November 15, 2022 – The untimely death of Chadwick Boseman is dealt with in the prelude of this sequel in a full fledged funeral honoring the original Black Panther. The passing of the Black Panther hangs like a fog over much of the film as the leaders of Wakanda struggle to find a way forward in the perilous waters of international diplomacy.

It seems that Wakanda's secret is now out and the world is hungry for its exclusive supply of vibranium, the magic metal that seems to do everything. A precocious American student, Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne of “Judas and the Black Messiah”) invents a vibranium detector that is used to locate a vast undersea deposit of the substance. The exploration ship investigating the deposit is attacked and destroyed by a powerful military force, and the vibranium detector onboard is brought to Wakanda.

Wakanda is suspected in the attack on the ship, creating an international incident, one of several facing Wakandan Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett, reprising her role). She receives a direct challenge from a mysterious flying man, Namor (played by Tenoch Huerta of “The Forever Purge”) to turn over Riri. He intends to kill Riri to preserve the secret location of the undersea vibranium deposit.

Ramonda sends her general, Okoye (Danai Gurira, reprising her role) and Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright, reprising her role) to find Riri and bring her back to Wakanda. While doing so, they are attacked while in the United States. Okoye is defeated and Shuri and Riri are captured. They are taken to a secret underwater empire, Talokan, led by Namor.

The Talokan Empire is populated by what are, essentially, mermaids and mermen. Originally, they were ordinary humans from South America, transformed hundreds of years ago by the use of vibranium plants (similar to the ones used by Wakanda to empower the Black Panther) into a water-breathing species able to resist the pressures of the ocean deep. Namor himself is an immortal hybrid mutant, able to fly, breathe air for short periods, as well as being able to live underwater.

Furious about the unprovoked attack and the kidnapping of her daughter Shuri, Ramonda angrily discharges Okoye from the army and arranges for a spy, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o, reprising her role) to find and recover her daughter. Nakia does so, and rescues Riri as well, but is forced to kill a guard during the escape from Tolokan. Namor overreacts to this and launches a devastating attack on Wakanda.

Attacks and counter attacks escalate between the Talokans and Wakandans into a war which could have dire consequences for the entire world. There is plenty of drama and action in this movie, but the main theme of the movie concerns hubris and revenge, and how dangerous these emotions are for international relations.

In a democracy, there are checks and balances against these emotions, but these are autocracies, like Russia, and we are now witnessing, again, what can happen when a dictator goes bad.

It seems to me that this movie is inferior to “Black Panther” (2018). This movie, in trying to find a worthy opponent for Wakanda goes way overboard (pun intended). The sight of a man flying with little tiny wings sprouting from his ankles is ridiculous and unintentionally funny.

You've already got vibranium, which is supposed to have some anti-gravity properties, and you've already got the Iron Man suit, so why settle for little tiny flapping ankle wings? That is pathetic, and laughable. I am willing to suspend my disbelief in science fiction movies, but not this far.

Another thing, Wakanda and Tolokan are natural allies. A blind man could see that. The justification for the war between these two empires is a very flimsy concoction. For sure, an alliance between these two powers would be difficult to manage, but the mutual benefits of the alliance are obvious, and substantial.

Despite these issues, and the overlong running time (two hours and 41 minutes) this is an entertaining superhero movie, with some effective dramatic elements. It rates a C+.

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