3.5/5
Wakanda For Earth
4 Episodes. Starring: Winnie Harlow, Cress Williams, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, Zeke Alton, Steve Toussaint & Anika Noni Rose. Created By: Todd Harris. Executive Producer: Ryan Coogler. On: Disney +.
All eyes on this. Marvel Animation, like Marvel Television ('Daredevil: Born Again'), is looking to be a big thing in the M.C.U., like the first steps of the real first family, 'The Fantastic Four'. All in a great 'Thunderbolts*' return year for Marvel, with no need for an asterisk ('Captain America: Brave New World' was so much better than given credit for). Ever since the Marvel cartoon universe asked us 'What If...?' with the great Jeffrey Wright, we just knew we would be watchers too. Especially when they remixed the best comic-book come to life, not named, 'Batman: The Animated Series', with 'X-Men '97'. If that wasn't enough, this year even began with a new spin on 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'. And we still have the graphic novel content of 'Marvel: Zombies' to come. But before all that, fresh off his executive producers gig on 'Ironheart', 'Sinners' superstar and 'Black Panther' and 'Wakanda Forever' director Ryan Coogler gives us the animated 'Eyes Of Wakanda' with showrunner Todd Harris. Hey, buddy! Eyes up here!
Streaming now on Disney Plus in all its four-episode miniseries entirety, the 'Eyes' have the vocal talents of Winnie Harlow, Cress Williams, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, Zeke Alton, Steve Toussaint and Anika Noni Rose, armed and ready to hold up the X and scream their nation's battle cry. Like 'What If...?', the epic episodes of this science-fiction, superhero, action-adventure anthology series are all loosely connected, even if they are self-contained corners of 'Wakanda'. Think of it like the perfect 'Predator: Killer Of Killers' animated movie that recently came to Hulu and Disney +. If you want to know how far back the electric gated community of Wakanda goes, then wonder no more. Just wonder and awe, as you literally marvel at how beautiful this nation is opening up to the rest of the watching and working world. Classic all the way down to the closing concept art credits like a 'Mandalorian'. Marvel animation can now go up against their Disney 'Star Wars' neighbours with all those clones and bad batches.
Ancient Greece, Achilles and even the legend of the iconic Iron Fist (and no, not that white dude off Netflix) all make up this wider world in this brief but beautiful series of events. And it all begins with some outstanding opening credits that will remind you of how the Coogler classic cinematic movie's origin stories were told. These half-hour episodes of all-power, scored sublimely by Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih ('Moon Knight'), are actually the closest, most recent thing to look like one of those classic Disney animations from the 90s, before Pixar showed up with all the toys. Coogler's Proximity Media production in close continuity with the Cinematic Universe and franchise films has its own story to tell, though. The tales and the timeline are just that sacred in the fifteenth M.C.U. animation but the first of Marvel's Phase Six. The first episode goes 'Into The Lion's Den' and Crete, 1260 B.C. as a Wakandan king called The Lion leads an army that takes an island by force. His Killmonger like mask will make you think of Coogler collaborator Michael B. Jordan, and there's a nice nod to him here.
Cameos, like the ones to "Watch" in these animated series, like when Stan Lee was showing up at the movies, are in shorter supply, but that's only to make room for an even classier cast of characters, much like the rebel of the first episode, showing a real Royal Guard to the king and how the country of Wakanda should really be held and protected. The Trojan Horse of a second episode is a real slice of what if history, as there are 'Legends and Lies' to be told here with a twist. Everyone from Achilles to Helen Of Troy make their Marvel history like the God's of Zeus or Thor. But this is so much more of a personal story as best friends become foes, like Chris Hemsworth's 'Transformers One' animation. More legend is lost and found in the terrific third episode, that ups the ante on the series like hitting with a gold glow to your knuckles. Another Hatut Zaraze, Wakandan warrior, finds himself on a mission for lost vibranium in the winters of China, 1400 A.D. Entering the dragon, and the stronger than adamantium tongue inside. Yet it's the fourth and final part with a warning from the future and 'The Last Panther' that really shows how well a prince and a war dog with an axe to grind can really get on when push comes to shove. There are broad and beautiful themes in this season, that we hope sees a second, both personal and profound. Like Chadwick, Wakanda is still forever. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'Black Panther', 'What If...?', 'Predator: Killer Of Killers'.
No comments:
Post a Comment