Black Widow (2021) Review (Written By Jaeden Noel)

As life slowly but surely gets back to normal, so is our stable Marvel movie cycle. The newest of the bunch and the first since the pandemic being Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson & Florence Pugh. In case the title didn't give it away, Black Widow follows Avengers hero Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow on her first solo quest in the MCU. Here we have Natasha confronting her past as a Russian spy & attempting to take down the people responsible for her reality. While it isn't the greatest thing to come from the MCU, there's a lot to appreciate with Black Widow. 

Scarlett Johansson delivers as always with her performance as Black Widow. It's nice to finally see her get the solo film she's deserved since her introduction to the saga 11 years ago. Unlike most solo films this far into the franchise, rather than being an origin story we have Natasha revisiting her origins. Supporting roles such as Florence Pugh & Rachel Weisz were rather typical of MCU films, but the stand-out definitely had to be David Harbour as the Red Guardian. If this was 10 years ago I'd say I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with some sort of solo project, but now it's pretty solidified that he will. 

The story is relatively basic in comparison to most other Marvel movies. Seemingly enough, this also makes the stakes feel much lower, especially considering by now the fate of Black Widow had already been established in Endgame. If there's more to come I must ask, where do we go from here? But at the same time if this is really the end I must ask, is that really it? Nevertheless, this doesn't mean the story or plot isn't entertaining enough to keep oneself entertained. The biggest area of improvement needed however was the visual effects. Many moments felt very unpolished or worse than a Phase 1 MCU movie. 

One great thing about Black Widow is how female-driven it is. There's no macho hero coming in to save the day as Harbor's role as the Red Guardian plays out more like the goofy sidekick than the heroic savior. Perhaps with Florence Pugh's character Yelena being a strong part of this universe, we will get to see a project led by her sometime soon. 

Simply put, Black Widow is essentially Marvel fluff to hold us over for the rest of what's to come in the new phase. While some might feel underwhelmed by what the end product is, it's just enough to give us the Marvel kick we need in a recently Marvel-less world. 

Black Widow gets a 3/5!