Black Widow

Synopsis: Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy, and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

Movie Review:

“Black Widow” is the 24th Marvel film and it is directed by Cate Shortland. The film is another solid entry of the MCU and it is an action packed espionage thriller that is enjoyable for everyone. Scarlet Johansson plays Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff in her 8th and final film which feels like her swan song film and ends her character arc in a satisfying way. I loved the relationship between Natasha and her sister Yelena played by Florence Pugh -- they had great chemistry and some funny sibling bickering that had me laughing throughout. The standout character for me was Yelena, a renegade and courageous character who stole every scene she was in, and I can’t wait to see more of her in future movies. David Harbor plays Alexei/Red Guardian (Black Widow’s father) character who was comical in the movie, but also had some caring moments with his daughters. I loved that we finally got to see Black Widow’s dysfunctional family; this is one of the biggest strengths in the film. The action in the movie is fun to watch and my favorite fight scene is between Natasha/Black Widow against her sister Yelena. It was well-choregraphed. This movie is not perfect by any means and there are a few issues I had with it. The villains in the film aren’t compelling. The first villain Dreykov played by Ray Winstone is bland and forgettable who felt like an old James Bond villain. The Second Villain Taskmaster played by Olga Kurylenko is only in the film for a few minutes of screen time then just vanishes for the entire movie. Finally, the third act in the film is a predictable CGI mess that I have seen many times. I am giving “Black Widow” a 4/5 stars.

Director: Cate Shortland

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbor, Olga Kurylenko, Ray Winstone, O.T. Fagbenle, William Hurt, and Rachel Weisz

Runtime: 134 minutes