Andrew
Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
WHAT a difference 11 months makes!
This is probably the sentiment among many as we head into the final lap of the year 2022.
As far as the movie business is concerned, this could arguably be one of the most disappointing years. This is especially so when one considers the hope and optimism that characterised the beginning of this year.
At the time, we were dead smack in the middle of history as “Spiderman: No Way Home” broke every conceivable record as it reached US$1,9 billion at the box office.
The third instalment in Tom Holland’s turn as friendly neighbourhood superhero dethroned “Avatar” as the third-highest-grossing film in the United States (US$760 million).
Its worldwide debut had made a US$600,8 million, finishing third on the all-time list.
An avid Spiderman and Marvel fan, Ramiro Alanis, is reported to have watched the movie 292 times to earn himself a spot in the “Guinness Book of Records” after he beat the previous mark for most in-theatre viewings of one film.
Arnaud Klein held the previous record after watching the French fantasy series “Kaamelott: The First Chapter” 204 times. The Marvel movie (Spiderman) cast such a huge shadow over the 2022 movie releases. However, many film critics and fans held out on hope in preparations for the releases of movies such as the “Batman”, “Black Adam”, “Thor: Love and Thunder”, “Jurassic Park: Dominion”, “Top Gun: Maverick”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Morbius”. Unfortunately, most, if not all, of the aforementioned movies have either tanked or failed to make the desired impression. Could “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” be the redemption?
Today, we are only a few days away from the worldwide première of the “Black Panther” sequel. However, let us jump straight into a couple of concerns I have over this movie, which, no doubt, I believe is going to make a lot of money but could lack on entertainment value.
Chadwick Boseman ghost
It goes without saying that the late American actor, Chadwick Boseman, performed well in the original. This is especially so when it hits you that the actor was suffering from stage three colon cancer when he took part in “Black Panther” and a few other projects. The actor succumbed to the debilitating disease on August 28, 2020.
As the star of the movie, his death really threw a monkey wrench in Marvel’s plans for both the character and project going forward.
There were two choices — to recast the character or kill it off.
Marvel, much to the chagrin of the Boseman family, chose to do the latter, and how they treat both his character (T’Challa and his Black Panther mantle) is sure to be the defining factor in the movie’s success or failure.
In their attempts to give the actor and character a befitting farewell, Marvel risks one of two things.
They are either going to spend too much on the character and actor or it will be one of those blink-and-you-will-miss-it kind of tribute.
Regardless of the route they will take, a plausible death and explanation will also be warranted.
This provides another obstacle for the writers and studio as a whole.
The marketing of the movie has spent a great deal of time and effort to put the character at the forefront, meaning that T’Challa (Boseman’s character) will form a huge part of the movie’s narrative.
Letitia Wright’s controversy
I shall give a summary of the debacle surrounding Letitia Wright.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is one of the films that were heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the absence of Boseman, it looks like Marvel will be taking the comic book route and hand over the Black Panther mantle to T’Challa’s sister Shuri.
This means Wright has since been promoted to lead, instead of being a background character.
As such, this increases her value in the production.
However, problems arose when it emerged that the English star was against Covid-19 vaccines after she shared a video that spread anti-vaccination propaganda.
The Twitter post has since been deleted.
The post and half-hearted apology soon after did not endear her to the public.
It got worse, as it was alleged that Wright tried to spread her anti-vaccination ideals on the “Black Panther” set.
This alienated her from the rest of the cast.
That is not all.
Wright then got injured on set, while doing a stunt, which forced a stop in production as the English actress had to go home and recuperate.
Given that she refused to get vaccinated, there were further delays in production as she was not permitted to re-enter the United States.
This caused a huge strain between the actress and Marvel studio heads, with some reports suggesting that she was almost removed from the project entirely.
Against this background, Wright will have to give a performance of her life if she is to successfully endear herself back to the “Black Panther” fans.
Visuals, narrative issue
One of the complaints many had with the first “Black Panther” movie was the terrible computer-generated imagery that characterised the third act.
This needs to be improved.
Also, the fact that the movie’s main villain Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is Marvel’s version of Aquaman means that some, if not most, of the action sequences will be underwater.
If the visual disaster that the 2018 “Aquaman” movie is anything to go by, then Marvel has a herculean task ahead of them.
From a narrative point of view, how Marvel treats Namor will also be critical.
In the comic books, Namor is what is known as an antihero in that he is portrayed as an alternately good-natured but short-fused superhero or a hostile invader seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs that misguided surface dwellers committed against his kingdom.
He has served as an Avenger, the Fantastic Four, X-Men and the Illuminati, which in itself presents Marvel with one of their multi-faceted antagonists to date.
Given that Marvel has a terrible record with villains not named Thanos, the outlook is not good.
Namor is just the tip of the iceberg, though.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will also have to juggle a few other characters and stories.
The movie will also have to introduce new characters like Dominique Throne’s Iron Heart to lead her own series, by the same name, next year.
There is also the story of returning characters, who have all been announced for the sequel.
The writers have also been tasked with ending the mess that has characterised the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s phase four, which has been a total mess.
It has been characterised by a movie way long overdue (Black Widow) and the introduction of too many characters.
Given that this is the last release of phase four, we expect it to bring about a satisfying conclusion and some semblance of what to expect in the next chapter.
Online Reporter