🎬 ~ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

rating: 9/10

the review is subject to change. i literally JUST finished watching it and am sleep deprived and need to sit on it a bit. i'll prolly edit this later on with more thoughts but lemme just try to get my first impressions down.

opening scene. chef's kiss. mwah. LOVED it. the tensions the stakes like WOW. it hits like a truck. the dora milaje's entry was also >>>>. angela bassett ATE her role. 

OKOYE IS A TOTAL BADASS OK LIKE BRO THAT FIGHT ON THE BRIDGE WAS TOP TIER ACTION AND SKILLS I LOVED IT and also her HUMOR like lmao she was so condescending to riri when they met LOLOL it was HILARIOUS.

let's get to our resident underwater fish people. that first appearance. MINDBLOWN. i did not know that creepy reel/shorts/tiktok music was from this movie and i was pleasantly surprised. and that siren thing was so creepy like bro i'd run for the hills thank GOD this is Marvel. but. there's also that—this is MARVEL. i did NOT feel like i was watching an MCU movie tbh. this one is on a WAYYYY higher league than the ones that came before it. and i don't mean that in a mean way—i thoroughly enjoyed every one of them and don't really have bad things to say. but a good movie is a GOOD MOVIE yk? ok back to the fish people. NAMOR. SIR. HELLO. like i caught wind that people were simping over him BAD and i was like eh? a villain? y'all need therapy? but after watching the movie... i get it. if we don't oversimplify the movie, he's not really a "villain" is he? see—ok listen this is what i love: when both sides of the story are rational. thanos? PFFT who cares about a genocidal maniac wanting to eradicate all living organisms. a fishman having the best interests of his people at heart? i'll be willing to listen. and ok maybe destroying wakanda was dumb and killing their queen was even dumber but the way everything was resolved by the end with a nice little bow but still had enough ambiguity to open new paths was cool. i think this is the first time i've seen an MCU antagonist be... redeemed? idk if that's the right word but something along those lines. namor isn't exactly BAD per se, it's just motivations. lemme stop talking about fish people and get to our main girl.

MISS SHURI. THE WOMAN YOU HAVE BECOME. dude listen—that scene in the ancestral plane? michael b. jordan as erik killmonger in that scene? SHURI SUBCONSCIOUSLY KINDA BEING LIKE HIM??? bro bro bro pls my little antihero/moral ambiguity loving self ATE IT UP. shuri's so cool as black panther. and her incorporating those gauntlets into her suit? THE SUIT THAT IS HALFWAY BETWEEN TCHALLA'S AND ERIK'S??? LOVED IT. i kind of understood her decision not to be the ruler of wakanda? i think that's basically official now, right? i mean, i empathise with her. it's a rational decision. shuri is a strategist/advisor than straight up RULER who people would answer too. BUT. if she DOES take up the throne in later movies, i'm gonna be all for it coz Ramonda's death scene with Namor saying "YOU ARE QUEEN NOW" like damn. i'd like to see that. and the relationship between Namor and Shuri too. there's something there. something i can get behind. definitely. 

ngl it kinda gave atlantis vs. themyscira.

if you couldn't tell already that this review is unserious well now you know. i try to be a connoisseur but i lack the ability to be too critical of everything. i want to enjoy things as much as i want to criticise it. 

some of the slo-mos in this movie were absolutely stunning to look at. bridge fight water grenade and shuri toppled off her bike. and i think there was a slo-mo with ramonda too. it wasn't a gratuitous amount like *ahem* bLacK aDam *ahem* but it was fun to watch. soundtrack was also cool. lighting and all >>>

hmm what else. yes right riri williams. i was just. ok i guess? i wasn't really THAT hyped about it. so i don't have a solid opinion of her yet.

Namor vs. Shuri in the desert(?) was just *insert italian hand gesture* WOW. i LOVE LOVE LOVED IT. the "yield" and shuri just thinking about everything and all i—yea. loved that climax.

aight baby post credits scene. i really don't know what to think of it, i just know that i didn't really like it. it felt... shoehorned in? it just twisted so many things said in the movie on its head and i was like why? so i'm not a big fan. i have no idea what goes on in Feige's mind but go off ig.

that's it? yea for now. that's the review.

📖 ~ The Box in the Woods

rating: 3.75/5

first of all, it took me MONTHS to finish this book i ain't even kidding bro. i read the prologue so many times it's basically almost ingrained in my head.

now onto the review: the book starts off a bit... slow, but i guess that's a given coz that's how it should be and suits the narrative. the whole book is pretty slow paced tbh. idk when exactly it picks up but it does—prolly around the whole shooting flasco.

DAVID EASTMAN AND STEVIE BELL'S WHOLE RELATIONSHIP SAVED THIS BOOK FOR ME LIKE FHDJJDJDJSJRJD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH BRO AΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗΗH. i missed david's trademark humour and had to fight not to giggle on my school bus when i was reading it. i'm curious to see what their future holds for them.

nate being... yk NATE was relatable, very relatable. dude's basically me and i love how supportive he is of stevie and his friendship w her. i don't rlly have much of an opinion on janelle tbh coz there's not enough nuance to her character. moving on frm character, let's go to plot.

I AM SO PROUD FOR KNOWING HALF THE SUS STUFF THAT IS HINTED HEHНЕНЕНЕНЕ i mean i didn't exactly crack it but had my suspicions. the whole nazi plotline was outta left field tho. focusing on one thing and only giving the bare dregs of another thing and then suddenly expanding so much of it in the last few pages with a giant info dump was off putting, to say the least. but nonetheless, i completed this whole book today, i feel proud. yayyy.