also Coogler and his co-writer Joe Robert Cole, desperately trying to make Namor into the next Kilmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan (Creed and Just Mercy). Kilmonger was the villain from the 2018 film and was considered one of the best villains of the MCU, so trying to copy Kilmonger in Namor seems logical, but it does come across as a little forced.
There have been oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and other places at sea. Pollution of plastic into the ocean has gotten monumental, and climate change is destroying life in the ocean like dead coral reefs. These things could have caused Namor to go after surface dwellers long before they discovered vibranium, but this film perhaps didn't want to draw comparisons to Aquaman (2018), which had a similar plot. The film is already drawing a lot of comparisons to Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), which from a visual standpoint, it could never hope to match.
Coogler's film doesn't spend too much time in Talokan, so we don't get any real sense of it. Namor seems concerned with encroachment on Talokan and surface dwellers mining minerals or resources from their land, which is the common complaint from Native Americans. Yet, it doesn't make sense why he would be so concerned. Namor and Talokan seem highly capable of defending themselves, and not in a surprising way, such as Ukraine defending itself against Russia. Namor is in fact planning to wage war against the surface dwellers, so he can't be that afraid of them.
Yet, what's unclear is if Namor is aware of the Avengers, which include super-powered characters like Thor, Hulk, Dr. Strange and Captain Marvel. If Namor is planning to wage war against people on the surface, that would mean waging war against the Avengers, but, how does Namor think he can defeat the Avengers? This film never addresses this. The Avengers defeated Thanos, who was one of the most powerful beings in the universe, so what does Namor think he can do against the people who defeated Thanos?
Namor might not be aware of the Avengers, which would be fine, but Shuri and Ramonda know about the Avengers. Wakanda was the site of the battle against Thanos where the Avengers fought him in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). If Namor was threatening the world at large, why wouldn't Shuri or Ramonda contact the Avengers and involve them? Namor first suggests to form an alliance with Wakanda. Shuri and Ramonda could have pretended to form that alliance in order to stall before the Avengers got involved. Shuri and Ramonda made calls to CIA Agent Ross, played by Martin Freeman (Shaun of the Dead and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), so if they can call Agent Ross, they could have called the Avengers.
I would say this film is too long. The film introduces us to Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, who is going to have her own series called Ironheart, but it feels like a waste of time here. Coogler involves a character named Valentina, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep and Seinfeld), which all felt like a waste of time too. There were some great action scenes, but in terms of action flicks centered in an African country featuring an all-female military, the recent The Woman King (2022) did it better.
Winston Duke (Us and Nine Days) reprises his role of M'Baku, the Lord of Jabari, a tribe in the mountains of Wakanda. I was hoping that his character would get more of who he is or what his personal life is, but he's relegated to a similar, minor role as in the 2018 film. Lupita Nyong'o (Us and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) is also relegated to a minor role, but that's purposeful due to a surprise at the end. Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead and Treme) is the only exception. Gurira's character of Okoye is properly and effectively used. Sadly, Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You and Chewing Gum) as Aneka, the lesbian Dora Milaje, is the opposite and sorely under utilized.
Rated PG-13 for strong violence, action and some language.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 41 mins.
In theaters.
