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"Some stories have to be told at the right time and in the right way. Society isn't enough to justify the fact that a female character is able to get his own movie only after her cinematic death, the birth of the #MeToo movement, the less misogynisitc view of the people and the wokeness which permeates our reality. This ipocricy moved by greed and a necessity to change its image in function of the trends. This is wrong and wicked.
Femal characters deserve more because women deserve more.
It's time to change this mysoginistic, patriarchal and abusive society for the best. Let's start by recognizing to the women their merits and stop acting like woke drones to please the elite and every stranger who doesn't give a f***k about us.
If you're a man stop using your cock to think and start using your brain to understand what's around you and the people who seem to care about you. Get rid of that f***ing ego which has always got in the way of your relationships and start listening.
If you're a woman, it's the moment to stand up for yourself and get rid of your abusers and to take your life in your own hands. Be brave and leave your toxic friend, partner or husband and start forging your own destiny. It's your life and no one gets to tell what to do.
I hope that my ranting has moved someone and I didn't pass as a woke person just because I'm talking about this topic.
This movie is supposed to be empowering but it's just a reiteration of what a man think of a a strong woman.
I'll leave you with this thought now. What are you going to do next?
PLOT
"A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War" or "An origin story of a dead character".
SCRIPT
It's a mixed one. It's also a bit weird because it's set between Civil War and Infinity War, which feels like an eternity ago. In fact this movie needed to happen earlier, because it's a movie which does so little to move the new phase and seems a bit unnecessary because (SPOILER guys) Natasha is dead. The point is that the plot is just generic and of a lower quality than Marvel series and recent movies, like Spider-Man: Far From Home. At firist it seems like an origin story but then it evolves in an unfocused movie, which revolves around a character rediscovering her origins. I can easily say that this flick got me in the epilogue and opening credits but lost me during the second act.
The pace isn't good and a lot of times the movie drags and action segments are stretched for too long. I'm not saying that it's boring but it's surely hard to stick to the screen.
The protagonist doesn't have a real arch, even though it takes some steps towards some kind of growth. This is why all of her journey seems aimless and the resolution undeserved.
The supporting characters are interesting, especially Yelena, but it isn't enough to say that they're good.
The villain is boring and it's strange that Marvel has pulled off such a weak opponent, which is just about being evil and doing bad thing for the sake of being bad.
Taskmaster is good and intriguing until it is destroyed by a bad plot twist. A character like that should've been handled in another way, maybe by making him a recurrent villain.
The themes here are, obviously, family, remorse and sins. I like the fact that Taskmaster is linked to Natasha, I like how the different notions of family are showed here and I also like how past sins affect the characters. I don't like the fact that every women in this movie seem powerful and invulnerable, which makes clear that the guys at Marvel are pushing a political agenda here.
I'm just disappointed.
This movie could have been something more, something memorable. In the end it's just another Marvel product.
Script: 5/10
ACTING
Almost every performance is on point. My issue is with the accent, which isn't consistent and convincing thorughout the movie. I'm talking about David Harbour, Florence Pugh and Rache Weisz's one. I can say that everyone does a good job, besides Olga Kurylenko, who seems out of place and almost inexistent. Ray Winstone does a good job with what he got but he isn't particularly memorable. In fact everyone here delivers a forgettable but acceptable performance. This is why this movie seems just like another superhero flick.
Acting: 6/10
PHOTOGRAPHY
There're some good shots but nothing particularly amazing. Light and shadows are used with care only in the epilogue. After that it becomes the usual Marvel sh*t, which is characterized by flat light and a boring use of colours. The movie don't make feel me anything on this side. I tried to find something good about it, to give it something more than 6 but unfortunately there isn't anything more than what we get here.
Photography: 6/10
EDITING
It's more than acceptable. I like how Slow Motion is used and there're some geniunely good transitions. Action scenes are a bit shaky and sometimes seem more competent. Overall it works, even though I don't find it remarkable. Well, it's before the movie becomes a blunt Marvel movie.
Editing: 6/10
SPECIAL EFFECTS
There's a lot of them but they blend perfectly with more practical effects. Sometimes they seem a bit fake but overall they work. Fortunately they decided to use a cgi pet only in one frame. Usually this is the reason why the cgi is considered bad.
Special Effects: 6/10
SOUNDTRACK
The opening credits are stunning and the music is wonderful. After that the movie becomes another Marvel movie with a mixed soundtrack, which is a bit forgettable and a bit acceptable. I like the fact that they wanted to integrate Russian notes in the theme and to use part of the Avengers theme at the end.
Nonetheless it remains a very mediocre score.
Soundtrack: 6/10
COSTUMES
It's a superhero movie, obviously the costumes are one of the main staples. Natasha's suits are interesting, even though there're 3 of them for merchandising purpose. I like the Red Guardian's one, which is a variation of the Captain America suit. Taskmaster gets a weak costume and I don't like it a lot. There're better designs of him out there, why this one was selected? I like the nod to the Infinity War costume, which marks how things have changed for Black Widow since Civil War. Besides supersuits, the other clothes are normal and uninteresting, but they don't hurt the experience because they're cherent with settings and characters.
Overall this section is pretty mediocre.
Costumes: 6/10
CONCLUSION
Script: 5/10
Acting: 6/10
Photography: 6/10
Editing: 6/10
Special Effects: 6/10
Soundtrack: 6/10
Costumes: 6/10
AVERAGE: 5,85
It's an ok movie. Watch it ti stay up to date with the MCU but yu can skip it if you don't care about superhero movies.
Director: Cate Shortland
Screenplay: Eric Pearson
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz
Soundtrack: Lorne Balfe
Cinematography: Gabriel Beristain
Running Time: 134 minutes
Budget: $200 million
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Black Widow
2021
12A
Director: Cate Shortland
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, Ray Winstone, Ever Anderson, Violet McGraw, O-T Fagbenie, William Hurt, Olga Kurylenko etc
Black Widow is about Natasha Romanoff, as she confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Black widow was a fantastic film, it was definitely more flawed than a lot of marvel films, but I still enjoyed myself a lot.
My first few positives for black widow would be the fantastic cinematography and action. The great character background, the fantastic chemistry between the cast as well as the great family dynamic. As expected with the MCU the cinematography and attention to detail with its visuals was excellent. It was beautifully and professionally shot. With excellent uses of red to reflect the tone of the film well as well as the characters. I also liked the visual imagery to represent key stages of Natasha’s life and how they were repeated during different scenes. The action was also fantastic. It was thrilling, exciting and excellently choreographed, also a lot more gritty and hard hitting than a lot of previous MCU movies which I appreciated. I also really appreciated the character background. The opening scene set up Natasha and her family well. Establishing her life prior to the avengers, it was interesting to finally see how Natasha was growing up as a child so this was a nice element to the film. I also loved the fantastic family dynamic and the chemistry between the cast. This was definitely one of the strongest elements of the film for me. The whole family dynamic was so believable and fun. They came across as a genuine albeit unconventional family that needed to patch things up. Scarlett, Florence, David and Rachel all did fantastic jobs here and there on-screen chemistry was excellent. Especially Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh who worked so well together here, there sister bond was excellently written and Florence is a deserving replacement for Natasha.
My next few positives would be the building of tension. Darker themes, great worldbuilding and character depth. As well as great performances and comedic dialogue. I thought the film managed to build tension very well, this was largely due to the much darker themes for Marvel. The opening scenes and the amount of detail they went into how they trained the Widows and how they separated them from their families was surprisingly tough to watch, and as I learned more about the widows the tension increased amazingly with the villain behind it all as well as the action. I thought the worldbuilding was also great, it filled in a few holes within the timeline of the movies as well as Natasha’s character. Building on the red room and Natasha’s dark past was well explored. Therefore, the film had strong character depth. As we discovered Natasha’s dark past and her regrets, as well as trying to get to the bottom of who her true family was it gave the needed depth to her character that was missing from some of the previous entries within the MCU therefore making this standalone feature for me worth people’s time in terms of learning more about her character. I also appreciated the depth they gave to Yelena (Florence Pugh) as well, her being free of the mind control of the widows was a really interesting element, and just sad to see her go into so much detail about the widow’s lack of freedom and having so many things taken away from them. The performances here were great the main 4 cast members were fantastic. Scarlet Johansson was brilliant, she bought the grounded and passionate performance expected from the character of Natasha and she didn’t disappoint. Rachel Weisz was also fantastic showing she can hang with the younger cast members well. David Harbour was brilliant, his comedic timing was excellent and Red Guardian was a great character. What helped was the excellent comedic writing for his character, it was witty, well timed, and genuinely funny and David just made it work. But the star of the film was Florence Pugh. Wow what a star making performance. She delivered in every aspect needed. She delivered in the action, the more serious and emotional side to her character. But she also bought this fresh humour to the film and had some excellent moments.
However, the film was far from perfect. My negatives for Black Widow would be the rushed scenes, underused villains, lack of detail to the deeper themes. As well as the off-putting CGI in the final act. There were certain scenes that needed more explanation and more time to breathe, considering how detrimental they were to the whole film, there was just certain scenes involving the widows and how to free them that felt glossed over and lacked attention. I also thought that the villains were extremely underused. Despite some good explanation, the main villain was mediocre for the MCU and didn’t have enough presence within the film to leave a lasting impact. There was a similar issue with Taskmaster as well, it felt like a missed opportunity with that character so hopefully she is bought back. I also thought that there was a lack of depth to the bigger themes. I felt like the film introduced the darker themes really well, but then never really went into any more detail with them, so therefore the films bigger messages were lost within the action. Finally, I thought the CGI in the final act was very off putting In places. There were just certain scenes that had badly done CGI involving characters faces. And CGI and green screen was overused for when the Red room was destroyed, as I wasn’t a particularly big fan of the flying action scene.
My final few positives would be the decent villain, explanation to the villain. The plot twists, the great character conflict and tone. As well as the great final act. Despite the villain overall being mediocre, I did appreciate his role within the film. I think Ray Winstone did a solid performance for the character to come across as intimidating and threatening, as well as being instantly dislikeable due to his treatment of the widows. I also liked the explanation and twists with his character. The background with his daughter being killed was a good motivation for his character and was well linked with Natasha’s backstory. The twist with taskmaster was also well executed in my opinion and was a plot twist I didn’t see coming. I also really liked the character conflict. The tension between Natasha and the villain and the conflict due to Natasha escaping the red room before was great. I also appreciated the conflict with the family, due to there troubled past and giving Natasha and Yelena away but not knowing where. Introduced some good conflict that was well explored and drew them all closer as a family. I also thought the film managed to execute a fantastic tone, switching between its more serious and emotional tone to its comedic tone very well. I also loved the spy espionage feel to it, fitting with the character of Natasha excellently. Finally, I thought the final act was great. Despite my issues with some of the action. It was thrilling, entertaining and gave Natasha and Yelena the closure they needed for there characters. The end credit scene was also excellent. Setting up Yelena’s MCU future excellently.
Overall, Black Widow misses the mark slightly with the villains and the deeper themes are lost within the action. But it is still and incredibly entertaining, intense and strong addition to the MCU Serving as both respect to Scarlet and what she has done with the character of Natasha, whilst also introducing us to the new phase of heroes with Yelena, with a star making performance from Florence Pugh.
Overall rating 84/100
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3/5
Action-Adventure/Superhero
Famed Avenger and former assassin Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is on the run from the government, when her past comes back to haunt her, in the form of the secret, malevolent Black Widow program.
After a roughly 2-year hiatus from the big screen, Marvel is back! And the results are… mixed. Parts of Black Widow work but, overall, it’s not up to the usual MCU standards for me. However, it is sufficiently enjoyable so if you lower your expectations, you might have a good time. Unfortunately, Black Widow was burdened with the task of being the first major return to the MCU, other than the Disney Plus series’, so the lower stakes of its story may not appeal to some, who were hoping for another Marvel epic. While this wasn’t fair for the mostly standalone adventure, Black Widow’s flaws can’t be simply relegated to this, and it’s pretty underwhelming, especially because we’re all aware that the MCU can do so much better (if you’re new to Marvel and like espionage thrillers, skip this and go watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier, you would not regret it).
Shortland’s film presents good ideas for the story and most of the beats work adequately. Black Widow does begin with an explosive opening, that gives a taste of the type of action that’s to come, and also effectively introduces Natasha’s family dynamic with her sister Yelena Belova, and their parents Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff, played by Florence Pugh (as an adult), David Harbour and Rachel Weisz, respectively. On paper, this family setup demonstrates a compelling side to Natasha, that we haven’t previously gotten to see. However, the execution partly lets this film down. The script feels quite amateur, and all of the aforementioned actors are so much better than what they get to work with, here. While the stoic Johansson isn’t really on form in Black Widow, the highlight of the film for me was the wonderful Florence Pugh.
She brings a unique sense of humour and charisma to the MCU, with her cynical yet light-hearted sarcasm, and lovable remarks about how “cool” her vest is. However, it’s also evident that she can kick anyone’s ass when she needs to. The sisterly bond between Natasha and Yelena is done well, and one of the better parts of the film is a scene where we get to spend some downtime with the two, who are each having a drink and chatting about their lives. As an action-adventure that spans across various parts of the world, there isn’t much time for some good old dialogue, so Black Widow feels fairly thin in its emotional depth, as we don’t get enough time to properly bond with these characters. The film instead prioritises large set-pieces, which can work in certain films, and it massively depends on how good the action is, bringing me to my next point.
There’s a close-up fist-gun-and-knife fight earlyish in the film that feels reminiscent of the intense action in The Bourne Identity. A subsequent bike chase in Budapest made me think of that excellent sequence in Mission Impossible: Fallout. One of the main villains, the Taskmaster, is basically the Terminator, at points. Black Widow has clearly been influenced by numerous action films, so why do the fight scenes feel so uninspired? Firstly, the editing is too choppy and makes it so that we can’t enjoy much of the action because it’s partly unclear what’s going on. Take the example of the legendary corridor fight scene in Marvel’s Daredevil. That is a fantastic sequence, because the choreography keeps it feeling kinetic but also brutal; the protagonist takes a lot of punches and he’s clearly running on low, but he weightily dodges and parries and uses the environment to take out about 15 men. Over the 5-10 minutes of varied combat, there isn’t a single cut. It works especially well because it’s shot with technical prowess and we can always see what’s going on. Black Widow fails at this in multiple ways. In the Bourne Identity-esque scene, the choreography is good but we keep switching to so many different camera angles that the sequence doesn’t get to breathe on its own. Another problem is showcased near the end of the film when Alexei, aka ‘Red Guardian’, gets into a brawl with the Taskmaster, and we’re lured into getting excited to finally see him in action. However, the film keeps cutting away whenever the fight is about to get interesting. It feels as if the movie deliberately baited us into getting hyped about this showdown, despite the fact that it wasn’t meant to be a big part of the final action scenes of the film.
And of course, Disney decided that a small teaser of this battle would be a great idea to put in the trailers! This kind of treatment sadly feels disrespectful to the characters and the fans. My final major qualm with the execution of the action is partly to do with the stakes. Because it’s a prequel, the film isn’t bothered with presenting realistic stunts for Natasha, and it gets quite distracting. Near the beginning, she’s in a regular, civilian car that gets bombarded by a rocket, and flips over around 5 times. Natasha does not have super soldier serum, or the physicality and strength of a god, or a practically impenetrable suit, yet she emerges from the wreck, seemingly unscathed, with no blood or injuries anywhere. And that’s not even the most egregious example. I apologise for the slight rant but a character’s eventual fate already being established does not excuse an implausible level of invincibility, in stunts that feel like they were done solely to ‘look cool’, with no regard for consequences. In a world where a roughly 10-foot purple alien wiped out half of the universe with a magic glove and some colourful gems, it’s best to take these things with a grain of a salt, but it happens so often in Black Widow that it becomes frustratingly noticeable. Ok, now my rant is actually over.
David Harbour and Rachel Weisz both hold their own in the film, presenting an interesting bond as ‘colleagues’ and surrogate parents. Harbour is given some funny lines here and there, and his portrayal of a washed-up, once-famous Soviet hero is entertaining to watch. He does get a decent character arc and is overall a nice presence in the film. Rachel Weisz is solid too, and there’s a good (double?) twist with her character towards the end, although she isn’t given quite as much to work with. Harbour and Weisz are never going to be bad in a movie, and they give honourable performances that manage to transcend the mediocre script. As for another famous cast member, Ray Winstone shows up, and he’s fine in the film. He’s intimidating enough to be a respectable threat to our protagonists, but his character is forgettable. The worst butchering of a villain that I’ve seen in the MCU in a while though is unfortunately in this movie, and you’ve probably predicted who it is… Taskmaster. Firstly, I’d like to clarify that neither gender nor sex are anything to do with how well a character is portrayed, so f*** anybody who thinks that the traditionally male antagonist was ruined by making them a woman.
Characters shouldn’t be relegated only to a specific gender and/or sex, and different interpretations are always valid. The issue with Taskmaster here is that she is very underused, and the story dictates a version of the infamous mercenary that feels underwhelming, and inconsequential to the MCU. She could have been a methodical, dangerous presence in the movie, but she instead hardly has a line of dialogue and the character’s classic ability to mimic other people’s moves feels here simply like a little gimmick to add some flair to certain scenes. I absolutely don’t have as much of a grievance with the adaptation but I can understand why the comic-book fans are disappointed. I’m hoping that she’ll get the chance to be up against our heroes again in the MCU, or perhaps she could operate in a more ambiguous grey area: she isn’t bad in the film, the character just isn’t used enough, so there’s still potential.
I apologise for how negative a direction part of this review has gone, so I’ll shift back to what I liked. As per the standards for Disney and Marvel, the film looks visually great. The cinematography shines through and saves some of the less compelling sequences from being plainly boring. This atmosphere is also amplified by a very solid score from Lorne Balfe, that adds intensity when necessary, but can also tug at your heartstrings, when the themes of empowerment and family hit (sadly, Dom Torretto does not show up though). Most of the action scenes work broadly well, and the crew exemplified the talent in this department that Marvel is so good at finding. Finally, as a general statement, I’m always happy to see more of the MCU and its world-building. I appreciate that we have these 2 hours and 14 minutes of filling in the gaps in Natasha’s story between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, and learning about her past.
While Black Widow didn’t live up to what it could have been, it’s still a sufficiently entertaining adventure, with likable protagonists and an action-packed narrative. It isn’t a particularly good movie, but it just about rises above its flaws and adds some welcome depth to the iconic Avenger. I recommend Black Widow to Marvel fans, those who like globe-trotting action-adventures, and casual viewers who are happy to see any fun blockbuster, after so long away from the cinema. Just don’t expect top-tier MCU.
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Though I'm glad we finally got a new installment to the MCU, I may have had my expectations just a little too high for this one. It's certainly fun and has an intriguing storyline, but it struggles at the same time. Black Widow follows Natasha Romanov as she teams up with Yelena and Alexei to take down Dreykov, leader of a group of mind-controlled women. First of all I want to say it's already a bit of a let down knowing when and where this film takes place. I was under the impression that it would be an origin story, and I suppose it is at times, but it's more of a side story/spin-off from the other films that just felt like a tacked on cash grab. Trying to wrap my head around what time this film took place in was irritating, as they make it obvious that this was after The Avengers, with references dispersed throughout.
The rest of the story is cool in concept but in execution comes off a little convoluted. It's interesting to think about a villain who controls an entire population and seeing the effects. I was able to understand it all fairly well, but I felt like they used too much runtime to give us all this backstory on Dreykov and the Widows that wasn't all necessary. I didn't think they were terrible, but Dreykov certainly could have been a better fleshed out character also. With that being said, we do see the theme of trying to gain freedom and be empowered effectively shown. The other big flaw to this film is that it just was not realistic at all. Maybe other MCU films were like this, but this one takes the cake for being the most unrealistic, at least as far as characters that avoid death. There were so many moments where the characters somehow survived that make no sense at all. These include: falling out of the sky and avoiding debris, stormtrooper aim bullets, ridiculous acrobatics, and like ten explosions that would definitely kill you. A lot of the action with Natasha and Yelena fighting is fun, but I had a hard time seeing past these ridiculous moments. This film does sprinkle in some funny moments that I thought didn't overshadow the weight of the story, and had the right amount.
As far as characters go, it was a mixed bag. Scarlett and especially Pugh shined as the main characters, while Harbour had some good moments, often comedic ones. Kurylenko as Dreykov's daughter was very forgettable, while Dreykov could have been played better. Overall this film is one that I really am still not sure how much I liked. There's a lot to both like and dislike, but I appreciate at least being able to get a new MCU film after 2 years that didn't disappoint completely.
Rating 7.6/10
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I don’t really know what to say, I wasn’t really excited to watch Black Widow, so I can’t say that I was disappointed…but it was just very middling. It never really evoked any emotion out of me, and a lot of that lies within the fact that this movie probably should’ve came out in like 2014/2015. Y’know a point where we would need some backstory to back up Nat’s more reflective moments in AoU. But it happening now in 2021 just feels tacked on and useless. There’s no real stakes whatsoever for Nat, and a lot of the tension between her and the villains feels fake. The CGI was also pretty weak. There were many moments where it either looked blurry, or it looked like the objects in question jumped or fell too fast. Stuff like that really takes me out of movies. I really appreciate attention to detail and care into immersion, and this movie really struggled with that.
My final complaint is that I thought they used Taskmaster weirdly. (Kind of spoilers) but they do this reveal with that villain and it’s kind of weird because you only met these characters in this movie, and they were supposed to have this huge impact on who Nat is as a person, but we literally never met them before.
So what did I like about this movie? I think the thing that definitely stands out the most is the family dynamic between Harbour, Weisz, Pugh, and Johansson. In particular I really loved Florence Pugh; she plays the snarky “little sister” role very well. She kind of spends a lot of time making fun of Nat and those moments are cute. Another stand out was David Harbour. He plays this bombastic Russian Cap ripoff (and a father figure to Nat/Yelena) who lies to everyone about this rivalry with/and fighting Captain America (it’s pretty funny). And his dynamic with Weisz’s character is solid (even though she doesn’t get a lot of stuff to do). This is a movie where the “quirky sidekicks” actually work, are better than the main character, and they actively elevate the movie.
On the topic of the action, I mean I thought it was okay. They definitely went for a Jason Bourne/MCU mix of an action style. So during the hand to hand stuff the camera’s moving around a lot (like JB) and it has a fair amount of cuts (like the MCU). But when it actually shows people doing actual stunts, it is really cool. Like when Nat and Yelena (Florence Pugh) first meet as adults in this movie. There’s also a pretty decent fight right before the last big action sequence, that I enjoyed. I just think that a lot of good MCU properties rely on being different, or trying something new and exciting; and now that we’ve seen stuff like that… these “grounded” stories need to really excel on some outstanding stunt coordination, more exciting action, or just a stronger emotional core.
Black Widow itself is an enjoyable enough movie; like it never actively made me angry or cringe, but it rarely evoked positive emotions either. Maybe I’m just becoming cynical, but for a large portion of the movie, I just spent it watching with a straight face. It’s like 140 minutes long and it feels like that (maybe even more), and a lot of scenes in the middle are paced horribly. But then again, this main group of characters were pretty great. And I am especially looking forward to seeing more of Florence Pugh in the future… she was easily the best part of the movie. It’s probably not in the bottom five of the MCU, but it’s close. I’m giving Black Widow a 5.2/10. It was really nice going out to the theatre with my family again, and I hope to go to some more soon!
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Jahrelang war ich überzeugter Marvel-Ultra. Ich war. Dieser Film ist das perfekte Beispiel dafür, warum ich es so lange mit großer Freude sein konnte und warum ich es längst nicht mehr bin. “Black Widow” sieht ganz ordentlich aus (also der Film, ist klar), ist zumindest besser getrickst, besser ausgestattet und hat bessere Looks als man das aus dem Blockbuster-Kino sonst so kennt. Die Fightszenen sind verhältnismäßig bodenständig, ganz okay choreografiert und setzen vermehrt auf handfeste Faustkämpfe statt CGI-Krieg. Zumindest nehme ich all das einfach mal an, denn das in Actionsequenzen plötzlich einsetzende Schnittgewitter, das man sich in ruhigen Momenten noch verkneifen kann, macht die meisten Szenen unübersichtlich, dazu nimmt die wohl nahezu ausschließlich digitale Umgebung fast jedem Schlag seine Wucht. Die Action will “Captain America 2” sein, aber der Film wirkt eher wie die kleine, bei Familien-Fotoshootings gern auch mal vergessene Schwester, die von Oma immer 5€ weniger zugesteckt bekommt als alle anderen. Und trotzdem ist “Black Widow” - und das ist halt das Ding mit Marvel - besser als vieles, das ansonsten so im modernen Actionkino läuft, aber längst kein guter Film - das ist das andere Ding mit Marvel. Mittelmaß auf höchstem Niveau eben. Die Dynamik zwischen Natascha und ihrer verlorenen Familie fühlt sich real genug an, um die actionfreien Minuten ertragbar zu überbrücken, der ein oder andere nette Gag ist zumindest mal dabei, ehrlich emotional wird’s nicht, doch für Hollywood-Gefühlsduselei reicht’s. Ich mochte die Figur der Black Widow eigentlich immer ganz gerne, ihr erster eigener Film hat mich ihr nur leider kein Stück nähergebracht. Und mal ehrlich: Hat sich irgendwer aus dem Special Effects-Department Gedanken über die Feuereffekte gemacht? Da sieht sogar das Flammen-Emoji realistischer aus.
-Herding
By @trickstaz
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Black Widow is self-defeating, never committing to an idea. It wants to be a spy thriller centered around family drama, but that's confused by formulaic MCU tropes. Consequently, it evades real conflicts, underdevelops characters, and lacks growth. Its messages are sanitized, its plot is contrived, and everything amounts to pointless, boring filler. The acting has chemistry and there are vulnerable moments, but that's outweighed by a cliche climax and desensitizing action. Plus, there's no tension, little emotional repercussions, and plenty of telling rather than showing. Ultimately, Black Widow feigns themes, drama, and grit, but it's all a sterile illusion.
Technically, Black Widow is bland and generic. Its visuals use some lighting, movement, and focus, but it's mostly shaky, cluttered, and drab. The editing has weak momentum, a disjointed structure, and bloated action. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is forgettable, the production design is stale, and the excessive CGI is alien and ugly. Its sound has some split cuts, echoes, match cuts, and muffling, but remains mostly inconsequential. Still, the cast is recognizable and elevates the mediocre material. Overall, Black Widow clashes with itself, attempting incompatible tones, not integrating its action, and hollowing its messages. It's a big pile of nothing.
Writing: 4/10
Direction: 4/10
Cinematography: 5/10
Acting: 7/10
Editing: 5/10
Sound: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 5/10
Production Design: 5/10
Casting: 9/10
Effects: 7/10
Overall Score: 5.8/10
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