The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Rotten Tomatoes score is in and as expected it’s sky-high.
The early reviews give the flick a 94% “Fresh” rating which is pretty much in line with the first film’s 96% which is the best score for an MCU film (only beaten out by Ms. Marvel‘s 97%, if you can believe that).
84 reviews are currently posted, so we’ll update the score as more reviews are published.
Update: With 183 reviews, the score has dropped to 84%.
Update #2: The Audience Score is in.
The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score will become available once the movie is officially released this weekend.
The first film has a 79% Audience Score.
What do the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever negative reviews have to say?
As so many of the reviews are positive, what do the negative reviews have to say?
– A near-three-hour endurance run of gloomy photography and turgidly staged, emotionally empty two-way conversations, all seemingly designed to sap cast and viewers’ combined will to live. – Daily Telegraph
– A dutiful, mirthless movie derailed by a real-life loss from which no franchise could feasibly recover. – WBUR’s Arts and Culture
– Ticking boxes isn’t the same as pulling magic — or even just insight — from thin air… The sad reality is that the show must go on, and without [Chadwick Boseman], it’s just more of the same. Our job is to pretend it’s enough. – Time
– This installment was always going to be more somber thanks to the loss of its star. What the film lacks is the will to make make that loss heartbreaking. – Movie Nation
– Though its lugubrious and plodding narrative spins its wheels ahead of someone coming along to fill T’Challa’s shoes, <em>Wakanda Forever</em> does stand out for its depictions of grief. – Slant Magazine
“Wakanda Forever” winds up feeling hopelessly stalled, covering up an inability to move on by resorting to repetitive, over-familiar action sequences, maudlin emotional beats and an uninvolving, occasionally incoherent story. – Washington Post
It’s a sequel that bores me in perpetuity with its abundance of one-dimensional female characters and, most of all, bland action that exposes the anthropological side of Marvel without any sense of wonder. – Cinemaficionados
Coogler and his team nearly pull it off, leading to moments of real power and emotion not normally found in superhero films, and yet Marvel’s need for a shared universe practically undermines it at every turn. – Washington City Paper
There’s a smaller story about solace buried somewhere in here, but Phase Four has no interest in that. – Larsen On Film
As it stands, “Wakanda Forever” feels as lost and forlorn as the Wakandan people. – San Francisco Chronicle
Wakanda Forever proves poignant in two ways: the film is often quite thoughtful in its exploration of grief, but it struggles to overcome what the actor’s loss means to the future of this series. – Screen International
The true “prestige” Marvel picture it borders on being less a film continuing themes that resonated with audiences and, rather, about itself, resulting in artistic tensions both interesting and frustrating. – The Film Stage
Wakanda Forever, in short, faces the same dilemmas as the previous film, but has lost any poise to combat them. – Cinemania
Certainly, the film has its high points but, ultimately, it pales in comparison to its predecessor, one of the best entries in the field of superhero cinema, and feels largely like a placeholder for the next movie. – Houston Chronicle
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER unfortunately doesn’t really come close to its strong predecessor. It imitates it far too much and never really gets going. In the end, the more than two and a half hours become a real test of patience. – Jimmy Cage YouTube
For long stretches, it feels like Wakanda Forever could have been more successful had it shucked its superhero confines: just trim the fat, make it a character/political drama set in the MCU, and ditch the gloppy CG action. – The Spool
After a hearty start, the film sputters in its second half, dragging through its bloated runtime on its way to its at once overblown and underwhelming finale. – Detroit News
The repetitive pattern of identifying a quandary, then whipping up a hi-tech answer, grows maddeningly frivolous – especially over the course of 160 minutes. – Gone with the Twins
This might not all be so deflating if Wakanda Forever worked, simply, as an action spectacle. But very little here pops. – Globe and Mail
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever box office
Similar to the early Rotten Tomatoes score, the Black: Panther: Wakanda Forever box office is also tracking sky high.
Estimates offer the flick could open to $170 million to as high as $205 million, which would be more than the first film’s $202 million, something I can’t see happening.
I actually think the $170 million estimates are way too high as checking Fandango shows a lot of empty seats in theaters.
The first film also finished with a $1.3 billion box office so it will be interesting to see if the sequel can also crack a billion, but it will have to do so without China where the first movie grossed $105 million.
