My Take On "Black Widow" - No Spoilers

Today is my boyfriend's birthday and as a treat, I took him to see "Black Widow". We both are Marvel movie fans and the fact "Black Widow" finally made it to theaters the day before his birthday made it the ideal birthday outing for us. After watching it I wanted to write a review for it to express my opinions on the movie.

Before we get into the article let me clarify again, as I did in the title and subtitle for this article, this is SPOILER-FREE. I will not be discussing specific plot details but will be discussing the movie in general. If you have not seen it and still want to without being spoiled then you will be safe here.

Overview

Overall I would say that “Black Widow” is a decent entry in the MCU, it has its pros and it does have its cons.

Pros

My first pro with “Black Widow” is the stinger. It. Is. Awesome! It brings a character I love to the big screen and foreshadows a storyline I am truly looking forward to seeing. Be sure to stay until the end of the credits to see it.

My second pro with “Black Widow” is the characters. While I love Nat and am glad to see her in another installment I have to admit it is the new characters who shine in the movie. They all have their quirks and personalities which make their interactions interesting to watch.

My third pro with “Black Widow” is the action sequences. There are many amazing set pieces that are thrilling to watch and it is interesting to watch the characters use their environments against their enemies often to devastating effects.

Cons

My biggest con with “Black Widow” is it feels like it would work better as a “Black Widow 2” than the first solo installment for a character. I know we have learned about Nat’s backstory in other movies, but it would have felt better to see it fleshed out fully on-screen. Her being taken for her training, the training, her work as Black Widow (the assassin), her meeting Clint, and defection would have made a great movie, especially back in Phase 2. Since that never happened it makes this film feel like a sequel missing its predecessor.

My second con with “Black Widow” is how convoluted the movie gets. There is a bit too much added and it feels like the movie was intended to be two different movies that got merged into one but didn’t get polished after the merger. This causes the movie to go on for a bit too long as things get wrapped up in the finale and it definitely feels like 10 minutes could’ve been cut from the movie if the movie was polished better. I wonder why the year the movie was delayed was not used to edit and refine the movie to flow better.

Conclusion

I can foresee “Black Widow” getting mixed reviews, some of which will be justified while others will be overly harsh. We waited for over a year for a movie that I feel conflicted about and I know this will find it disappointing. I did find entertainment in it but do see its flaws.

I feel like it will be the MCU equivalent of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” where it will divide the Marvel fanbase, there will be some who find it entertaining while others will blast it as the worst of the MCU.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give “Black Widow” a 6, not an award winner but still entertaining to watch.

A final note for this article, a special Happy Birthday to my boyfriend who I got to see the movie with. Happy birthday Josh!