Review of Black Widow (2021) by Captiosus — 14 Jul 2021

After watching the movie I was left wondering what exactly it was supposed to be. It's far too late to be an origin story for Natasha Romanoff. It doesn't really add anything meaningful to her character arc. If anything, this movie feels like an origin story for Yelena and the rest of the Widows as well as the introduction of Red Guardian and Melina to the wider MCU.

Coming after the end of phase 3, but set squarely in the timeline established by phase 3, and with only the end-credits scene set in phase 4, the movie feels out of place. A one off. A relic of the Infinity Saga.

The action was decent but way overused. It felt formulaic, as if they had to fit in action sequences in specific time frames to ensure the audience didn't get bored between bits of exposition. And the effects felt like they took a significant step backward from what we saw in the later phase 3 MCU films. Some of the high flying gymnastic style stunts performed by Natasha, Yelena, and Taskmaster were some of the most obvious bits of CGI I've seen since Phantom Menace (the fight sequence on the bridge early on, for example).

An out of place movie that really did nothing for the character of Natasha that tried to live solely on the strength of its action sequences. I doubt I'll bother watching it again. David Harbour stole the show though and I hope we get to see him as Red Guardian in later MCU entries. I'd love nothing more than to see him fighting side by side with Sam Wilson's Captain America.