We need the MCU to go smaller(1). This feels like a story torn between two movies: one an emotional drama about losing a loved one and a leader that needs to deliver on a promise to provide solace and introspection to the audience, the other a blockbuster action flick that needs to deliver on a promise to provide spectacle to the audience. Ultimately it underdelivers in both camps. I feel as though Ryan Coogler wanted to make a more intimate Shuri-focused film, evidenced by several scenes that feel integral to her development as a character but maybe not relevant to the development of the primary storyline with Namor. There’s just too much going on that steals that focus away, with Ironheart and Julia-Louis Dreyfuss’s storylines in particular tugging away at the frayed edges. By the time the video-game-action-figure-green-screen-epic-battle rolls around, I knew it was time to finally take that pee break(2) because nothing would happen for the next ten minutes.
(1) Not like Quantumania.
(2) I do not recommend watching a movie about ocean people with liquid bombs and trickling, gurgling sfx when ya gotta go 😕
