Film Review: "Black Widow" (2021).

From the studio the brought you Avengers: Endgame comes Black Widow. This superhero film directed by Cate Shortland, written by Eric Pearson, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and produced by Marvel Studios. It is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down. Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

In September 2010, while promoting the home media release of Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stated that discussions with Scarlett Johansson had already taken place regarding a Black Widow standalone film, but that Marvel's focus was on The Avengers (2012). Johansson reprised her role in that film, as well as five other MCU films. In February 2014, Feige said that after exploring Black Widow's past in Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film, which already had development work done for it. In April 2015, Johansson expressed interest in starring in a Black Widow film. Due to the development work already done, and the public support for a Black Widow film, Marvel ultimately decided that the best time to move forward with the project would be at the beginning of the "latest phase" of the MCU in 2020. In December, Jac Schaeffer was hired to the script. Several female directors such as Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Chloé Zhao, Amma Asante, Lynn Shelton, Lucrecia Martel, Maggie Betts were considered before Shortland was ultimately hired to direct in July. In February 2019, Ned Benson was hired to rewrite the script. By late May 2019, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, William Hurt, Ray Winstone and Olga Kurylenko rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, with a budget of $200 million, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early October under the working title Blue Bayou. Filming took place in Budapest and Etyek, Hungary; Møre og Romsdal, Norway; Oxfordshire and Surrey, England, UK; and Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California, USA. The film was originally scheduled for a May 1, 2020 release date. However, in mid-March, Disney removed the film from its release schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early April, Disney announced that the film would be set for a November 6, 2020 release date, and the rest of their Phase Four slate of films were shifted to accommodate this change. In September 2020, Disney pushed the release back again to May 7, 2021, followed by a third shift in March 2021 to July 9, 2021.

The film stars Johansson, Pugh, Harbour, Weisz, Hurt, Winstone and Kurylenko. The cast, led by Johansson, play their characters with dignity and have a lot of charisma.

Good Marvel formula, with some genuinely interesting twists and strong action, but a familiar and woke groove nonetheless.

Simon says Black Widow receives:

Also, see my reviews for Berlin Syndrome and Avengers: Endgame.