Ever since her debut in Iron Man 2, MCU fans of all types were begging for Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johanson) to have her own separate adventure that had the same time and effort as other standalone MCU ventures. The fan's requests would later be brought into the light by the time Phase 4 of the MCU was taking its form. You may think that’s a little late for a movie for a character introduced in Phase 1 but it seems the studio thought that it would be better late than never. So, with all that said, is this the kick-butt superhero flick we’ve been waiting years for? Or is the hype gonna lead to a letdown in the final product?
Taking place after the events of Captain America Civil War Natasha Romanoff A.K.A Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson) is running from the government after violating the Sokovia Accords and has been hiding out in the country of Norway. Soon she finds herself mixed up in a conspiracy that involves her long-lost sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) and the Red Guardian (David Harbour) as she comes across some red dust that ignites memories from her past. Natasha is forced to fix her broken relationships with her deadbeat family and discover what it truly means to be a Black Widow.
Now Black Widow’s character has some opportunity to be explored in a feature-length movie seeing that n the early MCU films she was shrouded with mysteries about her past and how she became the person that fans know and love. So, after all that buildup, I can thankfully say that this movie is….in all honesty not bad. The story does give us what I would want to see in a Black Widow movie with a decent mystery, interesting enough character relationships, and fast-paced action. It’s not groundbreaking or reinventing the wheel, but the film does a good enough job to make the viewing feel satisfying enough. At times the storytelling can be a little convoluted and the main antagonist is kinda a letdown. It may not be up there with other MCU stories like Infinity War but Black Widow was nonetheless a fine story from the ever-so-big MCU.
Scarlett Johanson is of course great as Black Widow and she does prove that she can just as well carry a movie as much as she can carry a side role. The other characters also have their quirks and likability such as Black Widow’s sister Yelena who surprisingly has a few laughs and fun zingers here and there but also feels believable as a sister to Balck Widow. The rest of the characters range from being okay to just forgettable. I barely know that much about Black Widow’s mother-figure/caretaker to really care about what happens to her and Shostakov the Red Guardian honestly felt hit and miss to me in his delivery. Still, all the characters were fun in their own ways even if they may not be as memorable or important as other MCU favorites.
The cinemotogrpy has a lot going for it and sometimes there are times when there is actually a pretty awesome action sequence which is something I would never really say in a movie where Black Widow is the main star. The action is of course very engaging and well-timed. The filmmakers of the MCU have no shortage of ideas on how to shoot an action sequence. There are many remarkable scenes including the breaking Shostakov out of prison or the final battle in the Red Room. the rest of the visuals do the typical MCU thing with showing off different countries around the world which are beautiful and expansive.
Originally the music was supposed to be composed by Alexandre Desplat, but he was unfortunately replaced during production by Lorne Balfe who has scored animated projects such as Megamind and The Lego Batman Movie. There really is nothing to this score that it any what of a stand out from other MCU soundtracks except if you count the copyrighted songs that are inserted during the beginning of the movie. Still, the music score is still what I would expect from a movie like this even if it’s not trying anything that different.
Black Widow is a good character and she was given a surprisingly good enough standalone movie that while does lack in comparison to other MCU films is still a good sendoff to a character who has made quite the impact in the Marvel universe. If you're going into this movie expecting it to be the next big thing for Marvel, you will end up feeling a little letdown. However, if you're just looking for a fun and simple action flick with likable characters and cool action you definitely will get that. I enjoyed this movie overall, it’s not the greatest superhero movie I’ve ever seen, but it was still a good time regardless.
(Final Grade: B-)