'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Is A Truly Immersive Experience Through Dolby Cinema

When Chadwick Boseman’s shocking death reverberated worldwide in August 2020, as the earth sat frozen in time amidst a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, the pain was excruciating. A bonafide movie star who had given the world so much was gone almost as quickly as we’d begun to know him. Just two years after the debut of the history-making Black Panther, T’Challa was dead. 

While we were able to lean into one another in grief as we absorbed so many other unfairnesses swirling around us, continuing the Black Panther franchise without the Academy Award nominee at the center seemed implausible. For the cast and crew, especially director Ryan Coogler the thought of pressing forward without Boseman was too much to bear. “I was at a point when I was like, I’m walking away from this business,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I didn’t know if I could make another movie, period, [let alone] another Black Panther movie, because it hurt a lot. I was like, Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again?”

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

'Wakanda Forever' examines grief and rage in a powerful way

A stunning tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” begins with the death of his character, T’Challa. Desperate to save her brother from the illness that has consumed him, a frantic Shuri (Letitia Wright) flits around her science lab, attempting to unearth the antidote that might save the Wakandan king. Tragically, her efforts are fruitless. Before the opening credits roll on the film, a despondent Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) tells her last living child, “Your brother is with the ancestors.”

The real-world trauma of Boseman’s shocking death from colon cancer in August 2020 collides with the aftermath of his character’s passing in “Wakanda Forever.” It’s an action-packed film full of grief, rage and the towering burden of legacy. His spirit stands at the film’s center as director Ryan Coogler examines why rage and trauma can be both a determinant and a pillar to communities of color. 

Continue reading at NBC Think.