Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - T'Challa Lives

 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

2022

Director Ryan Googler

Stars Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman 

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mr. Chadwick Boseman became a legend overnight with the release of Black Panther, because the movie was just as reflective of his own character, as it was about the character he played.  Indeed, it continues to be impossible to separate the actor from the character, T'Challa. 

Mr. Boseman's tragic passing has left a deep void in humanity and a deep vacuum in the mythical country of Wakanda. But, rather than attempting to fill or replace this void, Director Coogler brilliantly brings it in to the discussion in the movie, allowing the grief, frustration, denial and anger to constantly remind us of what Mr. Boseman meant to all of us. 

Of all the familiar faces in this movie, Ms. Wright, through Suri, expresses best what we all feel. Around her is this aura of sorrow and rage, a very questioning of the gods for taking away an icon, a symbol of hope for the world. Her acting, however, is not some air of bravado, but a soulful attitude, one that asks us to empathize, and at times, forgive. 

The vision of Wakanda is not limited to just those of one race. In the first film, we, as South Asians, were encouraged to empathize with this vision. In this film, another set of indigenous peoples are asked to do the same, to join in on a reflection of what we as human beings could do if we refuse to give in to the sense of victim-hood and find the One Soul that we all used to believe in, the one that binds us all.

Interestingly, even women are asked to find the same. The legendary Ms. Basset leads the way in showing us how a woman's strength is centered not in trying to compete in a man's world, but to prove to men how this world is very much a woman's. 

The movie itself could be just another Disney film, just another sequel. But, it is not. It pulls on our heartstrings, asking to reflect, to honor, and to be grateful for an ancient set of values that binds us all. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has taken the stuff of Hollywood and turned it into the stuff of legend. Glory to T'Challa and Glories to Hanuman!