I’ve always felt that Black Widow deserved her own movie. This was one of the reasons I didn’t like the hype for Captain Marvel. Natasha Romanov, as an original Avenger, deserved the spotlight way before the superpowered heroine. Now though, after she got her due through her solo movie, seemed a little too late. The movie was good but it was bittersweet.

Synopsis: Taking place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Natasha is reunited with her “family” after her little sister, Yelena, who like her was trained to be an assassin by an organization called Red Room, seeks her help in freeing the other widows under the control of Dreykov.

It took me a while to watch Black Widow because it felt to me like a consolation prize for Scarlet Johansson who made the Black Widow such an integral part of the Avengers. I was really sad that while this movie was good and well executed, we could never truly celebrate it because of what happens to the character in Avengers: Endgame.

I liked Nat’s so called family. I loved Scarlet Johansson’s dynamic with Florence Pugh, as well as David Harbour and Rachel Weisz. I just saw Pugh on Midsommar and was really impressed by how she channels her vulnerability despite keeping a tough demeanor. I like how she moves with confidence even though she’s a bit on the short side. She’s got pluck, this young actress, and this translates well through the screen when she lands her wisecracks.

David Harbour was an absolute bear, all tough on the outside and all squishy inside. The way that he fumbles through his relationship with his “daughters” was pretty much the way he dealt with Eleven in Stranger Things, in a simpler scale. Rachel Weisz had me going for a bit but its a testament to her great acting skills that her character Melina keeps springing surprises.

Black Widow had a great message about women empowerment and free will. While women are not literally being controlled by some science experiment by men, there are still many who feel powerless because of societal norms and restrictions due to gender. Black Widow’s attempt to set parallels was a great way to empower young girls who will see this movie to show them that they deserve to make choices or themselves. There were so many powerful women in this movie and fleshing out their character to make them stand out was amazing.

Black Widow was rich in action, fun and excitement. It had great fight choreography and stunt work, even poking fun at Nat’s signature pose as the Black Widow. The cinematography and the CGI were also top notch.

If Marvel intended to give Nat some closure, it did the exact opposite. It endeared Nat even more to fans of the Marvel franchise, knowing what she went through as a child.

All in all, it was a powerful story but one that would have made a better impact had Disney not dilly dallied on greenlighting the movie and released it before the final two Avengers films. Natasha deserved better. And this movie simply twisted the knife deeper into our hearts.