After sitting on a shelf for a year due to the pandemic Marvel Studious “Black Widow” has finally opened.
The film is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the first MCU film to be released since “Spider-Man: Far From Home” July 2019 release.
The film is a prequel set after the events of “Captain America: Civil War” and before “Avengers: Infinity War”.
“Black Widow’s” plot revolves around Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) confronting her past and uncovering a dark conspiracy along with her fellow Black Widow “little sister” Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh).
Does the film live up to the hype?
The simple answer is yes. As expected from Marvel’s Studios president Kevin Feige and new director to the MUC family Cate Shortland.
The film current consensus on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes is an 80 percent critic score and a 92 percent audience score.
“Black Widow’s deeper themes are drowned out in all the action, but it remains a solidly entertaining standalone adventure that’s rounded out by a stellar supporting cast,” via Rotten Tomatoes.
“It’s crazy to think we have not had a MCU movie in almost two years. It was nice to see a good film, let alone a MCU film said James Thomas, 25, a Crew Leader at AMC Neshaminy 24.”
Moviegoer Dan Herman, 38, said “I don’t think it was the best Marvel movie, solid but not my favorite. It did have the feel of the spy movie, like Bond, espionage.”
The film borrows elements from spy films such as the Daniel Craig era Bond films, the “Bourne series” and the ongoing “Mission Impossible” franchise mixed with some Marvel flare. Also has a shades of James Cameron’s epic sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
The film’s villain Taskmaster is relentless and the action sequences involving the villain who can mimic any fighting technique (even heroes like Black Panther), are a highlight of the espionage film.
Very reminisce of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day’s” villain the T-100.
The supporting cast which involves a Russian wannabe (Captain America) super soldier named the Red Guardian played by “Stranger Things” David Harbor was fun to watch.
Rachel Weisz was also a welcomed addition, who plays a seasoned Black Widow and mother to Natasha and Yelona.
The breakout star of this film is Florence Pugh. Every moment Yelona was on screen and playing off Natasha was delightful. Florence Pugh has a bright future playing in the MCU sandbox.
The film really shines when it gets into the family dynamics, as you see the pain, trauma, and horror that Natasha and Yelona went through becoming trained killers as adolescents. The film also has some darker elements involving child trafficking and I appreciated the subtext throughout the film which gave the film some substance beyond the thrilling action sequences.
The action sequences were great, which is expected from a MCU film.
Overall, this film was dark, fun, gritty and a welcomed addition to the MCU.
3 starts out of 4.
Marvel’s Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. The film is currently in theaters and available through Disney + Premier Access for $30 dollars. Available on Digital HD August 10th, DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD on September 14.