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Black Widow

Black Widow

2021

Cate Shortland

Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, David Harbour ...

5.6

19,188

Action. Thriller At birth the Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanova) is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action moves to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative. The standalone film will find Romanoff living in the United States 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"For fans of Black Widow and everyone else, this episode is great fun and Harbour could well ascend to spinoff greatness of his own (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Rosie Fletcher Den of Geek	"It’s action packed, yes, but it’s also very funny, emotionally nuanced, and a different flavour for Marvel (...) We have a 'Black Widow' film that does Natasha justice (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Eric Kohn IndieWire	"A solid beginning to the latest cycle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (...) The motion is fluid and tense, with closeups and sound effects that hurt"
		Andrew Webster The Verge	"[It] doesn’t reach the heights of the best Marvel has to offer. But at the very least it manages to carve out its own space (...) It offers up blockbuster action that’s almost comforting in its familiarity"
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"Scarlett Johansson invests the famous fighter with an interior power (...) The movie features just enough kinetic combat to give a mainstream audience that getting-your-money’s-worth feeling"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"[It] has muscular action sequences and humour (...) But despite the size of the spectacle, the picture feels minor by the standards of the franchise"
		Nick De Semlyen Empire	"It shouldn’t really have taken 11 years for the Widow to get her own standalone adventure. But thanks to some zesty new character dynamics and smart twists, Marvel have finally done her right (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"Shortland brings an unusual intensity and muscularity to the explosive, frequently airborne action. But as it progresses, 'Black Widow' doesn’t seem to be telling its own story so much as perfunctorily bridging the gaps between other stories"
		David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Directed by Cate Shortland with propulsive excitement, humor and pleasingly understated emotional interludes, this standalone proves a stellar vehicle for Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff"
		Ann Hornaday The Washington Post	"As gratifying as it is that Johansson has finally gotten the movie her character has long deserved (...) 'Black Widow' simultaneously feels like too much and too little (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"A fun, occasionally poignant globe-trotting adventure, one that puts a reliable character to good use and introduces—somehow rather organically—her replacement."
		Brian Truitt USA Today	"[It] finally does justice to Scarlett Johansson's secret agent Avenger (...) With 'Black Widow,' Marvel yet wins again on multiple fronts (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"The best aspects of 'Black Widow' echo the ‘70s spy movie tone of one of the best films in the MCU, 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' (...) [It] feels alive and original (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Nicole Clark IGN	"The result is a rare Marvel film that feels satisfyingly street level, in a Jessica Jones kind of way, while still playing with scale and classic superhero elements"
		Matt Goldberg Collider	"Her arc is painfully thin, and it makes 'Black Widow' feel more interested in the character as a brand to be continued than a hero that people, and especially women (...) could admire."
		Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"How unfortunate that we have two 'Ant-Man' films and soon will have a pair of 'Doctor Strange' flicks, but in all likelihood just a single 'Black Widow' (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Hoai-Tran Bui SlashFilm	"[It] comes off as a mostly serviceable spy thriller (...) A disappointing solo movie that ends up burying Natasha Romanoff once again."
		Brett White Decider	"'Black Widow' does exactly what a solo film should do: it takes what makes her unique and enriches it"
		Scott Mendelson Forbes	"Thanks to a convoluted and episodic screenplay and surprisingly muted and unsatisfying action, 'Black Widow' is deeply inferior to the genuine articles it's attempting to emulate."
		Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"'Black Widow' reminds us of the pleasure that can be offered by an MCU movie that isn’t having to do the legwork of setting up the next five chapters"
		Gabriella Geisinger Digital Spy	"[Pugh and Weisz] elevate what is otherwise standard Marvel fare (...) The emotional sucker punches land soft, rendering 'Black Widow' much less impactful than it could be (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Mae Abdulbaki Screen Rant	"The film has some of the best action sequences in recent memory (...) As far as performances go, Scarlett Johansson does the best she can with the material (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard	"A contender for funniest film of 2021. Mostly this is because Johansson is a comic genius"
		Jake Cole Slant	"This narrative isn’t terribly hard to follow, but in execution the film moves so haphazardly as to be bewildering (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"
		Chris Bumbray JoBlo	"Overall, I have to say - I had a total blast with 'Black Widow'. I think director Cate Shortland and her crew nailed it"
		Phil de Semlyen Time Out	"A superhero spy movie that sparks when Johansson and Florence share the screen (...) A few flaws keep 'Black Widow' a rung or two below top-tier Marvel, including a sluggish final act (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Peter Travers ABC News	"You've never seen a Marvel movie like 'Black Widow', and that's the point (...) It is best when it busts out of the Marvel mythology bubble to become a stirring, standalone tribute to female empowerment"

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