Review of Black Widow (2021) by Marthab11 — 09 Jul 2021

I wish I had been able to sit further back in the theater because even reclined, the third row was too close to really appreciate the massive action scenes. I especially couldn't "get" the news montage after the opening. That's what happens when plans change and tickets are hard to come by.

I am not overly thrilled with this movie, there wasn't enough origin for an origin story. I do love Florence Pugh's Yelena and I thought the banter in the family, especially between the sisters was very real and often amusing. ScarJo played Black Widow very familiarly.

The overall storyline felt muddled to me with jumping around different times and unclear expository dialog. I'm not a crazy about action scenes that go on forever, and there were too many of those that were impressive stunt-wise but after a while no longer added to the story.

What I felt is missing: (lack-of-plot info that could be spoilers). Although much of Nat's childhood is explained, most of the following things are simply mentioned in passing. I wanted to learn more about her Red Room training life, how she was used as an assassin, why she decided to defect and how she ended up with S.H.I.E.L.D. and as the Avenger's tech expert, how she and Clint became friends (and what did happen in Budapest that they always argued about). I suppose all that plus the family story and the action plot would have made the movie untenable. I'm a solid but primarily movie-only Marvel fan; perhaps I need to get into the comics for the details I want. The portrayals of the Red Guardian and Taskmaster didn't bother me at all the way it seems to bother those with deeper knowledge/obsession.