‘Black Widow’ has issues, but offers a fun adventure with an old friend

Posted on July 16, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

“Black Widow,” the 24th film in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), was originally set to hit theaters in late April 2020. Thanks to COVID-19, that obviously didn’t happen. Now, 15 months later, the film has finally arrived, debuting in theaters, as well as at home via the Disney+ streaming service (for a $30 premium charge).

With the long wait now over, I found “Black Widow” to be an enjoyable romp with a favorite character, although it is admittedly one of the MCU’s smaller films, at least in scope and overall stakes. That is necessary due to the fact that the movie is the MCU’s first true prequel, but also because it follows one of the Avenger’s most mortal members — albeit a very talented, dangerous one.

While it doesn’t provide any earth-shattering revelations or dramatically change the MCU, it does give us our best glimpse yet into the history of Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

However, since fans have been waiting so long, expectations may overshadow what the film was always intended to be. In that, I’d compare “Black Widow” to “Solo” in the “Star Wars” franchise, an intentionally smaller film in a series of larger-scale adventures. However, while “Solo” floundered due to numerous flaws unrelated to its scale, “Black Widow” mostly succeeds by telling an interesting story and introducing us to a whole cadre of compelling characters — if you don’t count the villain.

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