SpectralTime
Since: Apr, 2009
07/16/2021 00:00:00
\'s good to hear from someone who liked it. I dunno if I\'ll share your opinion, but I find myself moving from \"apathetic about Marvel movies\" to \"eh, I\'ll give it a try,\" after a series of reviews of this very film as cutting-room leftovers slapped together to shut up the fans who liked Black Widow when they had no plans for her originally left me cold.
That said, adjusting my expectations down, on account of I actually do like Taskmaster the way I actually did like the Mandarin, and thus am in a position to be underwhelmed by an underwhelming twist.
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Well worth the wait
I've always been interested in Natasha "Black Widow" Romanov's backstory, especially after vague hints as to her past misdeeds were dropped during her confrontation with Lok in The Avengers (2012). I've waited a long time for this film, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its release, but it didn't disappoint.
The film takes place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, with Natasha on the run from Ross. She ends up meeting a member of her old "family" who needs her help, and is forced to face a past she thought she left behind. The film rather effectively shows Natasha's origins without following the typical origin story movie formula. Instead, it's a film in which what's past is prologue, and a surprising emphasis on Character Development.
Black Widow works remarkably well as a solo film. While there are various nods to past and future events, Natasha is the only character with more than a few minutes of screentime who did not debut in this film, so you won't be missing much if you've missed some entries in the MCU.
Par for the course for the MCU, there's some enjoyable action in this film, much of which involves guns or martial arts, rather than magic or superpowers.
The characters are a fairly memorable lot. Even the best of them are less than fully heroic, but most of them, with a handful of notable exceptions, have at least some humanizing traits and try to make up for their past mistakes. It's fitting that Natasha, the Avenger with the most checkered past, gets a film with a theme relating to redemption.
I've heard some people complain about the way Taskmaster was portrayed here(which I won't go into more details about, lest I spoil the film), but I personally didn't mind(although I didn't have that much of a problem with the infamous Mandarin twist from Iron Man 3). The twist regarding Taskmaster's true identity was a good one, even if I personally found myself predicting it.
Some might wonder why this film is being released after Avengers: Endgame, especially since it should be set in Phase 3 of the MCU, but that answer will be found in The Stinger. Stick around for it, since it promises a rather interesting storyline in the future.
Additionally, some MCU fans might be feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment, especially if they watched the shows, but I haven't seen any MCU offerings since Spider-Man: Far From Home two years ago, so I was eager to see Black Widow.
After staying away from the movies for almost a year and a half, I was glad to return, albeit with the protection of my face mask, the vaccine and a seat that's a good distance from my fellow viewers, and was glad that a movie this fun was the first one I watched after staying away for so long.