REVIEW: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Letitia Wright’s Shuri in BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER — PHOTO: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Marvel Studios.

Directed by Ryan Coogler — Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole.

How do you follow up on one of the most popular superhero films of the last decade, when the incredibly magnetic actor portraying the titular iconic character is no longer with us? Such was the seemingly impossible task for Ryan Coogler when he sat in the director’s chair for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. As I sat down to watch the film, this was the big question that was on my mind. Chadwick Boseman, the charismatic actor who passed away in 2020 due to a private battle with colon cancer, was such an amazing screen presence, and he was the focus of that first film, and you definitely miss him in the sequel. However, it must be said that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever actually does work quite well in spite of the big missing link. One of the reasons why it works is because the presence of a gaping hole at the center of it is an intrinsic part of the plot in more ways than one.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)”

REVIEW: Tenet (2020)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of Tenet — Directed by Christopher Nolan.

In December of 2019, I sat down in an IMAX theater to watch the ninth episode of the so-called Skywalker-saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Accompanying the latest Disney space opera was an early preview of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film Tenet. The lengthy, overwhelming, and jaw-dropping clip was riveting and showed a lot of promise. As a Star Wars fan, it hurts to admit that that clip was so good, in fact, that the Disney-film it preceded struggled to live up to it. In fact, during the last eight months, I’ve thought a lot about that preview, while I have yet to revisit The Rise of Skywalker. Christopher Nolan’s ambitious spy flick has, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, been proclaimed to be the potential savior of the theatrical experience, which has, understandably, struggled immensely this summer. Continue reading “REVIEW: Tenet (2020)”

REVIEW: Black Panther (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The following is a review of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther — Directed by Ryan Coogler.

We’ve seen plenty of superhero films before. We’ve seen superhero films with social commentary before. We’ve had people of color as the leads of comic book films before — you need only look at the forgotten Blade-trilogy, which definitely deserves a rewatch, to figure that out. Continue reading “REVIEW: Black Panther (2018)”