Film: Black Widow

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It’s been a while since we last went to the cinema (December, last year, when we saw Wonder Woman 1984). That visit was to the local Odeon, but it’s been even longer (August, 2020 – almost a year) since we went to the shinier, newer, Cineworld, here at Rushden Lakes to see Christopher Nolan’s mind-boggling Tenet.

Today, we’d pre-booked the 2D, 2.50pm performance of Marvel’s latest blockbuster: Black Widow. the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film series – and it was good to be returning! 👍👍

I say latest blockbuster, but this Marvel ‘origin story’, was actually due for release last May! Since then, its rollout has been delayed three times. Thanks Covid!!! ☹️

We picked up Jo and Janet just before 2pm as that would give us a bit of breathing space for Janet to drop into the Wildlife Centre, and for us to (sign-in and then) plug-in to take advantage of the Lakes’ free EV charging. We needn’t have bothered with the latter as the Lakes were heaving! Hardly a parking space to be found – and no charging bays available either, as they were all full too! 😠

Our favourite Cinema

Actually, going out to see a film still felt like a real treat, and Cineworld always feels extra special. The film has been out for a few weeks now, so I suspected, we were one of the last to see it. It certainly felt like it, judging by the empty seats when we arrived! 😯

Squeeze us in?
How much?

Now that the ‘House of Mouse’ own Marvel Studios, we could have, instead, streamed it at home via Disney+ (a first in the UK) for £19.99, but there’s nothing like the ‘big screen’ is there? Nerdy fact: Disney netted $60m on the opening weekend via the Disney+ app, prompting some are blaming this strategy on a poor cinema attendance.

THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT

Starring Scarlett Johansson as the titular hero Natasha Romanoff and directed by Cate Shortland, it was finally here on the big-screen, and as a self-confessed MCU fan, I knew I was in for a treat! Marvel fans will not need reminding that chronologically, the film follows the timeline between 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War – both Phase 3 – although because of the film’s three postponements, it’s become the first film in MCU’s Phase 4 release schedule.

Co-stars Florence Pugh (as Yelena Belova), Ray Winstone (Dreykov), Rachel Weisz (Melina) and David Harbour (Alexa) ALL did a great job in supporting roles, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Yelena Belova character re-appears in later MCU adventures. Full cast list is HERE

I wouldn’t worry too much about the plot – it’s pretty simplistic (bad guy tries to control the world!) but that leaves more brain-cells free to enjoy the stunts and the amazing special effects. In other words: Marvel Studios at their best!!! 😀

Verdict

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Excellent! Even though it has a running time of over two hours (134 minutes), it never felt like it, with plenty of action delivered scene after scene. Think of the Jason Bourne or the Bond franchises, but with added spandex! 👍👍

And if you’re not really into Marvel and/or all this superhero stuff in general, it works pretty well as a standalone spy movie.

The fate of our heroine is old news these days, but it didn’t spoil the narrative; if anything, adding to the significance of Black Widow’s final appearance in Marvel’s 2019: Avengers: Endgame.


Oh, and don’t forget to stick around for the now-familiar Marvel-post-credits scene. It’ll reintroduce a character last seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and leave you scratching your head about another Marvel character.


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