Black Widow (2021)

**This Is A Thrilling , Beautiful & VERY , VERY , VERY FUNNY Journey . . . BUT ALAS 😢 . . . It Will Of Course, -{ _INEVITABLY_ }- Be A " Short-Lived " One For S.J⚘. Welcome To The Age Of The Super🦸 ♀️ ANACHRONISTIC , Er , " Prequel "**
A "Good, Old Fashioned" **-{ _B I G_ }-** Screen Full Length Review .
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Yelena Belova : { about Natasha Rommanoff.. and in -JEST- } " ... You're such a _Poser_❗" ⬜⬜⬜⬜
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**1. " I Absolutely, Positively Loved It " :** And I'm going to say that right off the bat. For what it's worth, I actually had to go see Black Widow, ( 'B.W' for short ), -twice- as I wasn't able to catch the beginning the first time around . . & ended up appreciating it -{ So }- much more the second time ; because, being a person with a difficult past myself . . the -Superb- , Intricate, ( and often super - Hilarious 🤣🤣🤣 - ) drama between the lead characters -{ Really }- hit home for me. So much so . . . That inasmuch as ( - I - ) was concerned atleast, just about the -{ Only }- flaw with this film for me, if any, was the altogether "glaring" fact that it is now all but -Certain- . . . That we -{ Won't }- see Scarlett Johansson ( 'S.J' for short ) . . . Reprise her fascinatingly complex, and truly "Glorious" role as -{ _THE_ }- Black Widow. No spoiler here b.t.w ...this "Prequel"-movie's place in the overall 'M.C.U' ( Marvel Cinematic Universe ) timeline has always been made -{ CRYSTAL 💎 }- clear by 'MARVEL STUDIOS'... from the very Get-go. I invite you in earnest, { -Especially- if you're somewhat new to the whole "M.C.U-thing" }, to view one particular -Official- trailer by them, the one -still- entitled "New Trailer", ( YouTube, Apr.03, 2021 ), where the, 'rationale' ( -if you will- ) for B.W is explained, um, "Super"-well . . and is narrated by -none- other than, you guessed it, the "Hopelessly-Vivacious and yes, genuinely-Affable . . Ms. Johansson herself .
**2. " Loose Ends Are Tied Nicely " :** Here's a small { but undeniably significant } example. The 'aforementioned' Ms. Johansson's seemingly -{ "Random" }- & generally inexplicable "Suddenly-Blonde" hair in 'Infinity War' . . . . . { a look that frankly, I never -Could- quite warm up to at the time, having ...( along with Millions-&-Millions of -Other- 'M.C.U afficionados', I'm sure )... come to entirely -Adore- her trademark " Fiery Red-tresses Look 🔥 " , over the years } . . . . . Was " Finally " explained to us. Looking to the 'bigger' things : Basically, the picture filled in a -{ Whole }- bunch of gaps and 'story-holes' for me { that would often -totally- have me headscratching for "Answers" in the unbearably -Long- spells between each successive new ( & 'ever More Madly' ) anticipated "Massive" New Marvel-release. And it managed to -Achieve- this by essentially showcasing a "Wide", ( frankly ), and previously -Unknown- array of intertwined " Backstories 📚 " ...( not to mention giving us a satisfyingly -thorough- insight into the smattering of "badly damaged relationships left in the B.W's wake" )... that occurred -{ Well before }- & indeed, leading up to, her "very, very, very" high-priced and hard-won "Formal-entry Into Shield" { and concomitant defection from the Russian Secret Service, the 'F.S.B' ( formerly the 'K.G.B' ) }. Hence, a big, loud { " Kudos " } to the wonderfully gifted -Miz- Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson ( the story-writers ), as well as Eric Pearson ( the movie's screenwriter ) .
**3. " A Veritable -Explosion- . . . Of Talent " :** A HUGE 👊💥, HEARTY PAT on the back is -{ Completely }- in order for **CATE SHORTLAND,** the Australian Directress of this U.S.D 200 Million cinematic 'Powder-keg". Although she may have been "hitherto" -{ Relatively }- unknown to -many- , this tremendously accomplished native of Temora, New South Wales actually has, get this -{ Two Full Decades }- of both T.V, as well as Film direction Credits under her belt, with 2012's War-romance-drama 'Lore' being her highest earning movie to date ( until -Black Widow- of course, that is to say 😉 ). Not only has she very successfully managed to bring together a tremendously -Cohesive- Principal Cast just 'gushing' with absolutely -{ Stellar }- Talent, let's be clear ...( a quick, special "Mention-of-note" is altogether warranted here for the -Charmingly- bubbly & ever "tenacious" ( newcomer to -MARVEL- ) Florence Pugh, who well & truly excels in her portrayal of 'Yelena Belova' )... but the film-crew that she's "assembled" have -{ Also }- well & truly outdone themseves in -Every Single- aspect of the Production . . . With the mega-Stylistic & "Dazzling" fight choreography employed in the "Widows training scene", ( -trailers, also- ), featuring an F.S.B 'mini-battalion' of " Spectacularly Luminescent 🖲 " Black-&-Red clad 'elite Girl-assassins' . . . Being the one that stood out for me -{ Visually }- , more than -any- other, in the film. And last, but most definitely -Not- least ; a quick 'Special-mention' of the fact that the 5 -Individual- Russian accents performed by 5 of "most" important Principal actors, ( -each to its Very specific, varying degree- ), were pulled off, rather -{ "Immaculately" }- I might add, by 5 different actors from, well, -get this- **. . . . _the U.K, & the U.S.A_ { 👏❗ } .**
**SUMMATION : -{ JUST AS LONG }-** as you go and see Black Widow with a "Free and Open-mind", prepared to be _Really, Really_ -{ Entertained }- . In 'my-specific' case, the ( obvious ) "Anachronistic" aspect of said movie . . . -{ _D I D_ }- . . . in fact make the prospect of watching it ( in the days leading up to B.W's release ) feel a tad bit strange, if you will. However, once I was actually -{ in }- my seat, the -"fabulous, Even Bond-esque"- intro sequence started to work its 'Insta' magic on me . . . . and then . . . . when that ever familiar, ever Dramatic, and yes, ever -Beloved- Marvel theme roared through the massive cinema hall I was in, it all just "Snapped" into place . An -Unabashed- , "Explosive" **13.00 MARKS OUT OF 10.00 MARKS** From Me . Oh and yes, Scarlett Johansson, you will be " sorely , but Surely , & Dearly " . . . _M I S S E D_ . . . as " _T H E_ " Black Widow . **->-{ • W • O • W • }->- , "1 POST-CREDITS APPEARANCE" , AND 8 "FULL-BLOWN" STARRING ROLES LATER ( A WHOPPING -_NINE_- FILMS IN TOTAL ) . . . . WHAT A " _SPECTACULARLY MEMORABLE_ " JOURNEY IT'S BEEN ❤❗.**

Subpar Bond that believes it has emotional stakes isn't exactly a very winning formula. Far too much bad MCU banter to go with something that wants to be grounded and quite frankly none of the actors are quite adapt at those sitcomy whedonisms that these movies made mainstream (Pugh in particular is terrible at those bits). Some of the mid section action is better than average as far as those movies goes but anything with Taskmasker is very bad and the big end is terrible. Winstone villain made me miss when people like Lonsdale and Lee made lousy Moore Bond plots half watchable. The major limitation is that far too much of the emotional beats depend on what characters talk about their time together when they were a pretend family and altough Johansson and Pugh have good chemistry and Weisz and Harbour do as good job as possible under the circunstances of selling their regrets, there just isn't enough downtime between plot needs to anything of it truly land. I can get what Shortland was hoping to import into one of those but little actually works even with the benefit of a far more standalone movie than most of them. Also, strange how after a decade of postponing giving Johansson her movie, they did one in which she so often feels like a witness/connective MCU tissue for the main supporting characters family drama that they had to give her an extra subplot with her guilty over "killing" Winstone's daughter so it can feel like she has more material to work with. She is both the lead and the most extraneous part of her own movie