My Review on 'Black Widow': Unlock the Former Spy's Mysterious Past

"I'm done running from my past."

At last, the long-awaited MCU solo movie arrives!

First introduced in Iron Man 2 (2010) under the name of Natalie Rushman. Once a spy and a former Avenger. Eleven years since her debut, the titular heroine finally gets her own solo movie that the fans always look forward to. Is this movie what the late Natalia Alianovna “Natasha Romanoff” Romanova deserves? 

Currently certified fresh in Rotten Tomatoes with the score of 81% and audience score of 94%, Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 24th installment Black Widow was initially a 2020 movie scheduled for an April release. It is then pushed back to July 9, 2021, now available in both big and small screen: theatres and Disney+.

Directed by: Cate Shortland

Written by: Jac Schaeffer, Ned Benson

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture

Running time: 134 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Short synopsis of Black Widow:

Taking place after the event of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) has to clear up her past issues related to her former field a.k.a the Red Room. She encounters a dangerous killing machine who goes by the name Taskmaster. Natasha is later reunited with her so-called “family”: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour). Is Natasha ready to defeat her dark past?

Short introduction of the characters:

NATASHA ROMANOFF/BLACK WIDOW: An Avenger who is formerly a trained Russian spy.

YELENA BELOVA: The ‘sister’ of Natasha and a skilled fighter.

MELINA VOSTOKOFF: The mother figure to Natasha and Yelena, and a former spy for Red Room.

ALEXEI SHOSTAKOV: A former Soviet hero known as the Red Guardian and the father figure to Natasha and Yelena.

TASKMASTER: A mysterious masked assassin who goes after Natasha. They can mimic their adversary’s movement through photographic reflexes.

DREYKOV: The head of Red Room who controls the widows.

Now, without any spoiler or anything, let’s get going to the main discussion.

Black Widow serves a bunch of well-written four main leads, especially the character of Florence Pugh’s Yelena. She is really a standout in the movie. Nailed it. The casts are great, as always (MCU never miscasts). I love the iteration of Rachel Weisz’s Melina in this one. She is really great. David Harbour’s Alexei adds the humor in the movie. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow shines. What I like the most from this movie is how she finally takes the spotlight as the movie lead after those 23 MCU installments. Also, I’ve wanted to see her backstory and flashback since the time Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) gave a small glimpse of her Red Room era. 

CGI is top-notch as usual (another MCU thing). Cinematography is ok, nothing’s so special in it, although there are some stunning shots. The action sequences are very “Black Widow”, and I like it too. Very satisfying to see these kinds of fight movements and techniques, but I think this movie still needs more action sequences to spice up the movie. Lorne Balfe’s Black Widow soundtrack is fine, but personally, it’s less ear-catching compared to other MCU solo themes, like Patrick Doyle’s Earth to Asgard, Brian Tyler’s Iron Man 3, or Henry Jackman’s Taking a Stand. It has this little Black Widow-y identity on it.

Despite all those positive stuffs found in this movie, Black Widow is weak on its storyline itself. Although we get to see the real backstory of Natasha, it’s kinda boring at some scenes that I often zoned out while watching. Only some parts got me very excited, and the rest were just alright. Certain villain has a poor writing and development. It still has a lot of potential in it, but unfortunately the film messed it up. And other supporting characters (I won’t mention it) are so much wasted in this movie just because they are badly written. They deserve more than that.

Finally, sad to say that I’m disappointed with this movie. It does not really show the full potential of my favorite Black Widow due to its not-very-powerful solo storyline. It captures the backstory of Natasha Romanoff, but lacks decent plot to make the movie more interesting and less boring. However, it’s a good start for Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and this movie suits the “beginning” of her further journey in the future of MCU. Last, I give this movie a 6.6/10.

And yes, like the usual MCU movies, there is a post-credit scene. Don’t miss it!

Watch Black Widow trailer here:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Museum Context: Enter Potterhead's Favorite Place in HK

Image
It was June 6, 2019, at about 3 p.m. A very hot afternoon at that time.   I was waiting with my family for an MTR ride back to Tsim Sha Tsui from Ocean Park station. We just did a top up to our Octopus Card and didn’t have any plan to visit more destinations when my father suggested to stop by at Causeway Bay for just wandering around.  All of sudden something just crossed my mind. I remembered a place that I haven’t yet visited. It was located in Causeway Bay. Yup, Museum Context! At 3.30 pm, we arrived in Causeway Bay MTR Station . Super crowded since it was Hong Kong’s rush hour. We quickly looked for a suitable exit for Museum Context area. Minutes later, we decided to use the Hysan Place exit . We walked for three minutes. And abracadabra, we discovered this tiny store with “Museum Context” word sticked on its windows. It was situated in a building’s 2nd floor. I was so excited and entered the Potterhead store in a speed of light. My cousin went to this place in Decem...
Read more

When in Western Australia, Where to Go? (A Bucket List)

Image
Hello again! For me, Western Australia is the best pick when you want to balance between natural, historical, and modern tourist destinations. I went there with my big family for one week in September 2010 (yup, exactly a decade ago!), and still leaves us a very good impression about the place. We prepared the visa months before and went there via JetStar airline (it’s the well-known not-very-pricey airline). I remembered encountering this sweet old couple in their 50s who were going to Amsterdam to visit their son. Just the two of them. Very romantic. Perth City (Photo credit: Holiday Travel ) We were a total of 15 people and that was my biggest and most exciting vacation so far. It was lucky enough not to spend our money on hotel accommodation or a tour guide because we have a relative living there. We had most of our time spent in Perth. For the transportation, we mostly took a city bus in the Perth area, then continued taking a walk for kilometers. To go to Albany and other a bit f...
Read more

Refreshing Time in Magelang

Image
Halo.. Ini adalah post pertama aku di blog ini :D Detik ini(?) aku mau cerita ttg liburan (tapi lbh ke refreshing sih) di Magelang ^_^ Happy reading yaw :3 *** Minggu, 4 Mei 2014, aku pergi ke Magelang. Tujuannya sih buat refreshing sambil nemenin kakak yg pengen bgt liburan karena dia habis menjalani UN SMA :3 Di sana kita nginep di Hotel Puri Asri. Waktu aku kecil, aku sering banget ke sana sama saudara2ku. Hotelnya terkenal bagus dengan pemandangan yg indah pula. Pokoknya sip deh. Hotel Puri Asri Kami langsung check-in hotel jam 14.00. Setelah itu kami langsung masuk ke dalam hotel. Aku satu kamar dengan 2 kakakku. Setelah memasukkan barang2 bawaan, kami tiduran di dalam hotel yg nyaman. Kemudian sempet hujan sebentar. Setelah hujan reda, aku ngajak kakakku buat keliling taman hotel yg luas sekali. taman di Hotel yg sangat luas dan hijau Di Hotel Puri Asri juga ada Sungai Progo. Untung wkt itu, Sungai Progo enggak lagi banyak airnya. Jadi sebagian ada yg ke...
Read more