After waiting nearly two years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back in theaters with “Black Widow.” The movie unfolds between “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” offering more insight into Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) background, including her early life before she was taken to the Red Room. It isn't a traditional origin story; instead, it reveals her history through a clever setup that introduces her "family" as sleeper agents in Ohio. They escape, and she and her sister are then handed over for conditioning and training. Since Natasha is evading authorities, she finds somewhere secluded in Norway to lay low. However, this peace doesn't last when a dangerous figure known as the Taskmaster appears, triggering a series of events. Natasha receives a package from her cover sister, Yelena (Florence Pugh), who also underwent Red Room training and has become an assassin since they last saw each other. Despite having complicated feelings about it, Natasha goes to Budapest and confronts Yelena, who reveals the package contains a substance that can free other Black Widows from the Red Room’s control—something Natasha insists is still active, along with the institute's leader whom she believed she had already eliminated. With Taskmaster and other Widows pursuing them, Natasha and Yelena are compelled to seek assistance from their former “father,” the imprisoned hero Red Guardian (David Harbour), and their cover mother, Melina (Rachel Weisz). Together they try to locate the new Red Room, free the Widows, and put an end to the program. What follows is a compelling story with good action sequences and effects, but at its heart it’s about Natasha trying to reconcile her surrogate family with her Avengers team while dealing with the trauma of her upbringing and training. Marvel wisely resisted calls from some to release the film on Disney+ last year when pandemic-related delays pushed back the planned release dates. This is a movie that needs to be experienced in a cinema, with an audience. Many attempts to adapt comic book heroes for film and television have fallen short over the years, disappointing fans of the comics. Marvel has consistently succeeded for more than ten years because they have a clear vision, cast well, and create characters who evolve over time. “Black Widow” effectively fills in a gap in the MCU timeline and also hints at future adventures; a post-credits scene connects two live-action Disney+ series, demonstrating that Marvel’s long-term plan integrates film and television projects. From the opening credits to the very end, “Black Widow” was an enjoyable and exciting blockbuster adventure that shows Marvel continuing to produce must-see event films. 4 stars out of 5

Source on TMDB