Black Widow

Black Widow

By James Davidson

“Black Widow” is the newest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it follows Natasha Romanoff, or Black Widow, (Scarlett Johansson) in her exploits between Civil War and Infinity War. Black Widow must face her dark past when her sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) contacts her to help take down the spy organization that raised them both as children. They must team up with their “parents” that they spent time undercover with years ago in order to take down the evil widows before they take over the world. It was released July 9th 2021 and is available in all theaters.

I have been looking forward to this movie since last year when it was supposed to come out. I thought that Black Widow should have gotten her own film years ago and was excited to learn more about her past and see her in action more. While the film met my expectations for the most part, I felt like it didn’t give me everything I wanted in a Black Widow movie.

The movie itself is very well made and the plot is very exciting. There is plenty of action and the fight scenes are extremely well shot. The movie kept me on the edge of my seat with very fast pacing and not too many slower parts. I wish the film had focused more on Black Widows origins than it did. While we did get to see glimpses of Romanoff’s past, I really would have liked to have seen more.

Apart from a few questionable Russian accents, the acting was fine. Florence Pugh, aside from the aforementioned accent, did a fantastic job portraying Romanoff’s sister. The chemistry between Johansson and Pugh is fun to watch and they act just like sisters, annoying and ribbing one another. David Harbour as Alexei, or The Red Guardian (essentially the Russian Captain America) was hilarious comic relief and played his role extremely well.

I really only had two issues with this film. One, I think that this movie should have happened ten years ago. Black Widow is one of the original Avengers, yet she doesn’t get her own movie until after she is dead and her story can’t be furthered anymore. Which is my second issue, this movie, while good, doesn’t advance the overall story of the MCU at all. I might have gotten spoiled with past Marvel movies and expect all MCU films to tie into each other somehow, but I think that this movie lacked that tie into the MCU. While it is a fun stand alone movie, I was expecting more of a tie in into the overall MArvel Universe.

This movie is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence/action, some language, and thematic content. Really, aside from some violence and one or two crude remarks, there is nothing terribly offensive about this movie. If you have watched any of the other Marvel movies then this movie is for you.

Black Widow” is a fun, exciting action/spy flick that will keep you on the edge of your seat. As a stand alone movie, it’s fantastic. As a part of the MCU, it should have happened ten years ago, and doesn’t advance the overarching MCU storyline a whole lot. If you are a Marvel movie fan then this film is, of course, a must watch. It earns 3.5 out of 5 stars.