Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - 6.75/8
A lot to unpack here. I had hoped to see a second time before posting, but that didn't work out.
While the trailers for the movie were definitely emotional, I found my self feeling unemotional coming out of the movie. It wasn't the movies fault, I'm not sure if it was just my mood the day of or whatnot (which is part of why I wanted to see it again).
Whereas the original Black Panther movie was very rooted in culture, I found this outing to feel much more like a Marvel movie. That comes with good and bad.
The acting all around was great, and you can feel the very real emotions they were feeling on set for losing one of their own. The absence of T'Challa is definitely felt, especially early in the film. As for the early parts of the film, the first hour or so of the movie definitely could have used a little trimming. Nothing major, but maybe 30 seconds here and there. Ironheart's entry into the plot and film felt very natural. As does Namor's, who's great in the film. I'll admit though, I found the underwater city of Talocan to be visually underwhelming, but I'm hearing this may have varied from theater to theater and that specifically in Imax it looks amazing.
Without getting into spoilers, there's really just a handful of small things here and there that kept it from feeling as good as the first or a truly excellent film. The movie is at it's best when it's focusing on the grief of the characters, in particular Shuri, who throughout the film is struggling with the notion of Science vs Faith. She is a scientist at her core, but she is a member of a family lineage steeped in faith and their belief of an afterlife, and she struggles with that in this movie. I think they would have leaned into this a little more. She also struggles with Mercy vs Vengeance.
Another thing the movie does well is handling the geopolitical aspect from the fallout of the first movie, as well as dealing with things that happen in this movie. I hope that they go deeper into that going forward in other projects, which seems like a given.
DC's League of Super Pets 5/8
Who'd have thunk this would be Dwayne Johnson's best super hero movie of the year?
Don't Worry Darling: 4.5/8
Not as bad as I've heard, but the third act does let the movie down. The movie is basically a good concept that didn't know how to stick the landing.