The latest Marvel blockbuster release sees Scarlett Johansson resume her role as the spy Natasha Romanoff. Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow is every bit as action-packed as promised. Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War, this prequel story of Black Widow is fast-paced and gives audiences little to no time to take a breather between action sequences.
There’s no doubt that visually, the film is stunning — the action shots and cinematography for it are well done. However, the downfall of Marvel’s latest instalment is that there was very little room in the film left for fleshing out Natasha Romanoff’s character. She’s been in the Marvel Universe since 2008, but in each film we’ve only seen glimpses into her past and of who she really is.
What I had expected, probably like many other fans, was for this film to delve into all the dark corners of Natasha’s past before joining the Avengers. While we do see bits of Natasha’s childhood, events are set in the time of the film and not in the past (so no, not much about what happened in Budapest).
However, the film overall was very empowering to experience. There is immense satisfaction in seeing a powerful female kick ass, confront her abuser, and overcome her trauma. While the action sequences in the film might be a bit too grand and show-y for a spy like Black Widow, they made the film one hell of a send-off for her character.
“ScarJo is back for a good time, not a long time.”