Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
3. It Has Real Dramatic Weight
Wakanda Forever is surely the single heaviest MCU movie to date, given the parallels it draws between Chadwick Boseman's death and the passing of T'Challa.
But it also never feels excessively miserable for no reason: Coogler has quite ingeniously utilised the grief he and his cast and crew presumably felt to craft an ode to loss that feels more real and honest than the typical heightened MCU drama.
Beyond that, there's also a majorly compelling series of parallels between Wakanda and Namor's home nation of Talokan, which fuels Namor's desire to keep his home hidden and causes him to exert significant pressure on Shuri to help him preserve that secrecy.
Even with its storytelling excess, the emotions at the core of the characters feel totally grounded and genuine, ensuring its flaws are considerably easier to forgive.