Take Two: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and ‘The Fabelmans’ Deadline Critics – Are They Worth the Trip Back to the Theater?

Editor’s note: Deadline presents the 39th episode of its video series Second try, in which Pete Hammond and Todd McCarthy explore the artistry of movies that hit theaters every weekend. Each has spent decades revising the craft and writing, building up a remarkable knowledge of films past and present. When we asked them, we were hoping for a concise, mature and thoughtful conversation similar to what we saw Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel do.

Two big films hit theaters this weekend and both promise to make a real impact on moviegoers, albeit in completely different ways. We go back and forth on the merits of the highly anticipated sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever by Marvel, and many such personal Steven Spielberg movie the fables.

While both are officially reviewed here at Deadline (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever here and the fables here), here’s our chance to really dive deep into each one and get to the bottom line: is it worth your time and money, or does it disappoint?

You might be surprised by the answers here, and for both, your only chance to see them is back at the multiplex (for a while, at least), where theater owners anxiously await these marquee titles to begin exhibition business in the wake of a devastating pandemic. With Marvel and Spielberg showing off their latest, you can bet there’s plenty to talk about.

Click above to see our conversation.

Hammond has been a Deadline Awards columnist for the past decade, covering the Oscar and Emmy seasons year-round. He is also Deadline’s chief film critic, having previously reviewed films for MovieLine, box office Magazine, backstageHollywood.com and maximumhow Leonard Maltin’s Film Guide, for which he was an editor. In addition to writing, Hammond also hosts the KCET Cinema Series and the network’s weekly series Must see movies.

McCarthy is an accomplished film critic, columnist and trade journalist who has also written several award-winning books and documentaries. He has two stints on the bars of diversity and The Hollywood Reporter and reported extensively on international film festivals for both publications. his movie Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography won the best documentary award from the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics Associations and won an Emmy for writing the documentary Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer. He also directed the documentaries Cinema man: Pierre Rissient and Forever Hollywood.