it's exactly what you expect now from Marvel, a generic movie that doesn't feel like it has to try anymore. there comes a point when you can no longer suspend your disbelief with movies like this, characters like Thor, Iron Man etc getting thrown around and getting back up straight away i can buy because they are built to take the punishment, but when Natasha is getting thrown around, through the air and into walls with barely an injury to show for it, i can no longer suspend my disbelief. at 1 point, Natasha and her sister take a really nasty tumble in a vehicle which by all rights should have killed them, but nope, they get up and walk away from it. David Harbour's Red Guardian is wasted by being nothing more than comedy relief and also by being portrayed as a bad dad. Ray Winstone's character is quite frankly a boring forgettable villain and Taskmaster, or should i say Taskmistress, yep, they gender swapped him is turned into just another brainwashed victim of the villain. the action scenes, of which there are very few are broken up by tired family drama
Normally, I'd have a whole much of stuff to say... but this time, I just can't. The whole tone of the movie, especially after seeing the recent string of miniseries, felt kind of underwhelming. The plot had potential though. The plot wasn't the issue. Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh's chemistry fit pretty well together. I feel like other people didn't care for David Harbour, but I get what they were going for and I think they did reasonably well but definitely could have been better. I can't even blame him. The whole movie felt more like a Bourne film than a Marvel film.
The VFX were pretty bad.. like CW DC show bad. If you have even an amateur level of 3D rendering experience, you'll be able to spot every little thing that is CG. Every car, vehicle, or backdrop that isn't actually there stands out like a sore thumb. Incorrect lighting, overly reflective, just.. amateur AF..
On to the spoilery stuff...
First and foremost... I don't know who did it.. I don't know who approved it.. but this movie has committed an atrocity almost as egregious as Fox screwing up Deadpool in X-men Origins or Sony with Venom in the third Spiderman movie. They completely ruined what I assume was supposed to be Taskmaster. I don't even mind that they made Taskmaster a woman. If that was all they did, it'd have been perfectly fine, but they turned the character into a gimmick that got thrown aside and left to the unknown by the end instead of the badass higher level villain they could/should have been. Sure, they said they were taking her with them but.. that didn't get explained either.
I feel like they fell short on establishing a timeline. The movie starts out in the past, in.. 1995 I believe? and things jump forward and it took me a hot minute to figure out why the hell she was running.. Maybe I missed some text saying that it was post Civil War/pre Endgame. If I did, then that's my own fault but it honestly would have only been because I had such a difficult time focusing on the movie.
The entire movie feels more like an afterthought than an origin story. Loose ends galore. This movie was delay but still somehow felt rushed.
Weakest Marvel movie I’ve watched so far....unfortunately...
They did Natasha so wrong with this movie. Black Widow is my favourite from the mcu and therefore I was super excited to watch a backstory and a full solo movie of her. However, it felt so meh. The plot is generic and easily predictable, the characters had no depth whatsoever, even though there was an attempt, and the villain was not even a villain? He was dead in 10 minutes? His plan was dumb? It was all too easy, especially for someone with the skills on Natasha Romanoff. She's supposed to be a badass trained killer with a difficult childhood and trauma, yet somehow they turned her into a generic spy comedy film that my mom watches after 10pm on Saturdays. No, just no. Such a shame and a waste. And to think I cried my eyes out when the character got sacrificed (or made a great exit anyway), only to be brought back like this.
Edit: would've much better preferred to see what happened in Budapest with Clint or at least show us her training and how much she went through during her time in the Red Room, that would at least have been interesting, all that exposition was unnecessary.
Thoroughly underwhelming.
This movie takes "Plot Armor" to another level.... To the point where there is absolutely 0 suspense.
The movie also has no identity to it. It has loose narrative themes and stuff but its inconsistent in its messaging & what it's trying to say.
Some of the visuals were cool, and some looked like they straight up got an intern to do it...
Definitely a movie deserving of the "Straight to streaming" treatment.
They don't even mention her becoming a widow because black panther died, no will reading, nothing*
It's mostly ok. First half is a decent action movie, Finally get to see her do more than the neck scissors move.
But it becomes 'die another day', near the end. (Which is alluded to by showing a Bond clip in the middle)
Her dad is an annoying Muppet almost the entire time.
Monologuing instead of murdering!
Easy kills just not done.
the face/off body shape issue can not be ignored. you would know that figure in the darkest of rooms.
Winston's shitty accent.
Had such a high hope for this one and while Scarlett and Florence deliver the story, directing and editing does not. This is sadly at the very bottom on my list of Marvel movies.
Much like most of Marvels output, Black Widow is an action-packed comedy-drama with zero stakes, charming interplay between all the main characters, and fan favourite characters turned into one-note plot devices. (Why Taskmaster Marvel? First Mandarin, now this?!)
Interesting themes are punctuated with "nose exhale" inducing jokes and a vapid storyline that you'll be hard pressed to remember the specifics of following the post credits scene. Much of the screen time is given to loud, bombastic set pieces, with the more challenging character driven scenes cut short to make way for the next hand to hand fist fight or vehicle explosion. Black Widow has the oppurtunity to explore some interesting topics; a sleeper agent family struggling to understand whether the family bonds they share were merely theatrics or genuine. Child soldiers and the theft of their youth. Damaging human trafficking operations and Russian shadow war operatives. There's much to work with here.
Alternatively, Black Widow decides to squander all these avenues, leaving aside 5 minutes to address, work out and conclude each of these broad, challenging topics. Granted, other shows and movies have tackled these topics with much more tact and finesse, but it would have been interesting to see how Marvel could weave them into the core fabric of one of their main heroes.
All of this isn't to say Black Widow is a bad movie. Far from it. It's textbook Marvel formula. If you're here for a loud, action-filled romp made for the big screen with some decent quips throughout, you'll be more than satiated. The intro and final action sequences were very good. Naturally, Florence Pugh was great. Just don't expect anything to be explored past the booms and the bangs.
The things they did to Taskmaster are unforgivable.
I actually enjoyed the first 2/3rds of the movie. There is a lot of unexpected humor. Florence Pugh and David Harbour really knock it out of the park, but it fails to bring it together in the end. The result is a bunch of scenes that are intended to be emotional, but ultimately play out as forced and borderline cringeworthy.
Black Widow is not a Torretto. Turning this super spy into an emotional vulnerable individual searching for family plays out as disconnected as you'd expect. Even worse is the lack of a present villain for the first half 2/3rds of the movie makes their confrontation feel less poignant despite the supposed deep ties.
This could have been solved somewhat through a Taskmaster that actually talked, but instead they decided to do what Wolverine: Origins did to Deadpool and take one of the more talkative characters and turn them into a soulless robot that only follows orders. I mean that almost literally.
As a result, the shifts of allies and the end confrontation just ends up falling flat and irrational. There is a lot of good substance here that rewrites could have saved, but the result we're left with here just feels ill conceived and weirdly placed, like a Black Widow movie getting made in the first place after the main character has already been killed in the future.
What a stupid fucking movie why would you even bother when half the characters are gone and are going to be replaced. To make a movie about one of the weakest characters Is The move of a money grubbing piece of shit studio
One cliche after another. This movie was so bad.
I think this movie is underwhelming and unnecessary. Should have been released soon after Civil War. I guess it will have some connection with the upcoming Hawkeye show. This wasn't the Black Widow we have watched over the years. Sorry not sorry but this goes straight to the bottom of the MCU pile.
Well, I would say a typical fine Marvel action with lots of CGI and rush all around but I am a little bit annoyed to see all of the lead characters being women expect David Harbour. And ah, we saw sometimes the villian Ray Winstone. Ok, this is a plot about women but I would love to see some other people.
Probably it is no spoiler for most of the people but sad to see Natasha dead and Scarlett leaving the universe. Maybe it is not true at all. Who knows?
Anyway. Just watch it, enjoy it and move along. Nothing more...
The whole movie I was convinced that they hired some unknown Russian actress to play Elena, right until I saw the credits. And so Florence Pugh is freaking amazing in this. Didn't expect that level of authenticity even in small gestures, she truly felt Russian. If she acting this way in her normal life too than give casting director a raise
Chemistry between sisters worked perfectly. I wish whole movie was centered only around them and close combat bad guys.
Overall style of the movie was uneven. It started with over the top action scene and ended with one. And those were the weakest parts of the film. The rest felt surprisingly grounded, even through none of the action scenes were. But they didn't break suspension of disbelief for some reason unlike the grand finale. Close combat scenes outshined any explosions around them anyway.
Russia as a backdrop was utilised as ridiculously and shallow as was expected. Don't know about the accents through. Would have to wait to watch english version for that. But hey there were no bears or balaika only Gulag. They even ate Olivier salad instead of Borscht. Small victories)
It's hard not to compare it to Winter Soldier. Both based on genre that I personally hate. Both movies had twists that were obvious. Both had ridiculous scenes in them (Zola and security design respectfully). Both pretty much hinted at countries real practices and policies as "main villains", but put the blame on a single individual and sadly didn't go anywhere with the critique of the whole system. And both movies I enjoyed despite their flaws thanks to characters and their interactions between each other, comedic one included.
Love the cast in this movie and the concept of the black widow family that was introduced but really felt like this movie came out 5 years too late. Set between the events of civil war and infinity war, it really feels like I wasted 2 hrs of my time watching this, it doesn't really contribute to the rest of the marvel universe except for the post credits scene. So, as a standalone film, some scenes such as the dinner scene really slowed the movie down. The villain was really underwhelming but I'm glad scarlett johansson got her solo movie and I'm looking forward to Florence Pughs character progressing.
Black Widow felt like a sequel to a better film.
I'd hoped the first Black Widow movie would have a more serious, a more important feel to it but, like a factory run by children, this is a minor production.
Seriously, I saw this twice in the same day because I slept so much the first time (sugar crash, front row over simulation, lack of sleep and too many dialog heavy scenes), and the second time I understood better why I'd napped.
Maybe this will be like the Captain America franchise and the second will be better than the first?
Thank you Scarlett Johansson and Cate Shortland for an amazing movie with emotions, laughter and kick ass action.
Probably one of the worst villains in the entire mcu so far. They really messed up with taskmaster.
You want my honest opinion ?
- A boring, uninteresting story taken right out of a Bond movie. Shoehorned in between events we've already seen.
- Humor that isn't the least bit funny.
- About 45 minutes too long. All the family reunion stuff did absolutely nothing for me.
- Generic action scenes with at times below average looking CGI
- Zero emotional investement
- Hilarious Russian accents
Conclusion: dissapointing
I looked forward to this not because I've been blown away by the recent Marvel films - by the time Endgame arrived, I was past humouring the franchise if I'm honest - but because Scarlett Johansson deserved a standalone film before her time was up.
The worst Marvel film so far for me was Captain Marvel. Just tedious, inconsequential, Marvel-by-the-numbers. This is now 2nd on their list of piss poor films.
The opening 20 minutes were really good. Setting a scene that could have rivalled Winter Soldier - for me, the best of the franchise so far. But once the sisterly reunion was over, it went downhill fast. I think it was the cumulative effect of so many ropey accents. Even cockney geezer Ray Winstone shouldn't be given a role if he refuses to do voice lessons... Quite unforgivable.
I liked Olga Kurylenko, as always. I disliked that her stunt double was clearly a man for the first 2/3 of the film. How is that meant to be ratified by the viewer?
I thought the constant humour was an effort to be Thor Ragnorok-like because, you know, "all Australians are funny"... but that didn't work. And jokes about involuntary hysterectomies don't fall right 99 times out of 100, I'm guessing.
The plot was staid. The action generic. The script fine, I suppose, had it not been for those dreadful accents throughout. And the confinement of the time line needing to fit in with the rest of the franchise meant it was always going to end at a point we all knew it needed to. So the ending really was a damp squib.
5/10
PS. One thing that irked me a little was the unnecessary complaint by SJ during press for the film about feeling sexualised (though I don't recall where in the myriad plots) . Clearly the director and her had an agreement to do tracking shots of her arse several times during this film. If that's not hypocrisy, I don't know what is. For a film this average, I won't be holding a grudge though as I won't remember a single thing about this movie tomorrow.
Reminds me of a G.I. Joe movie and I don't say that complimentary. Pugh was amazing and she stole the show and I am now a fan of hers so that was one good thing but this movie was boring and not grounded at all and I know that sounds silly talking about a Marvel movie but this is Black Widow. Why did they treat Taskmaster like Deadpool in Wolverine? What a travesty and waste of a character. Not for me at all and that is fine. If people like it then good and they shouldn't be offended I don't. I'll never watch it again and that is okay.
Shallow characters, empty, boring and cliche storyline - apart from being a Marvel movie, nothing is really great about this one.
And we didn't even get to know what really happened in Budapest - but at least as a hungarian, I'm glad they cleared how we say Budapest. :laughing:
Started out alright, a bit different from usual Marvel movies. Continued to be alright, though definitely had its issues, but then the third act turned into a generic, uninspiring superhero movie. I liked Florence Pugh as Yelena, and I think she'll be good in the MCU going forwards. I was never particularly a fan of the Black Widow character, and I always felt that she was a bit out of place in the main Avengers line-up (same with Hawkeye). I'll feel the same if Yelena is put into that role, but at least she seems to have a bit more charm/sass to her that I think I'd rather have. I had mixed feelings about David Harbour's character. On one hand, I quite liked him, and I found him amusing. But I was annoyed that he was only ever used as comic relief and never really got a moment to shine. A lot of the action in this movie feels quite silly, and the main characters have really ridiculous plot armour, surviving horrible car wreck after car wreck. It makes sense when someone like Captain America survives these situations, but when a regular woman with literally zero super powers or physical enhancements survives, it's downright annoying. It's a superhero movie, I get it, it's not supposed to be over the top realistic. But this was just too much.
Overall, the movie wasn't a bad way to spend two hours. It was alright, and it's nice to see the Black Window character get her own movie as a sendoff. Just don't expect anything more than a generic action flick.
[7.7/10] A strong swan song for Black Widow in the MCU. The theme of "family" is not particularly subtle, but still potent, built on a great dynamic among the principals. Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz do a great job of giving their makeshift family of spooks that lived-in feel, with the shorthand frustrations and affections that make the movie play as a magnified version of genuine family issues. Oddly enough, the movie's at its best when it's a kitchen sink family drama.
But the action and superheroic material works well too. Homages to everything from Winter Soldier to Jason Bourne to Moonraker are palpable and well done, and the movie puts a period (or at least a semicolon) on Black Widow's Red Room origins. But I found myself more drawn to the character elements here, of Natasha feeling like she's lost two families and questioning whether it's worth it to try to repair either. That's a fitting way to add emotional stakes to her exit from the Marvel-verse, and ultimately, she lands in a good place, hair flip or no.
piece of shit, yeah, exactly (
What a disappointment after them having so much time to bring this out. Graphics were not polished (watched in 4k HDR dolby vision so not the TV), story had many slow and boring parts. Taskmaster is not a brainwashed girl, read the comic MCU people!
This was also really dark/evil compared to most of the MCU, it really shouldn't be seen by young kids, especially the abduction of little girls parts.
"Such a poser."</b
Every time I will be watching another Marvel film with Natasha Romanoff I can not think of her other than a poser. Thanks Yelena!
Anyway, Florence Pugh rocked this one. Hopefully she will be heard of again soon in the MCU! I enjoyed what they were going for and loved all of the banter. Scarlett Johansson again did a great job as Natasha and I'm said this will be our last showing of her but her story-line is complete and Florence Pugh showed us she's more than capable to take over the Black Widow mantel. The action was solid and I liked the car/motor-chase. Cate Shortland really did a solid job because for the entire runtime I was never bored for a second.
But! I do not like what they did with Taskmaster. There was so much for to get out of this. Which for me, took the movie down a notch. It's not that I hated it but it didn't feel right. And before I forgot damn, what did they try to do with that Nirvana cover? DAAAAMN.
Anyway, if you are into the Marvel Cinematic Universe you will not be bored. Really interested how they'll build up Phase 4.
Just like Captain Marvel,another woman lead film marvel fucked up
The movie that show us how Disney and Marvel see the world, feminism on all. A lame story and characters full of politics agenda. The last good movie of marvel was Endgame, this movie is far from be a movie just a spot to tell you how a bad script is done.
This movie is SO bad. This movie should have taken place before Iron Man 2 so we could see how she became Black Widow. Instead we get a movie that takes place after Civil War but before Infinity War; a story that really has no impact on the MCU whatsoever. In the movie we get to meet Natasha's "family" who we've never heard of and probably will never see again. This movie moves at a snail's pace and if you are looking for action? Move along, because this movie is like 80% talking, 5% stupid "jokes" and 15% action. This movie doesn't even feel like it belongs with the other MCU movies. Everyone feels like they are just phoning it in; the acting is bad, it's dull and I didn't care about anything that was happening. One of the MCU's biggest mistakes was this movie.
Didn't expect to much, and meet the expectations. nwo trash.
The usual high-octane Marvel stuff with two impressive leads, but a bit bloated and (particularly towards the end) repetitive. The resolution is unconvincing, too.
Went into this one because my girlfriend really loved Yelena in Hawkeye (with no expectation after that atrocious Captain Marvel venture) and I was actually quite surprised, solid movie all around.
Yelena was the star of the show and will be a central character going forward
I liked it. I've never read this comic though so nothing is ruined for me. I'm also a bit behind in the MCU because I'm including series as well as movies, so it works for me. I wanted to hug Yelena through the whole thing.
Boring, predictable film. Turned off.
RESPECTFULLY, I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST THAT FLORENCE PUGH PLEASE STEP ON MY NECK. Please. Please? My girl carried this movie and I'm so sorry her back must be HURTING.
Okay let me try and write a review instead of an essay on why I love Florence Pugh. Ahem. This movie was so much fun!! The plot is predictable, but the action is entertaining enough that I didn't really mind. I thought the villain was kind of weak, there are some unrealistic plot jumps, and I really don't know why Marvel has a thing for not-that-good Russian accents, but I think I was too excited to see a Marvel movie in theaters to really care. I feel like the MCU really doesn't touch on Natasha's backstory, and therefore this film had to draw a lot from comics. I think this is a con for a comic fan and a movie-only fan regardless because for comic fans you can clearly see how much is missing and skimmed over (I really mean it when I say the villain is weakly developed), and for a movie fan, you're having to fill in gaps on your own knowledge (read: I was filling in what I knew from fanfiction HAHAHA). BUT!! I had a lot of fun, and it's a joy to see all these actors together on screen. I didn't think I would vibe with David Harbour in this role, but I liked him a lot. The music is gorgeous, the sets are gorgeous, the actors are gorgeous. I would watch it again in theaters. It's still a better movie than Age of Ultron. AND you get to watch Florence Pugh for like two hours. She cancels out any flaws. You can fight me on that!
Definitely a long overdue standalone movie, and a lot of fun!
Worth watching if you enjoy femme fatales and/or crave the much needed backstory of Black Widow. Although I wish this had come out during the timeline of the original Marvel movies, it was great to finally see this movie happen.
Alexei: “We’re family. We fight with you!”
Why nobody mentioned her blue hair when she was a kid gorgeous!!
A movie that gets my attention for every single sec definitely 10/10 … And it has two of my Fav songs :sob:!!
“Sia - Cheap Thrills” and “Smells Like Teenage Spirit” (But it’s not Nirvana, it’s Malia J and I loved it tbh!!)
Black Widow is the long-awaited solo outing for Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff, taking place after Captain America: Civil War. The movie centers on Natasha's past catching up with her in the form of Russian 'super'-soldier Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Weiss), her surrogate parents, and Yelena Belova (Pugh), her 'sister'. The film focuses primarily on the family drama between Natasha and Yelena, and is at its strongest when it does so. However, the villainous side of the story is lacking, with Ray Winstone's Dreykov, his mind-controlled Black Widows, and the underwhelming Taskmaster (Kurylenko) falling short. Pugh's debut in the MCU is a standout aspect, positioning her for future stories, but the film suffers from a lack of focus on Natasha and a surplus of backstory, exposition and set-ups. The first half of the movie is stronger than the latter stages, with a larger scope in the third act, but still lacking in spy elements. Although the positives of strong performances, good visuals, and action sequences outweigh the negatives, Black Widow ends up feeling average in comparison to other MCU productions.
Black Widow es la tan esperada salida en solitario de Natasha Romanoff de Scarlett Johansson, que tiene lugar después de Capitán América: Civil War. La película se centra en el pasado de Natasha poniéndose al día con ella en la forma del "súper" soldado ruso Alexei Shostakov/Guardián Rojo (Harbour) y Melina Vostokoff (Weiss), sus padres sustitutos, y Yelena Belova (Pugh), su "hermana". . La película se enfoca principalmente en el drama familiar entre Natasha y Yelena, y es más fuerte cuando lo hace. Sin embargo, falta el lado malvado de la historia, con el Dreykov de Ray Winstone, sus Black Widows controladas por la mente y el decepcionante Taskmaster (Kurylenko) que se quedan cortos. El debut de Pugh en el MCU es un aspecto destacado, posicionándola para futuras historias, pero la película adolece de una falta de enfoque en Natasha y un exceso de historia de fondo, exposición y escenarios. La primera mitad de la película es más fuerte que las últimas etapas, con un alcance más amplio en el tercer acto, pero aún carente de elementos de espionaje. Aunque los aspectos positivos de las actuaciones sólidas, las buenas imágenes y las secuencias de acción superan a los negativos, Black Widow termina sintiéndose promedio en comparación con otras producciones de MCU.
Didn't like it all that much.
On a different note, I thought that was Rachel Weisz! She looked so much younger though. Wasn't sure it was her.
We wait so many years for a good movie, but we got another marvel's formula movie without love.
This was the movie we went for on our first date n i loved it maybe its coz it was with someone i really love
Pretty good considering all the bad reviews. But that final taskmaster fight was such a let down.
Yawn boring throughout, predictable, and who cares?
You could see the big reveal a mile away. And the face swap gag is overused and they didn't even bother to establish that as a thing in the movie before using it. You gotta set that shit up first.
Also lol that O-T Fagbenle is in the banner at the top. He's got like less than 5 minutes of screen time and does jack shit in the movie.
Yeah judge me all you want but I'm not embarrassed to admit that this is one of my favourite mcu movies. It's not perfect by all means but it's totally my type of movie. I'm a sucker for the whole family stuff and character interactions this movie offers. And as a fan of Nat's character I'm so happy about all the cool and sweet moments she gets in this (The "thank you for your cooperation" throwback and the scene of her breaking her nose live rent free in my head). Her and Yelena's chemistry is amazing and I just really like Yelena's character. The action is pretty neat (some poor scenes but the good absolutely outweighs the bad). The soundtrack is good and the emotional scenes hit. The ending is bittersweet and all in all it's a good farewell for Natasha (whom will be greatly missed).
Good farewell movie to post mortem character. As a plot that tells the story of a character, perhaps also containing the greatest depth of the main character MCU movies made so far.
i liked this quite a lot for how it fits into the existing mcu. i think it's difficult to expect a lot of the comic canon to come through when the cinematic universe has always chosen to explore characters differently. plus, if you're a die-hard fan of any of these heroes or villains, you should have firsthand awareness that the story gets changed from artist to artist, writer to writer. the movies aren't going to be any different.
plus alexei makes a very good point about his own character arc (even if he's talking about gaining weight)—he's just been broken out of prison. i really don't think he's about to be even remotely badass.
also, the mcu black widow has had a great deal of vulnerability and attachment disorder built into the character over the phases, so if this not being about her being a heartless spy the entire time is a downer, like... the movie definitely isn't for you?
ANYWAY
florence pugh hands down was my favorite part of the film, with david harbour a close second. i already loved both of them in other work, and it's a solid cast overall, but they really brought it with these two characters.
"this is a much less cool way to die."
Not the film Scarlett was owed and a very messy second and third act, but she and Pugh are sensational when Winstone falls horribly flat. The Red Room concept deserved much more and could have been delivered much better and far less obviously than the half baked work here - Taskmaster too. Never quite a Bond film, never the origin connection long hinted at, it has to rely mostly on action in the first act (which is brilliant) and some superb performances. Ultimately it’s undermined by knowing Natasha’s fate, even though Yelena is introduced really well indeed.
It's honesty not even as close to being as bad as some people are saying it is. It's an entertaining movie, and IF it had come out sometime around 2017 it'd be much more favored and wouldn't have so much of the backlash it's received. A lot of the negative reviews are coming from people who hadn't had a marvel movie fix since Endgame, and didn't see the point of this story being told. In that respect, I can agree that the timing here is off. I understand prequels and telling stories not in a linear timeline, but that being said this was more of a tribute movie than it was any kind of real progression, and it would've fit much better if put between Civil War and Infinity War being as Natasha is just gone now. Yelena will continue in the story, so it does work as introducing her to us, it's just a failure in timing since everyone saw it coming out of their 2 year endgame hangover.
As a standalone movie, it's not bad at all, and entertaining to watch. If you, say, have never watched a marvel movie before and are just getting into them now, watching this sometime after civil war and skipping the after credits scene would really add to your overall MCU experience. The only real shame is the movie wasn't made sooner.
i belive in Florence Pugh supermecy
11 minutes into this movie and the main characters suddenly revert from flawless English into cartoony Hollywoodized Russian accent and outright subtitled Russian. It's not even close to how actual Russians speak English with their natural accents, it's this literal caricature developed over decades of Russian villains in Holywood movies. I mean, totally, that's how people speak. Totally not a way to do a "clever twist". OH NO! They were Russians all along?! WOW!
The one native Russian speaker in the main cast, Olga Kurylenko, gets no lines? I don’t understand why they couldn’t hire Russian-speaking actors. All these people trying to fake Russian? IT'S EMBARRASSING.
Mid-tier Marvel movie is enjoyable for the most part but suffers from a mid-section where everything slows to a halt. Worth seeing for one ‘last’ appearance from Scarlett as Black Widow, a character that didn’t deserve to ‘die’ in the last Avengers movie.
As is the case with most all Marvel movies, this was well executed, enjoyable, and completely safe. I'm still waiting for a Marvel flick to feel like something "different" than all the other Marvel films. I did like that this strayed a little closer to an espionage feel, but there weren't quite enough interesting twists & turns to feel more than casual toe-dipping into the genre while still being a superhero vehicle. What did stand out was Florence Pugh. She utterly stole every scene she was in and I truly hope we see more of her character in future films. Everyone else was fine and the action set pieces were what you'd expect. It was a bit disjointed how they had to jam in MCU canon to make sure this "fit" instead of just letting it be a standalone offering. All that aside, if you're committed to the MCU, this won't disappoint, but for non-MCU folks, this is...fine.
loved every moment of the movie, I cried a lot when I saw Natasha as a blondy realizing it's just before infinity war and we won't see our fav black widow again. looking forward to see Yelena in Hawkeye series it's gonna be awesome. what a nice journey with black widow in the MCU movies so sad we lost so many heroes.
well, avengers are locked up and we now have the black widow movie to continue the character.
what can i say, well not much really. its tries hard to inject some tony stark comedy but does't really work.
oh dear, the special effects are great inplaces, and appauling in others (the drop scene).
story well its got one but really its a family movie, quite literally.
anyhoo watch for 2 hours, then add it to your list of watched marvel flicks.
it started with a promising premise, with a strong enough storyline to make us curious. then at some point, it became fast and furious mcu edition, with rushed emotional development and weird action sequences
Another fairly entertaining, yet mostly disposable half-assed Marvel film. Perhaps it could have been a hit if it was released a decade ago, but these formulaic superhero flicks are definitely starting to grow outmoded.
The usual Marvel template gets updated with a bunch of spy thriller stereotypes in the veins of "Mission: Impossible", together with a beating heart for family affairs that made me inevitably think of "The Incredibles" or even "Spy Kids". The ensemble cast has good chemistry, and, despite the emotional moments falling terribly flat and the gags feeling like they were written in the 90s, watching the characters interact was more than pleasant. The Russian accents coming and going for no apparent reason bothered me at first, but after hearing Ray Winstone's, I just stopped caring about it altogether.
Needless to say, the action scenes are always fun to watch. I just wish they would stop relying on confusing fast cuts and distracting CGI flourishes, though. I was actually surprised to read so many names in the special effects department as some of the chroma key shots were absolutely atrocious (the one with Yelena getting blasted away by an explosion deserves special mention). Still, the most distracting thing of the whole movie was Natasha's smart solution to resist the villain's pheromones, possibly the most WTF moment since the infamous "rubber lips" in "Batman & Robin".
Yelena is beyond awesome here. It's probably not a good sign when you immediately like the newbie sister of the established lead character more than you've ever liked the lead character herself. Beyond that, this one is ridiculously light on plot (even for a Marvel movie), but makes up for a lot of it with terrific humor. On the other hand, Alexei is the only one of the main characters here who's more than just a normal human being, right? Because if that's true, then both sisters should've been dead from their injuries within about the first half-hour of the start of this one...
nah... i wont watch it again.. it was boring for me. also did they trying to copy deadpool with the Super hero landing comments?
"The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled."
The good: I loved Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Alexei (David Harbour) in this and they made a somewhat serious story more enjoyable.
The bad: Scarlett was good in this, but can't help but think this movie could've come out before Infinity War.
The first Marvel movie I've ever seen, based on quite enjoying a few episodes of WandaVision and having a free ticket to the cinema.
Action sequences were what I looked forward to on the big screen and they were as ridiculous but enjoyable as I hoped.
The less said about the story, the better.
crap movie. a couple of good explosions and that's it.
Was very meh to me. Good starting scene, but too many emotional scenes in the first part of the movie for characters we dont give a shit about. Only enjoyed more the late part of the movie.
Why does Scarlett Johannsen seem like a guest in her own movie? Her sister steals every scene she is in. It's okay but no Winter Soldier.
That was a pretty good first half of a movie….
This movie was weird. It's by far the least MCU movie out of the bunch. It tries to both encompass the MCU style while trying to copy Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible's style but without any kind of actual spy work. I like Natasha. I like Scarlett Johansson. And a movie about Black Widow is something that I've always wanted. And I still stand by the fact that this movie should've come out instead of the Captain Marvel one. This movie has problems, but it's nowhere near as bad as that one. Its introduction is rushed. It has little to no breathing room and establishes everything in a blink. Plus, that credits montage was weird. From there on, the movie is rather smooth. I liked the dynamic of the family a lot, especially between Natasha and Yelena. Actually, I liked pretty much everything up until the beginning of the 3rd act. Easily the weakest part of the movie. Both writing (the jokes sucked) and special effects wise.
Red Guardian was also cool, although it's a shame that he never actually did anything worthwhile in the movie.
This one gets a very light 6 out of 10 5 out of 10 from me.
EDIT: The more I think about the movie, the more I realize how much of a wasted opportunity it actually was. It could've legitimately been the best Marvel movie.
I cannot give any stars to this movie to be honest. 6 is too little and 7 too much. At least, I can say, that it wasn't as bad as second Wonder Woman movie.
The "father" - Idk how the hell he has lived so many years. Most of his "friends" should kill him after listening to him for a while. The gap between his character at the beginning (even after he was done with his cover in Cuba) and when we see him next is, in my opinion, unexplainable. I was so done.
The "mother" was turning so quickly in every scene she was that after the film I could say anything about her. They could remove her from the movie and I wouldn't really know.
It could be easily the movie about the sisters, they have the strenght in their acting and chemistry to lead the movie entirely by themselves which would give us some time for the "villain" (who isn't really a villain, more like just a bad guy that has luck to not die easily) to make an impression. I didn't even remembered his name that's how I didn't feel anything from him. And it's entirely on the creators, not the actor who had to work with what he had which was nothing.
Also the final battle.... jumping from one falling part of the building to another was so laughable... We've seen thin in Captain America Winter soldier and it was similar to Dr Strange, but they are humans with some powers so it was somehow explainable. I was surprised they did sth like that with a human falling from such height, bumping into so many things, glass windows, while already been through so much biting. Because of this, I wasn't even surprised that after all of this Natasha was standing straight, without so much as limping.
I knew this movie, with its placement in the Marvel timeline, was unnecessary. I just sooo wanted to have Black Widow movie and know her roots.... It didn't get anything I wanted. even as a farewell gift for killing her. It's just... sad.
uhm.. stale, kinda boring, the russian caricatures made me puke in my mouth a little every time. yelena and nat are everything and carried the whole thing. also why were the special effects and the general set design looking like they were straight out of a CW DCU tv show i dont get it
This is not the greatest Marvel movie, but it certainly is entertaining and BIG. It gives a glimpse into Natasha's background. The big ending action sequence is quite phenomenal, even if completely impossible.
In my opinion, Florence Pugh kind of stole the show. Her dry, wry delivery of her character's lines were quite funny.
Other than that what else is there to say - it's a big Marvel action movie.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
Just watched, still sitting in the theater waiting for post credit scene, lol. Pretty solid movie, nice to have a standalone black widow movie. And we finally found out what happened in Budapest :rofl:
Few points of criticism.
A Black Widow movie is long overdue however it should've came out before she got killed off. I was expecting some spy espionage stuff, sadly it ended up being a generic action movie. That does not mean it was bad but I feel like it could have been better, especially when it came to the pacing and story. Some of the jokes didn't feel forced and the fighting scenes were top notch which is always a plus. Florence Pugh nailed her role as Yelena, definitely a highlight and I am looking forward to seeing more of her. The taskmaster reveal was a flop, marvel kept the identity under wraps to the point that when you look up the movie there is nothing about them just for it to be that?? Also, please tell me why the big bad was hyped up throughout the movie as this villain that no one can take down or find and then turned out to be a disappointment, LIKE I AM SO TIRED OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL VILLAINS. I said it before and I will say it again, it should've been Clint that died in Vormir and not Nat
Story = 7
Cinematography = 8
Soundtrack = 8
Production Design = 7
Acting = 7
Overall score = 7.5/10
my biggest flex is that I have the same birthday as Scarlet Johansson
also! Florence Pugh.
Didn't know what to expect and didn't have any great expectations but, overall, a good yarn. The two leads play well together, there is lot's of action and it kept me entertained. It has tones of Treadstone/Jason Bourne but it fits nicely into place in the MCU timeline. Grab the popcorn and enjoy.
2 years of delay and this is what we get? Don't get me wrong I love how family oriented this film is and subtle hysterical and a non stop adrenaline action,but I just don't see Scarlett act that well in some emotional scene even Rachel felt so bland, Florence and David Harbour carried this film, make me change my mind. There are some bad CGI scenes too. :skull:
There’s some fun in between the family drama and the family comedy stuff. David Harbour (Stranger Things) does steal the show despite the film not going for that. Florence Pugh also is a scene stealer from Scarlett Johansson.
Though Pugh and Johansson don’t get much to always do. Other than talk about daddy issues or how crappy their childhoods were.
While Taskmaster is wasted and should have been a main villain in a Captain America film or even on Falcon and Winter Soldier. They just shouldn’t have used that name at all in this movie.
This film was supposed to set the return of the Marvel universe last year. It was delayed due to Covid. Shows like Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki are better. They also make us more excited for what’s next than this movie does.
Marvel is back on the big screen after 2 years! Black Widow instantly finishes high in my MCU ranking. It absolutely isn’t your ordinary Marvel movie. It all feels differently, it looks differently (stunning by the way) and all for the better. Thank you Cate Shortland! There were spectacular opening credits and my most anticipated MCU project got teased in a very interesting post-credits scene, so that got me excited as well. Loved all of it and already can’t wait to go again for a second round. Johansson, Harbour and Weisz are all really great, but Florence Pugh is the one true scene-stealing star here. She is the future and this is now a Yelena Belova stan account!!! :heart_eyes:
In Captain Marvel, I didn’t like the main character, but I thought the movie around her was quite solid.
Black Widow is the exact opposite: I quite liked the two leads, but the movie surrounding them doesn’t really work.
Pros:
- Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh are easily the most entertaining part of the film.
- I liked the first act. It feels like Cate Shortland is trying to do an impression of a Jason Bourne movie. It’s fairly humourless, the cinematography is bleak, and the score is intense. It has a tone that no other MCU film has.
- The action (minus the final battle) is fairly well done. As per usual, less editing would’ve made it better, but at least it feels weighty.
Cons:
- The story itself isn’t that interesting. The themes and main mcguffin are oddly similar to Captain Marvel, though it’s not executed as well. The villains also fail to make an impression.
- This movie really loses its identity as it goes along, to the point where it turns more into a generic Marvel movie as it goes on, and eventually a generic action blockbuster by the third act. Everything gets way too big and bloated for its own good.
- Not a fan of the Russian accents, they sound very tacky. Just let everyone speak with a normal American accent, I can look past the fact they’re Russians. Besides, they even had a story based reason to ditch the Russian accents entirely.
- I found David Harbour quite cringeworthy in this.
- The main characters are protected by strong plot armour. Most characters should’ve been killed 3-4 times based on the things that happen during the action scenes. This isn’t even a ‘suspend your disbelief, it’s an action movie’ situation, it gets really ridiculous, to the point where it’s almost Fast and Furious level.
- The pacing is a bit inconsistent, you really feel it slowing down during the second act.
Finally, I want to address that I already find the use of Nirvana songs in movies like these quite distasteful, but the cover that's used during the credits literally sucked all the life out of the song.
4.5/10
Because Natasha is always described as this awesome super spy, I really thought this movie would be kind of an over-the-top James Bond movie. I mean, you've got a Soviet Big Bad Guy with an evil lair and evil plan, like in the old school Bond films. I was very happy early on in the movie, with the Soviet agents couple undercover in Ohio, and then when Nat tries to lay low after Civil War. But then it switched from a potentially cool spy movie (and original for a Marvel) to a classic super hero movie.
So instead we got an over-the-top Agents of SHIELD episode. Every hero is sub-par, except Taskmaster, which doesn't even get that much screen time. The second most powerful hero, Red Guardian, is ridiculed all the time and doesn't really have an opportunity to shine. I thought the prison escape would be that. I mean, Netflix did a crazy good prison fight scene in The Punisher, but Marvel couldn't even remotely top that in a huge production? Very disappointed by all the missed opportunities.
I presume all the budget went to the nice posters because this feels like a low-budget Netflix movie. Especially some of the CGI and fight choreography was horrible.
I was bored the whole time, probably just the actress playing Yelena looked more bored than I felt. Almost did not finish,
The only positive was the Red Guardian, quite funny, just not enough of him.
Overall the worst Marvel movie in a long time. If they cut out Natasha and Yelena, this would make for a better movie.
Black Widow - Truly The Action Packed Movie That We Hope For Marvel With Some Fun Characters From The Life Of Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow - Keep In Mind This Movie Takes Place Right After Avengers Ultron & The Sakovia Accords & Before Avengers Endgame - So They Don't Knos Thanos Yet But They Had To Deal Dark Side Of The Black Widow Program & Task Master
The Movie Is Action Packed & Its Nice To See A Marvel Movie In The Theater Again & Hoping To See More Soon - And Stay After The Credits - All I Can Say Is One Thing
Daughter Sister Avenger
Scarlett Johansson, Gail Gadot, Brie Larson etc... I don't understand why Hollywood keeps giving these types of women the main lead in movies, when they are mediocre actors at best. Being eye candy isn't enough to make these movies tolerable.
As for black widow, the Russian accents were awful, taskmaster has a male body until it removes the helmet. :rofl:. And I can't stand the girl from midsommar, (Every time she appeared on screen it reminded me of her crying scenes from that movie. She must've cried like 80% of that film, she was so annoying). But this is definitely one of the worst movies in the mcu, hands down. 4/10
Seriously. How stupid do they think viewers are?!
I understand that superhero movies need to have outside of the box content, be daring, and impulsive. But my red line is as soon as your intelligence is insulted.
So the Red Room that no one was able to find for so many years, was just a few thousands of feet in the air??!!!
Are you saying that this floating monstrosity was never seen, detected, by naked eyes, satellite, planes, etc. And was just hiding behind some clouds ?!!
Hollywood movies are becoming more stupid by the day, and that's only because their American viewers are receptive to it.
Fair enough, this movie did live up to the hype. I'll give credit to the crew for that, there's no denying. But I wasn't completely impressed. It was a fun movie to watch, but not the best attempt by marvel studios. 6.5/10 for me
Absolutely loved the movie. One of the best Marvel has ever done. It‘s action packed to the teeth. The characters are amazing and fun. Especially the one played by Florence Pugh. Also the story was not predictable and the movie therefore was not boring for even a second. Overall a highly entertaining movie which was worth the wait. Also I‘m always amazed how Marvel manages to bring the story together now even through multiple mediums like Cinema and TV (in the usual Marvel fashion there is a post credit-scene).
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Infinity Saga
Phase One
Iron Man (2008) https://trakt.tv/movies/iron-man-2008
The incredible Hulk (2008) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-incredible-hulk-2008
Iron Man 2 (2010) https://trakt.tv/movies/iron-man-2-2010
Thor (2011) https://trakt.tv/movies/thor-2011
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) https://trakt.tv/movies/captain-america-the-first-avenger-2011
The Avengers (2012) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-avengers-2012
Phase Two
Iron Man 3 (2013) https://trakt.tv/movies/iron-man-3-2013
Thor: The Dark World (2013) https://trakt.tv/movies/thor-the-dark-world-2013
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) https://trakt.tv/movies/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-2014
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) https://trakt.tv/movies/guardians-of-the-galaxy-2014
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) https://trakt.tv/movies/avengers-age-of-ultron-2015
Ant-Man (2015) https://trakt.tv/movies/ant-man-2015
Phase Three
Captain America: Civil War (2016) https://trakt.tv/movies/captain-america-civil-war-2016
Doctor Strange (2016) https://trakt.tv/movies/doctor-strange-2016
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) https://trakt.tv/movies/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) https://trakt.tv/movies/spider-man-homecoming-2017
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) https://trakt.tv/movies/thor-ragnarok-2017
Black Panther (2018) https://trakt.tv/movies/black-panther-2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) https://trakt.tv/movies/avengers-infinity-war-2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) https://trakt.tv/movies/ant-man-and-the-wasp-2018
Captain Marvel (2019) https://trakt.tv/movies/captain-marvel-2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019) https://trakt.tv/movies/avengers-endgame-2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) https://trakt.tv/movies/spider-man-far-from-home-2019
Phase Four
Black Widow (2021) https://trakt.tv/movies/black-widow-2021
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) https://trakt.tv/movies/shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings-2021
Eternals (2021) https://trakt.tv/movies/eternals-2021
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) https://trakt.tv/movies/spider-man-no-way-home-2021
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) https://trakt.tv/movies/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness-2022
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) https://trakt.tv/movies/thor-love-and-thunder-2022
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) https://trakt.tv/movies/black-panther-wakanda-forever-2022
The Marvels (2023) https://trakt.tv/movies/the-marvels-2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ((2023) https://trakt.tv/movies/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) https://trakt.tv/movies/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-2023
Fantastic Four https://trakt.tv/movies/fantastic-four
Now I almost wish no one ever hoped or asked for a Black Widow movie. A huge disappointment that came out too little too late.
The movie was kinda "meh" It started good but ended up in a kinda mess no explanation what happen. Don't expect much
I very much enjoyed this movie. Surpassed my expectations.
The movie was basically meaningless, it felt like they just pieced something together to throw it out. IMO it was more like a Yelena Belova origin story for her to take over as Black Widow.
the way this movie has grown on me over the last couple years is wild,,,
As far as post-Endgame MCU movies go, it's not great, but it's not awful. Still kinda worth it just because Ray Winstone nails the over-the-top villain role as does David Harbour in the lovable oaf role. But regardless of all that Florence Pugh is so goddamn charming it's not even fair.
It's fine. I just expected better. Took them years to make a movie on her just to give her half used wasted potential.
Carried mostly by Black Widow and her personal story since she's one of the few consistently likable MCU characters.
Sadly Yelena and Alexei's typical "MCU quip humor" did NOT fit the tone of the story, was super unfunny and distracting. Also the main villain was boring as hell and Taskmaster being stoic female was disappointing.
Majority of the movie is good, but it takes a complete 180 towards the end
Watched it when it was out in 4k. Was a bit meh. Watched it in 3D just now - holy cow that was a fantastic spectacle! The depth of those IMAX shots <3
Casting Florence Pugh is one of the best decisions Marvel has ever made
Shout by Angela MensVIP 10BlockedParent2021-07-10T17:10:46Z
Am I the only one who is sad we didn't get a flashback to Budapesh with Hawkeye? Really a missed opportunity Marvel!! Also thought it would be more of an origin story than what it actually turned to be. The action was nice and everything but still I'm disappointed