Narrow Gauge Reviews: Black Widow and the struggles of prequels

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The Black Widow film that came out two weeks ago joins the long list of iconic, beloved Marvel cinematic films, yet what appears to be a film that intends to engage in female empowerment struggles to hit the mark.

The film itself starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Cate Shortland serves as a prequel narrative into the Black Widow or Natasha Romanoff’s backstory taking place in the series just after Captain America: Civil War. Her avenger family in pieces at the end of Civil War leaves Natasha alone and wanted by the government, while off the grid she finds a bigger problem, one introduced to her in a package sent by her sister Yelena cast as Florence Pugh. Now on a mission to stop the notorious Red Room she must join forces with Yelena and others who want to destroy it as well. The Red Room is a secret Soviet-Russian program tasked with turning young women into deadly spies or Black widows.

Despite the film being about the very spy cell that created her, Natasha’s character struggles to claim a solid spot in her film, as she drowns in a plot more centered around a broken family than to free the widows under mind control. Natasha and the widows should be the primary focal points of the film yet it falls into the background. Becoming another Marvel quest to introduce more plots for future films. Black Widow showcases the adrenaline-rushing mechanics of action cinema instead of what could have been a strong story showing a character’s struggle with her past. In some ways, the movie felt lackluster especially in terms of a prequel for a character whose past still remains largely a mystery. None of Natasha’s ruthless, cold-blooded killer attitude fans thought she had was showcased even though a prequel is an opportunity to contain these elements.

Even though the film struggles to develop a strong narrative it still had that Marvel comedic charm which made it nonetheless a fun and enjoyable film to watch.

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