Black Widow movie review

Black Widow, the female assassin in the Marvel Universe, finally got her own movie. Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, is a character who has appeared most in the popular action movie franchise Avengers. Romanoff has finally gotten her own movie, making her the second female superhero to have a stand alone movie, the first being Captain Marvel. Even though Captain Marvel was the first female lead stand alone marvel movie, Black Widow is the first female lead marvel movie with a superhero that has no superhuman powers, meaning that she doesn’t have powers like super strength or the ability to fly, but she is an exceptional fighter and spy. In timeline order, Black Widow takes place directly after Captain America: Civil War, where Romanoff became a fugitive for helping Captain America go against the Sokovia Accords which was a document that would regulate the Avengers powers and keep them under control by the government. In Civil War the Avengers were split in half, there was Iron Man’s team, who wanted to sign the Sokovia Accords, and Captain America’s team, who didn’t. In Black Widow we follow along with Romanoff as she is on the lam. Black Widow did an exceptional job at showing parts of Natasha Romanoff’s backstory, as well as staying true to the MCU’s timeline. Black Widow also shows more heart than you usually see in Romanoff, which helps people to see the killer in a new light.

In Black Widow, Natasha was reunited with her sister Yelena Belova, dad Alexei Shostakov, and mom Melina Vostokoff. At the beginning of the movie, the story shows Natasha and Yelena playing in the yard of their Ohio home. When Yelena scrapes her knee, their mother, Melina, replies, “Pain only makes us stronger.” This quote perfectly sums up Natasha Romanoff and her roles in all of Marvel's films.

Secondly, the graphic and interior designers as well as cinematographers and editors of Black Widow did an amazing job building the set and establishing a violent mood. Most scenes had a dark or red tint to them, exaggerating the violence in the movie and creating the rage-filled mood. The tint and set designs really helped the audience feel for the main characters, Natasha and Yelena, and how they were treated in the room that they were raised to be trained killers. The way that the set was designed for The Red Room in particular, which is the place that they were trained to be killers, emphasized their need for revenge and how they were badly treated. Overall, the visual aesthetic of the film matched the harsh and violent story being told.

What must also be praised are the film's themes pertaining to trauma. Black Widow dealt with lots of trauma received in Natasha Romanoff’s childhood. The actress playing Widow, Scarlett Johansson, really did a great job capturing how the character is known to deal with her pain. Natasha is always very brave in each movie that she is in. This starts to make more sense when it is revealed that her father was a Russian Super Soldier and spy while the girls were growing up, explaining how the girls were forced into assassin training younger than 10 years old. It was also revealed that the girls were actually taken from their parents as babies and were put into a home with Russian spies, causing them to regularly be in danger. New character Yelena, played by Florence Pugh, was introduced perfectly as Romanoff’s sister, having similarities to Romanoff, but not being exactly the same. Their stories allow the audience to cultivate empathy for the characters but also towards anyone who may have experienced trauma in their lives.

According to Erik Kain, a critic with Forbes, stated that the characters in Black Widow were “a little flat” and “inconsequential.” Knowing Romanoff’s character, she tends to be distant from most of the characters to avoid getting hurt. But, in this movie, she is actually showing more emotion because of the themes being handled. Like every superhero movie in Marvel’s franchise, fans think that Black Widow was just a money grab that wasted time and resources that could be spent on different films. I truly think that this film was necessary to make for the future of the MCU. Widow’s sister, Yelena, is thought to be a part of the Dark Avengers, which is basically the Avengers' evil twins. At the end of the show Falcon and the Winter Soldier, John Walker, Captain America’s replacement, partnered with a mysterious lady who partnered with Yelena at the end of Black Widow. These short scenes will shape the future of every Marvel movie or series. They give us new villains for our heroes to fight, and new characters that were a part of the original comics.

There have been several times that I’ve loved a movie that critics didn’t. So what do the students think?

“This was the first Marvel movie I ever saw and I loved it!”

“It’s nice to see a superhero movie with a female lead. I loved it.”

Overall, Black Widow is one of my favorite Marvel movies. On a rank of my top ten favorite Marvel movies, Black Widow is currently at sixth, My first being Avengers: Age of Ultron.

If there’s one thing that people should take away from this review, it would be, “Pain only makes you stronger.”