Skip to content
Black Panther 2: Panth Harder… I mean, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever.
It’s a bit of a lazy subtitle, since it’s just their occasional chant, but presumably they wanted to put that in to show it’s still happening, following the death of Chadwick Boseman. And to that end, as well as showing the funeral of T’Challa at the start, for this Marvel movie, the entire Marvel logo was ALL Chadwick – and pretty much in silence, apart from the occasional swishy sound, which made for a nice tribute.
I will state upfront that I haven’t seen the first Black Panther movie, apart from flicking through, as well as a few clips and trailers, but since it’s just £3 from the Three app – and for almost 3hrs in the cinema? Well, in the winter, it’s worth it for a warm. Either way, I saw the BP crew pop up in the Avengers double dirge and I get the jist. Mr Boseman showed he had great acting chops in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, even if the film itself, wasn’t great. As for 21 Bridges, everyone phoned that one in. And Lupita Nyong’o (Little Monsters) is hot.
Anyhoo, at the end of the first film, Chadwick said yes to sharing Vibranium with the world, in that movie’s post-credits scene. But now? Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett – Mission Impossible: Fallout) says no. This is like watching the Tory party contradict themselves every time they have a new leader.
Meanwhile, an underwater team are looking for Vibranium, yet it appears to be self-protecting, causing their equipment to go dark, along with other bizarre behaviour. However, nothing has stopped Namor (Tenoch Huerta), referred to as the feathered serpent god K’uk’ulkan. Then again, if he’s superhuman, all bets are off.
That said, I can only describe these baddies as fishmen, who jump out of the sea for pointless attacks with Shuri and Okeye, and a student – Riri (Dominique Thorne – Judas And The Black Messiah) – comes into the mix because she created a machine that’s rather important but I won’t spoil it here. Why is everyone so violent, and for a 12-certificate? I thought they were meant to be a peaceful country, or is that just T’Challa? This also leads to some very tedious fight scenes, all underwater, reminding me of Thunderball, and that was bad enough.
Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever has a very lazy script, and not too much humour. There’s occasional bits, where for example, General Okoye (Danai Gurira) has a spear, but Aneka (Michaela Coel – so overhyped for I May Destroy You) doesn’t want this, and instead, goes for a pair of knives. Also, Everett Ross (Martin Freeman – Ghost Stories) encounters his ex-wife, Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Troll/Troll 2), who jokes “Maybe, I’ll drop by and jump on your peloton!”. However, this film is way too serious in the main. It’s also way too long at 161 minutes.
And add in a ridiculous scene where Okeye is remonstrating with an AI, as if it’s human.
Also annoying is that it’s not always easy to make out the dialogue due to the very strong African accents used. And when people do speak, most of the time, everyone’s just shouting at each other.
And since they need Everett’s help to stop the stealing of Vibranium – given he’s on their side, why doesn’t he persuade Ramonda to share it?
Oh, and when Black Panther’s death is announced near the start, it’s by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, so given it’s CNN, we know it’s a lie.
As an aside, some IMAX scenes in 1.90:1 are cropped to 2.39:1 for a regular cinema screen as I saw it on, even though I was watching on a 1.85:1 screen – thus, at least in one scene, the subtitles were slightly cropped at the bottom. So, some bad framing there from the director.
There’s also one mid-credits scene, but nothing at the end:
Oh, and I was in Screen 5 at Cineworld Didsbury, and their screen was out of focus… AGAIN! Let us see how things went by the power of tweet with Cineworld, when on the day in question:
- #BlackPanther #WakandaForever was the 2nd film I’ve seen in Screen 5 @Cineworld Didsbury in 2 weeks (the other was #BlackAdam) & again, the projector was obviously out of focus as the BBFC title card came up. NO-ONE there is checking the equipment,so it must be like this for every film in there!
Now, there was another focusing problem this time round, but while the ads and trailers were fine, I spotted it as soon as the BBFC title card came up, and it made me feel like I’d turned into Mr Magoo!
I quickly spoke to someone (albeit during the opening scene, so I missed some of it – AGAIN, which pissed me off), but it was only corrected to a degree. Place names/subtitles were still a bit fuzzy, and the end credits were horrendous.
I figured, either (a) the projection system is broken, (b) no-one at Cineworld gives a toss, or (c) the projectionist is Stevie Wonder!
Seriously, these are all automated & programmed in advance, so no-one bothers to check unless someone says something, but twice is not an accident. Someone needs to fix this!
They then slid into my DMs…
Them:
- Hi, unfortunately, on this occasion we will not be offering a complimentary ticket. We do advise that in future visits should you be dissatisfied with screen quality that you speak to a member of the team who will be more than happy to offer you an alternative showing in another screen, or refund your tickets if you wish to leave. As you did watch the performance, we aren’t able to assist any further with your request. Thank you for your feedback.
Me:
- So, you’re saying that it’s okay that I sit there and watch a substandard performance? I was told they were going to correct it, so after it was still continuing after a small correction, I thought they were going to improve it further and they didn’t.
This is not my fault, and I didn’t want to come out of that showing and sit through all the adverts of another screening in the hope that one will be fine. How long do I have to spend at the cinema? And how long do I need to spend OUT of the auditorium in order to discuss this with someone?
Please refer this to a manager to answer these questions. Thankyou.
Also, in the cinema, how long am I supposed to give them to correct such a problem? And I DID speak to someone, as I explained. You replied as if I hadn’t. Please read the whole Twitter thread I’ve linked to (which is what starts this DM thread)
As for the other elements in your paragraph, again, none of this is my fault. Your projection system is clearly defective and you should stop making excuses for it.
As I stated before, please refer this to a manager to answer these questions. Thankyou.
Them:
- Hi Amelie, if you are unsatisfied with out decision on this occasion we do recommend making writing a formal complaint and emailing it to our Customer Service team the email address is customer.services@cineworld.co.uk
Me:
- I have asked for a supervisor to take over here. I should not have to start a whole discussion thread by email. This is the most appalling “customer service”.
And besides, you ARE meant to be the customer service team, so there’s no need to make a separate email. Take this as a complaint and pass me to a manager, please.
Me (later that day):
- Supervisor/manager, please.
The next day:
- Hi Amelie, we thank you for your patience.
We have spoken to the team at Didsbury regarding the issue with Screen 5 you have reported. The team have confirmed they have not received any other complaints regarding the focus of this screen, other than what has been reported by you through us. In the time of your first visit, the duty manager went to check the screen and made any adjustments necessary – there have been no further complaints since.
As advised before, our team members regularly conduct screen checks throughout every performance and had there of been an issue with the focus, this would have been investigated and resolved at the time however no issues were recorded.
Yesterday, the General Manager switched out the lamp in screen 5 for a new lamp, so hopefully any issues you are encountering with this screen are now resolved. The team will continue to monitor this screen, however all relevant actions have been taken by the team to rectify the issue you have reported.
Me:
- Thanks for the information. You have confirmed there was a fault, but unless you can issue a complimentary ticket for this performance, please refer this to a manager/supervisor to process that – noting my messages at 4.32pm and 4.38pm yesterday, thankyou.
Them (2 messages, contradicting each other):
- Hi, As the issue you reported was investigated and fixed when you reported it, we will not be offering a complimentary ticket on this occasion. As advised before, should you feel dissatisfied with any aspects of the screening, our team members would have been happy to switch you to another screening or provide a refund should you not wish to finish the movie. We are unable to assist you any further here, and all steps have been taken to investigate and resolve your issue by the team at Didsbury. Should you wish to discuss this further, you can email us.
Hi, we have just sent you over a complimentary ticket. We apologise for your experience at our Didsbury cinema on both occasions, and we hope the issue to now be resolved.
And my reply so far, but I’ll update when there’s more:
- Thankyou for the ticket, although it is amusing that I get two conflicting responses.
Question, though: As it’s a lamp issue, do they know why it doesn’t affect the ads and trailers, but does affect the film? Do they play from separate projectors?
I’m hoping it is all sorted out, as I saw this weekend, they’ve scheduled The Menu in screen 5, and that’s looking to be a good film, so I’m hoping it’s all fixed.
Just to confirm, as long as they check when the BBFC title card appears, that will indicate if there’ll be a problem or not, since that’s when it kicks in. And since the performances/ads/trailers are all programmed in advance, and the system is left to play out all day (presuming it mirrors the same sort of setup I saw a few years back at Vue Lowry, where all films are played off hard drives rather than reels), the staff will know the precise minute at which the BBFC title card will appear.
Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 161 minutes
Release date: November 11th 2022
Studio: Marvel Studios
Format: 2.39:1; 1.90:1 (IMAX Version: Some Scenes) (IMAX) (Anamorphic Panavision) X-OCN ST (6K))
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 2/10
Director: Ryan Coogler
Producers: Kevin Feige, Nate Moore
Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole
Music: Ludwig Göransson
Cast:
Shuri: Letitia Wright
Nakia: Lupita Nyong’o
Okoye: Danai Gurira
M’Baku: Winston Duke
Ramonda: Angela Bassett
Namor: Tenoch Huerta
Everett Ross: Martin Freeman
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Riri: Dominique Thorne
Ayo: Florence Kasumba
Aneka: Michaela Coel
Attuma: Alex Livinalli
Namora: Mabel Cadena
River Tribe Elder: Isaach De Bankolé
Border Tribe Elder: Danny Sapani
Merchant Tribe Elder: Dorothy Steel
Mining Tribe Elder: Zainab Jah
Sope the Shaman: Sope Aluko
Zawavari: Connie Chiume
Griot: Trevor Noah
WDG Scientist: Shawn Roberts
Zola: Zola Williams
Nomble: Janeshia Adams
Jemini: Jemini Powell
Smitty: Robert John Burke
Dr. Graham: Lake Bell
Jackson: Judd Wild
Rita Salazar: Amber Harrington
Henderson: Michael Blake Kruse
CNN liar: Anderson Cooper
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.