Caught a matinee of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with no real expectations as the trailers were likely (intentionally) scattershot.
From the opening credits, the homages to Chadwick Boseman were dignified and touching. They seemed to move outside the Marvel universe to honor the man beyond the character. It’s a hard needle to thread, they did well.
Yet these moments got buried in a muddling story.
Here’s my beef: Every character kept making really bad decisions, constantly — it felt like an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. (Which I can’t watch because of all the bad decisions.)
It all wrapped up in a pleasing enough way to forgive the character arcs. Oh, and the costumes were amazing.
The best part? Getting out and sharing the moment with Casey and his mom. We wanted to see a movie and this one just happened to be the best option—and it was a fine one at that.
And now, the transcript of Nicole Kidman’s AMC intro:
We come to this place for magic.
We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry, to care. Because we need that—all of us.
That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim and we go somewhere we’ve never been before.
Not just entertained, but somehow reborn together. Dazzling images on a huge silver screen. Sound that I can feel.
Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.
Our heroes feel like the best parts of us, and stories feel perfect and powerful. Because here… they are.
Nicole Kidman
Related links: The AMC Kidman original will always hold a special place in my heart, but the SNL send-up is also worthy.
