Sorry this is even later than I anticipated. Lot's of delays from behind the scenes and I'm in the process of moving and getting a new place. BUT I have the legwork started on two other videos right now so hoping to have a couple more out over the next week.
6:36 when I went to see Black Widow in theatres, I was seated next to a family with a four year old kid. When we got to this scene, I looked over at them and the mom was covering her son’s ears.
@@tonytrafalgar4401 the only potential rub would be that it would need to be a high PG-13 - if not hard R rating - to really get across the horror of their situation. I don't know if I trust Disney to do justice to the horrific treatment of these young girls.
This movie definitely should have been released prior to Endgame, since it didn't really feel like a send off for Natasha. However, it's worth watching for Nat and Yelena's sisterly relationship, and Scar Jo's final hurrah in the MCU!
I thought the exact same thing. There was no immediate danger in being we knew Natasha didn't die. So the fight scenes were cool but I knew she'd be ok.
@@lindseywilliams9411 I distinctly remember at the end with the Red Room being destroyed and the Widows beating up Nat and her running away from the explosions after waiting for the data download that the one time I felt like, "Oh she might actually be in serious danger," I immediately remembered that she had to survive simply because we know she doesn't die until Endgame. After that, I was just mentally criticizing how she was able to stay alive through the rest of the finale.
@@lindseywilliams9411 There's no danger for ANY hero in their solo movie??? I don't see that as a flaw. Plus this movie introduces new characters who aren't in Endgame, giving it a ton of value within the MCU going forward.
I’m still mad we didn’t have a funeral for Nat, the gravestone is ok, but tony got a freaking funeral with all the avengers and they did dirty to Nat. I thought we were getting the funeral at least in the post-credits.
There was no emotions to her death. Everyone was just told to "look sad" and that's it. Her death felt emotionless and Tony's death felt meaningless and forced.
I definitely wanted a Black Widow/Hawkeye buddy cop style movie like 10 years ago. If that movie existed, this movie would be a totally great follow up.
Plus, if they made a Nat/Clint buddy cop style for her origin story, they could include a scene that shows how they met or their earlier missions together, and they could have a part in the movie that explains "what happened in Budapest" to give a humorous nod to Avengers 1.
I think a perfect 3 movies that could have happened for Black Widow was the first one being about her childhood and her whole experience in the Red Room and the movie ends with how she left. Then that sets up for the 2nd movie with her time with shield, how she got into Shield and her relationship with Hawkeye gets to be explored and he also gets a bit of backstory. That movie ends leading up to whatever other movies is next in that timeline. This movie in particular could have been the third movie after the events of Civil War then that leads into Infinity War. I think that would have been a perfect Trilogy for Black Widow.
I really liked that the histerectomy part of the red room was played like a violation of their autonomy and not the "im a monster because no kids" joss bullshit
@@directorforplastic7929 she clearly was saying that, but because it was in the same conversation as her telling Bruce she couldn't have kids, many people felt it had those undertones.
@@directorforplastic7929 I thought she implied the two things together make her less than human. Otherwise why even mention it. She could have just referenced her ledger and not even bring up infertility.
I think if this had come out right after Civil War it would've had a much better reception. Black Widow is such a beloved character by the end of End Game and this movie feels like an afterthought.
Also: there are *zero* stakes whenever Natasha is fighting, so the last couple fight scenes are kind of wasted because we *know* that Natasha goes on to participate in Infity War and End Game.
I also kind of feel like her death would have hit harder in Endgame if all we had to go on was that end credit where we know she died somehow that involved Clint. And then watching him go off the deep end in Endgame after his family and we would have just been waiting for him to do it, only for them to fight each other to sacrifice themselves 😭
It makes sense considering we already know where she ended up. Why develop a character that is already dead? Which is another reason we should have been given her movie(s) years ago.
Someone said on Twitter this movie feels like a Black Widow sequel rather than like a first/origin movie. Honestly, it does feel like a movie like Thor 2, Iron Man 3, and Captain America 2 where the characters are already established and are already making reference to what happened after the Avengers teamed up. This should have been a phase 3 Black Widow Sequel. Not a movie playing catch up for a dead character.
Omg yes! I honestly hoped this movie would be about her time in the red room. That we would get to see her training, all hits she did as Black Widow, meeting Barton, and getting out. The movie honestly felt like it started medias res, a continuation of a story we already know well.
The Bad News: This movie came out years later than it should have The Good News: Now there's even more reason to tell people to watch in chronological order.
@@silver9wolf6 I only watched Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, the 1st Iron man, the 1st Thor, the 1st guardian of the galaxy and this black widow movie on theater. The fact that they all are connected make me wanna try Avengers and captain America too
I actually think 2020 would have been the right year for this to come out, had that been an option-- but as the sequel to the first movie Natasha should have had, the one actually showing her time in the Red Room, and her defection to SHIELD.
Dude you can’t even start to imagine how annoying the “Russian accent” is to Russians. And Florence accidentally said one phrase in perfect Russian and that was the twistiest plot twist in the movie
I don’t get why they don’t just hire actors who already speak fluent Russian and have a natural Russian accent? Is there any reason why they don’t just hire actors who are Russian? Seems like the easiest solution to me
The reason the movie took so long was because of the open secret called, Isaac Perlmutter. He was the CEO who was notably racist and sexist, and was apart of most of Marvel's biggest behind the problems, like me why Black Widow, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel weren't made sooner with merch (Widow was suppose to come out after Iron Man 2 or at least after Avengers 1. By the time he was kicked out, Marvel had already made so many plans that they were placed so late. It's unfortunate, Marvel is slowly making up for these shortcomings, but man, did that man hinder the studio for years.
i hope they realise how much money they lost to this. fads like twilight and bieber/kpop show that the female demographic is a goldmine, and black panther was a huge hit. companies should realise that they shouldn't be led by prejudiced old creeps.
Clearly Yelena was snapped because if she wasn't Nat and her would have had those 5 years together and gotten closer where Yelena would know that Hawkeye is like a brother to Natasha and would never do anything to hurt her.
I loved the way they portrayed real world female problems, like not having pockets in them or the fact when your in a bad mood people (usually men) immediately assume it’s because of periods. It’s like an inside joke that is a funny gag to begin with but just makes it funnier. The third act seemed to comic booky run of the mill superhero but hey it’s a mcu film
Tbh, I think Disney learned not to touch the MCU after they literally killed star wars. Something that noone thought was even possible. I think mcu movies are gonna be more and more hands off.
I suspect that Yelena having a feud against Clint will quickly fizzle out when he is unsatisfyingly (for her anger) completely willing to let her beat him down however much she feels he deserves the moment he realizes her connection to Nat and that that's what she's there for, and that makes Yelena realize that something fishy's going on with this assignment. Dude already agrees that he's the one who should have died there, Nat's grieving sister appearing to punish him for her death isn't going to _lessen_ his survivor's guilt.
This bugged me. Hawkeye is one of the heroes and so is Yelena now, and Civil War proved that Marvel only have the stomach to go so far (just like that movie, this is really just going to be a misunderstanding). So the threat of this confrontation feels stillborn to me.
yeah that scene wont have any payoff at all. most of the fans would love if Yelena killed him anyway so what? all of this movie to present Yelena just so she can beat up Clint for a while and then become friends with him. just felt like a waste of time
@@letguelere1102 “most of the fans would love it if Yelena killed Clint” This did not age well. Also those “fans” were mostly just rabid and vocal Nat stans on social media.
Yes! I'm sick and tired of people saying Yelena is the only good thing about this movie. She is definitely one of the best parts of the movie but definitely not the only good thing.
WAIT as someone who literally doesnt gaf about the MCU as a franchise only about individual peices, They literally killed black widow before she even got her own movie what the actual fuck
As someone who gives too many fucks about the MCU as a franchise, you are absolutely correct about this being a what the actual fuck. If you pay attention to Nat's storyline throughout the last 15 years she's an incredibly integral part of the Avengers and she got done so dirty.
I heard the guy who was in charge before who is no longer with the company didnt think female super hero movies would sell well and changed their mind after Wonder Womans success
@@kingofnara Ike perlmutter is the person you’re thinking of, and he didn’t change his mind they fired him. Good riddance I say, but I wish it happened earlier so that this movie could have started production earlier
I don’t know if anyone has pointed this one out yet, but Yelena calls her dog Fanny... which was the name on the fake ID Mason got Natasha early in the movie. I thought it was a nice touch... =)
@@kellyc7902 it’s a very “blink and you’ll miss it” thing, isn’t it? But I thought it was a very sweet little moment... (it made it to the Brazilian Portuguese subtitles, so I guess we heard it right 😂)
don't make a movie where you do the same thing as florence pugh, and have her do it right next to you, because you will fade into the background of your own movie 👀
Taskmasters dad saying it’s disgusts him to look at her and her first words after being released from mind control being “is he gone?” Really hit me hard
The joke about the god from space not needing an ibuprofen after a fight would be even funnier if Black Widow wasn't seemingly invincible in this movie. She brushes off so much physical trauma with no issues that I'm not even sure how she managed to die in Endgame. :D
@@Historyglobal1220 If it's not mentioned in the movies then it doesn't count. The MCU is a separate canon to the comics, with characters and storylines being changed to fit the movies better.
I thought it would have been appropriate to say to that line something like 'only two barrels of ale', but probably joking with another character's dependence on alcohol is not that great. XD Also, Thor was technically not an alcoholic until after Infinity War. Anyway, it would have been nice if Natasha had something to say to that, because it's her movie, and it would have been great if they emphasize how the enhanced characters have their flaws too and it's probably not the biggest issue to take an ibuprofen after a fight.
@@Historyglobal1220 I get it, but it should’ve been explained much more in the movies. We can’t keep reading through tons of comics just to clarify these small issues.
I love Pugh but this film should've been entirely about Nat's character. It's so obvious Marvel used this film to set up Yelena to take Nat's place that it took away a lot of the spotlight from Nat's character. Like, they gave all of the best lines and put in much more effort in Yelena's character development than Nat's and it shows. Nat's performance here is no different than all her performances in other Marvel films when she should've been shining here.
I think you meant Infinity War or Homecoming. Though they could have released it instead of Captain Marvel and used the end credit scene for End Game and made Captain Marvel earlier. As it was, they shot Captain Marvel's End Game scenes before making her standalone movie and the character had not been fully developed by the time they were filming.
I agree with RLM's review. The villain played by Ray Winstone is a cross between Harvey Weinstein, with the big casting couch, and Martin Scorsese, with the same hairstyle and big glasses.
2 things I expected and didn't get from the movie: - seeing more of nat's training when she was young (I really wanted that) - the Budapest mission (it would have made sense) Apart from that, I really enjoyed the movie, and I agree with everything you said
Can we also say that they put only one russian actress Olga Kyrelenko in the costume with a mask, with no lines and stunt double being Taskmaster for almost all of the scenes?
I mean it's a bit annoying yes and most of the Russian spoken in the show (even by background characters, they could've easily found a real native speaker for that) is just horrible in pronunciation. There's also a scene when Yelena is in the medical room where the subtitles don't really match what the voice is saying which is funny. But I would say it's moving in the right direction these days. At least they don't mess up the labels and (almost) don't portray Russia in typical Hollywood propagandist manner lol. Hope we can get some Russian actors soon too and would love to see our Slavic culture explored a bit more.
Right? I was really looking forward to finally getting some slavic representation and a little bit of slavic culture/ traditions but there wasn't almost none (well there is Scarlet J. with polish heritage and Olga K. but that's it + the Russian accents and weird pronunciation in some scenes were like 🙄)
That opening sequence with the kids was one of the best sling of scenes I’ve seen in any film, culminating into Natasha protecting Yelena in this heartbreaking panic attack where we find that she was already in training herself, didn’t want that for Yelena, and it still happened. It still hurts.
It kinda sucks that literally all from Black Panther were the claws she shot out at the beginning of the final fight, and I think a few kicks, but I freaked out when she used TWS's Knife Skills.
It almost felt like the movie wasn't confident enough in making Dreykov and mind controlled Widows the only antagonists so they threw in Taskmaster at the last second to make a more direct (and personal) threat for Natasha. It just sucks because they added nothing to the story at all. You could remove them and the events of the story would basically play out the exact same way. Still an enjoyable movie overall, but it's a shame that MCU writers keep making these types of mistakes with their villians.
@@sleepysera Ehhhhhh it barely comes up much in the movie and was resolved painfully easy with minimal effort. Plus it just makes the whole thing somewhat of a rehash of Steve and Winter Soldier so its not really worth much since Nat is already extremely guilty of everything she's already done for the Red Room.
I think it's interesting how you mention that Hawkeye didn't really need his own movie in the beginning because of his smaller role. Because had a theoretical Black Widow movie been made back in phase 1 it could've been about the Budapest mission thus introducing him better than his random practically cameo intro back in the first Thor movie. And it actually would have made lines like the "Barton's been compromised" line a little more impactful to audience since we would've actually known his character a little more.
What I thought walking out of the theater. This is gonna be a gay awakening movie for a lot of women. Also I need to be attacked by 20 assassin ladies.
I personally think Red Guardians "Fake" history with Captain America is true but it took place in Captain America's new timeline after he went back to live his life in Endgame
But travelling back in time doesn't change the past based on Endgame's time travel rules. So this would only work if "Black Widow" is taking place in a different timeline to the rest of the MCU.
@@theomegajuice8660 Captain America lived out the rest of his life in the past. All of the MCU now takes place in a different timeline to the rest of the MCU.
@@theomegajuice8660 Timelines and time travel and all that really don't make any sense. The TVA was pruning alternative timelines, so how the fuck could there have been an alternate timeline for Captain America to live in? Fuck it.
It's so interesting how people's opinions on this movie differ. I've heard a lot of "It's really weak" and "Taskmaster is terrible" and all that stuff. I quite enjoyed it, but - like most people - I would have preferred to see the "real" Black Widow movie years ago.
Am i the only one who wanted taskmaster to still try to kill her even after the she was cured? Like i would still be mad if you blew me up, Im sorry isn't going to cut it. Also did they ever explain how the buy survived the building blowing up?
Yeah that’s valid actually. Originally I was like “I guess she was just more grateful to be free of him”. But then I realised the only reason she needed freeing was because of nat
It honestly would have been epic if she had free will and hated Natasha and worked with her dad, it would have also made Dreykov less one dimensional, because he would actually show care for another human being, and show actual emotions.
@@Ethan-nl2wg or hell, have the explosion actually kill Dracov and have is daughter take over the red room as taskmaster. Make her the an opposite of Natasha.
@@matman329 Uh, that sounds _awesome._ Like, everyone thinks (and Yelena tells Natasha) that Drakov survived the explosion and continued his work - except he didn't, and Natasha thought she destroyed the Red Room because she _did._ But his daughter survived, and came back to take control of all the sleeper agent widows and restart the program using Drakov's identity, and using the 'Taskmaster' identity to do field work when necessary.
2 things: 1. I think Cap rescued her from the prison, when he rescued the others at the end of Civil War. 2. I keep wishing a youtuber/creator would mention the several times they hinted that Nat was enhanced in the film, like seeing the girls being experimented on in the beginning montage and some dying, and her talking to Drakov (as Melina) about how nat had been injected with needles during her time in the red room. Not to mention her falling from a ten story building and landing on her feet lol.
Nat was never in the prison. Remember, she was on team Iron Man at first and she changed sides later when she stopped T'Challa from catching Steve and Bucky. And while everyone else on team Cap were arrested, she was at the hospital with Tony since Rhodey was injured. She probably went into hiding after their conversation/confrontation in the hospital.
@@meghnagoel6766 i'm talking about at the end of the BW movie, when she was taken into Ross' custody. She was likely put in the Raft with the others and broken out when Steve came. At the end of Civil war, they never specify how quickly Steve rescued them. It could have been after the events of BW
This movie wasn’t named after Nat, it was named after Yelena, the Black Widow. It was her origin story moreso than a story about Nat. Nat got stuck with a supporting role AGAIN. It was a fun enough movie, but I think it’s funny how they managed to make her a supporting character in a movie that was supposed to be hers.
I really liked this film, but I didn’t understand the whole “you’ll understand Nat in Endgame” via this movie and I felt super dumb because I didn’t really get it. As an aside - I really loved that Yelena’s costume wasn’t skin tight.
They did Tony Masters dirty, reducing his 'photographic reflexes' to a high-tech suit. His abilities come with a bit of a tragic side effect: He can copy the movements of anyone he sees, but doing this overwrites his own memories. At one point he lost all memories of his wife. He'll always be the one and only Taskmaster.
I've noticed a lot of male commentary bemoaning the mind control plot from Dreykov but I thought it was a pretty obvious allegory for the abuse and possession of the female body by men in power. Was it clumsy? Of course it's a Marvel movie, subtlety is not what they're going for, but I thought it was creepy and had horrific implications. Yes it can only imply because of The Mouse, but it's still there. I think I would've liked a little more of Dreykov throughout but ultimately I think he worked and so did the plot.
@@archer1949 And even if they want to keep the female version, there's a good in-universe explanation for her lack of personality that she was mind controlled. Next time we see her she could be back with the usual personality and swagger, just as a woman rather than a man.
Doesn't Tony Masters not even have much character though? I'm pretty sure he's just a cool badass bounty hunter that can somehow mimic actions perfectly, and the only time we've seen his face is from a flashback comic showing him as a child.
Ya I was excited to look at reviews after watching it last night and was disappointed in all the reviews I saw. Like, there were definitely some flaws and it came too late but it was solid marvel blockbuster and an enjoyable ride.
Black widow has a 81 critics and a 92 audience score in RT.... its only the click hungry RUclips reviewers that more than often cater to the Fandom menace that skews their reviews to be more edgy for more clicks.
I really enjoyed this movie solid 8 out of 10 I liked the Taskmaster twist it works in the context of this movie it's literally her past coming back to haunt her and she has to confront her I liked it but hopefully in the future we will get a more comic accurate Taskmaster kinda how we are getting the real Mandarin in Shang Chi
Came for Yelena, stayed for Yelena. This was honestly one of the only movies I've watched where I was more excited about the supporting cast than the protagonist. I love Natasha, but considering that this came out after Endgame, it felt way too late and I had a feeling her story wasn't going to be as much of a focus. Sad that it's partly true.
... big ass nope. Not because I am against WLW romance, which I am not, but because Yelena is canonically asexual and heavily implied to be aromantic as well. So... yeah. Not gonna take away aro-ace rep.
I enjoyed the movie. The family dynamics were amazing and I adored Yelena, I get why they may not have given Natasha everything she deserved because she's dead and they want to move forward. A Black Widow 10 years ago would've been good. Side note though: that Smells Like Teen Spirit cover absolutely slapped and I loved how often they shift into speaking Russian.
I think Alexei *did* fight Cap. ...Or some sort of Cap. Someone else with the Cap mantle, or something time-y wimey, or something variant Multiverse of Madness thing, or a Secret Invasion Skrull. He seemed to genuinely believe he fought Cap and whether he did or not it could be expanded on.
I felt a little weird about how all the widows and the daughter were just, like, automatically on their side after being freed. I mean, there has to be some level of conditioning there beneath the mind control, right? Surely they wouldn’t just instantly be like, so chill about it all. I also wished we got more espionage stuff, but all in all yeah I really liked this movie. I liked Yelena so much more than I was expecting to, if she’s Nat’s successor and basically becomes the Avenger’s new Widow I am 100% on board with that. Not sure if they’re going that route with her, but I hope they do. In addition to just being really cool, she’s got such a charm to her that somehow just feels really authentic
as someone who recently saw Agent Carter what I'd have loved to see it Dotty be from the early stages of the red room, to show how far the red room had come, that would have been really cool to have that small reference so you can get a gadge on how long the red room has been around and how overtime they evolved and changed their craft
I kinda like that they didn't show us everything of her backstory for two reasons 1. she was already in the thick of it when she was a small child. To tell her story, you'd have to just show her entire life from birth. That would be a bad movie 2. she doesn't talk about her past! She isn't the type to info-dump her whole history onto people. Telling her backstory in this way feels like an accurate reflection of her personality. but yeah, we should have gotten this movie before she died
Rewatching the film, I realised that the last dinner in Ohio foreshadowed their reunion. They are seated in exactly the same positions. Alexei and Yelena leave the table first, leaving Nat and Melina facing each other. Also, it stands to reason that Yelena would get a replacement vest for herself. It would be hilarious if this became a running gag in future films, where she pulls super random stuff out and it becomes unexpectedly useful in tight situations.
I honestly don't love what they did with Taskmaster in this movie I feel like they could've used Adaptoid and accomplished the same thing since instead of being a trash talking assassin they just turned them into a mindless drone for the Red Room, when the character used to be so much more than that
I remember when I saw the movie in the cinema, soo many people were disappointed by the post-credit scene instead of being hyped like in all previous Marvel movies. Like, there was literally a woman sitting next to me who loudly exclaimed 'I waited extra minutes after the movie's end for fucking Hawkeye?' and I've heard other folks saying the same while we were leaving the cinema lol.
It also pissed me off how Valentina (that’s her name right?) was being a complete bitch while Yelena was mourning. Like we waited and joe talking about how Nat didn’t get a funeral but when we get something similar to it, it gets ruined by this bitch. Wtf?
Ike Perlmutter made it clear he did not think women would sell toys. He's gross and I wish he would leave but little by little we will get a more balanced field.
I saw what I thought was a really good point get brought up on another video about Black Widow, which is that Malina basically never really gets called out by Yelena or Natasha for her complicity in all the pain Drakov's organization has caused. Obviously she sides with them to bring the Red Room down, but even so, that seems like a substantial aspect of the story to gloss over. Not that Alexei is innocent or anything, but he's been rotting in prison for years, while Malina was working with the man who had Yelena enslaved up to like a month ago.
"Should we explore this disturbing family dynamic through Yulena played by an incredible upcoming actress who is clearly going to play a big role in future projects for our third act?" "Nah I think a generic cgi action scene would be better." Who is making these decisions!
The studio. They have mandates for how many action scenes and when, and often those are pre-visualised before a script is even finished on a project of this size. Moreover, it's not likely that the action is Kate Shortland's. Another female director refused the job because Marvel told her "don't worry about the action scenes, we'll have people do them for you".
I think a good way to explain how Nat escaped from Ross at the end would be from a call back from earlier in the movie where they talked about cutting a deal. Since no one was able to find Dreykov's redroom she probably cut a deal with Ross and gave him all the info on Dreykov and not go public if Ross let her go. And Ross probably took all the credit for catching Dreykov.
I really like how all the pieces of her backstory mesh with the information we get on the red room from the agent carter show, with the character of Dotty.
Hoped it would be a bit more grounded & more in line with say.. the recent Mission Impossibles or even John Wick, i.e; over the top but where punches feel like they actually hurt. Instead it was more in line with the Vin Diesel xXx films. Great cast though! Florence killed it as Yelena. 🔥
Same, imo the last bit went too big unnecessarily...I enjoyed it overall but I was definitely hoping for a more grounded story after all of the flashiness from the other movies
Honestly would've liked it so much more if they had gone the MI or John Wick route. Would make Black Widow stand out against the rest of the MCU and her superhero counterparts.
@@ultrabigfella LMAO he's got a literal bionic arm with super strength. Not exactly just your run of the mill agent, nor is he a woman. But here, lemme rephrase this so you understand: I wanted a FEMALE character that was badass with just her own skills and to have the movie centered around her. Unlike Captain Marvel, which was just pandering garbage and shouldn't have been the first female led MCU film.
I do love a repeating motif in a film score too, especially when it notifies 'an act of heroism' or more simply, whenever each character appears on screen and they have their own motif or theme. Sometimes the completion of a mission/task uses the title theme's motif which you recognise subconsciously to know it is the conclusion (or to fool you into thinking the mission is complete but it's not) or motifs are repeated when anyone expresses a certain emotion which is a key theme of the film-this is definitely one more for your subconscious!
The issue with taskmaster besides the fact that it's a man in the suit for all the scene except for 5mins at the end , the part should have been a played by a very young girl in the suit not a 40yo woman . When Nat did the bombing, the girl who becomes taskmaster was about 8 and the film takes place around 10 years later, it should have been a teen in the suit . THE other issues, RACHAEL WEISS character did some really heinous shit , and just because she was once a widow does not excuse that .THEN the stupidest thing besides from Ray Winstone's acting the hole pheromone plot, and Nat making that stop by bashing her head on a desk , that was moronic.
I think the casting of Rachel & Florence was perfect & DEFINITELY knew their audience when casting those two. Just as Nat had a huge part in my own discovery of my sexuality I'm more than positive that this movie will have a huge impact on younger girls. I so wish this came out after Civil War... but this is easily in my top 5.
The only thing that bothered me a little is how absolutely no one hold Melina accountable for all she did Like okay she went through a lot and all, but she is not even the one who came up with the antidote ? Can we please be a little mad at her 😭
I agree, what she did was terrible but everyone was fine with it in the end. She didn't even seem guilty about it, she was proud about it when she demonstrated it on the poor pig. I think this character was actual a villain in the comics, and for me it would have been better if she was the villain in the movie too. But no, can't have a woman as a villain cause women can do no wrong and are always victims, better have a gross old man instead.
100% agree! That movie I felt was so late to the game it felt out of place a little. But I loved it. The only other gripe I had was there was a lot of oh that was convenient moments to the movie but it was a great watch!
Cruella is good if you pretend it's an original movie, bur it's terrible as an villain movie. If you changed her hair, name and dogs race, nothing would have changed.
@@AmandaTheJedi oh, I could see that. But my opinions tend to align with yours, so it is probably a safe bet. (Cruella was my first movie theater experience since the pandemic, tho, so would be hard to surpass that)
I watched the movie today and I loved it! But my best friend and I were also discussing that we wished that's the movie would've been out before Endgame ... And I am gay for Yelena and Melina.
As always, love your reviews and humor! Don't worry about late uploads, I would honestly watch whatever you review, new or old. You have the ability to even make stuff I don't follow turn out to be interesting coz of your commentary!
My theater burst out into painful and awkward laughter once the end credit scene ended. We enjoyed the movie but the best part was the reaction. The person next to me started saying "But he actively tried to save her. Nat mentioned they were friends. I don't understand" I did enjoy the movie though
@@tigamaki1345 yes but during the movie Natasha mentions that Clint saved her and helped her So why would Yelena have any reason to think Clint killed her?
That last scene of Natasha walking towards the quinjet made me so emotional cause you just know even though it’s a few years away, she’s walking right to her death.
I will never forgive this movie for what they did to my boy Taskmaster. This was worse than IM3 Mandarin twist. Yelena was EXCELLENT though and casting Florence Pugh was one of Marvel’s best decisions
Dracov was right about one thing, what _could_ Nat say to Antonia? She knew she was getting a little girl killed. Antonia being cool with Nat was weird to me but also, Taskmaster being Dracov's daughter felt just as weird.
why no one talks about that scene where Natasha was making fun of her friend for mispronouncing Budapešť when even she had problem with saying it. lmao🤦🏻♀️
I’m so salty this came out now. I would’ve been way more willing to pay good money to watch this back circa early 2010’s. Between being salty at ScarJo and salty with Marvel for how they killed her… I’m gonna watch it, I just wish it came sooner.
I’ve had respect for marvels casting director since I found out she started her casting career with she’s the man, and casting pugh as yelena even further solidifies my respect 😂
I think I liked it more than a lot of people did because I had absolutely zero expectations coming in. I do hope they bring in the real comic accurate Taskmaster in the future.
There is also one more call back. When Nat and Yelena saved Alexei, he is so proud that they killed many people he says "your legger must be dripping, gushing red" (from what I remember, might be a little different sentence) And that's a call back to Avengers when Nat spoked to Loki to get information out and they talked about her ledger and Loki said: "Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red" I love when they make call backs like this ❤️
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Sorry this is even later than I anticipated. Lot's of delays from behind the scenes and I'm in the process of moving and getting a new place. BUT I have the legwork started on two other videos right now so hoping to have a couple more out over the next week.
No worries, Amanda, thanks for treating us with this video! Speaking of Marvel Content, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Loki! 😍🖤
It's okay, you won't get tens of thousands of dislikes like the redlettermedia video :^^)
i would like you to hear your thoughts on lua vermelha
Great review
6:36 when I went to see Black Widow in theatres, I was seated next to a family with a four year old kid. When we got to this scene, I looked over at them and the mom was covering her son’s ears.
I watched this movie with my dad and our consensus was "better than we thought, but it should have been entirely about her time in the Red Room"
Exactly my thoughts. I don't know why they decided to not focus on her past, at least a little, it would have made the movie so much better
@@tonytrafalgar4401 the only potential rub would be that it would need to be a high PG-13 - if not hard R rating - to really get across the horror of their situation. I don't know if I trust Disney to do justice to the horrific treatment of these young girls.
Exactly.
Literally black widows red room backstory is so good and genuinely dark but like this movie was NOT it I'm still mad we never got a black widow movie
Yeah! Like if this was ment to be a true origin story like they had first advertised it to be, it would have been about that. Not after the red room.
This movie definitely should have been released prior to Endgame, since it didn't really feel like a send off for Natasha. However, it's worth watching for Nat and Yelena's sisterly relationship, and Scar Jo's final hurrah in the MCU!
Yep
I thought the exact same thing. There was no immediate danger in being we knew Natasha didn't die. So the fight scenes were cool but I knew she'd be ok.
I saw the Addams family profile pic and got distracted but I’m sure what you said was great
@@lindseywilliams9411 I distinctly remember at the end with the Red Room being destroyed and the Widows beating up Nat and her running away from the explosions after waiting for the data download that the one time I felt like, "Oh she might actually be in serious danger," I immediately remembered that she had to survive simply because we know she doesn't die until Endgame. After that, I was just mentally criticizing how she was able to stay alive through the rest of the finale.
@@lindseywilliams9411 There's no danger for ANY hero in their solo movie??? I don't see that as a flaw. Plus this movie introduces new characters who aren't in Endgame, giving it a ton of value within the MCU going forward.
I’m still mad we didn’t have a funeral for Nat, the gravestone is ok, but tony got a freaking funeral with all the avengers and they did dirty to Nat. I thought we were getting the funeral at least in the post-credits.
But didn’t they point out that Nat didn’t actually want a funeral in endgame?
Yes
@@Ethan-nl2wg But what about Gamora?
There was no emotions to her death. Everyone was just told to "look sad" and that's it. Her death felt emotionless and Tony's death felt meaningless and forced.
@@lunavioleta001 in what world did his death feel forced
I definitely wanted a Black Widow/Hawkeye buddy cop style movie like 10 years ago. If that movie existed, this movie would be a totally great follow up.
yeap
Yess!
I feel like once Yelena and Clint resolve their issues they could have that relationship
Plus, if they made a Nat/Clint buddy cop style for her origin story, they could include a scene that shows how they met or their earlier missions together, and they could have a part in the movie that explains "what happened in Budapest" to give a humorous nod to Avengers 1.
I think a perfect 3 movies that could have happened for Black Widow was the first one being about her childhood and her whole experience in the Red Room and the movie ends with how she left. Then that sets up for the 2nd movie with her time with shield, how she got into Shield and her relationship with Hawkeye gets to be explored and he also gets a bit of backstory. That movie ends leading up to whatever other movies is next in that timeline. This movie in particular could have been the third movie after the events of Civil War then that leads into Infinity War. I think that would have been a perfect Trilogy for Black Widow.
I really liked that the histerectomy part of the red room was played like a violation of their autonomy and not the "im a monster because no kids" joss bullshit
+++++
+
I thought she called herself a monster because she was an assassin that killed people not because she was sterilized?
@@directorforplastic7929 she clearly was saying that, but because it was in the same conversation as her telling Bruce she couldn't have kids, many people felt it had those undertones.
@@directorforplastic7929 I thought she implied the two things together make her less than human. Otherwise why even mention it. She could have just referenced her ledger and not even bring up infertility.
I think if this had come out right after Civil War it would've had a much better reception. Black Widow is such a beloved character by the end of End Game and this movie feels like an afterthought.
Also: there are *zero* stakes whenever Natasha is fighting, so the last couple fight scenes are kind of wasted because we *know* that Natasha goes on to participate in Infity War and End Game.
I also kind of feel like her death would have hit harder in Endgame if all we had to go on was that end credit where we know she died somehow that involved Clint. And then watching him go off the deep end in Endgame after his family and we would have just been waiting for him to do it, only for them to fight each other to sacrifice themselves 😭
Black Widow is more about the Black Widows as an overall concept than it is about the Natasha Romanoff character.
And I hate it. The overall concept I think was better explored in Agent Carter and in Nat's flashbacks.
It makes sense considering we already know where she ended up. Why develop a character that is already dead? Which is another reason we should have been given her movie(s) years ago.
@@JadeReloaded exactly. expecting this movie to be centered on nat was wishful thinking.
but also Loki happened so there are infinite nats anyway.
That's what I got from it too.
@@iopohable after the lawsuit and the fact that they killed her off already cus shes too expensive to keep. shes not coming back
Someone said on Twitter this movie feels like a Black Widow sequel rather than like a first/origin movie. Honestly, it does feel like a movie like Thor 2, Iron Man 3, and Captain America 2 where the characters are already established and are already making reference to what happened after the Avengers teamed up.
This should have been a phase 3 Black Widow Sequel. Not a movie playing catch up for a dead character.
Omg yes! I honestly hoped this movie would be about her time in the red room. That we would get to see her training, all hits she did as Black Widow, meeting Barton, and getting out. The movie honestly felt like it started medias res, a continuation of a story we already know well.
The Bad News: This movie came out years later than it should have
The Good News: Now there's even more reason to tell people to watch in chronological order.
Yeah, if I ever have someone watch the movies for the first time, they're watching this after civil war and we'll watch the post credit scene later 😂
@@silver9wolf6 I only watched Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, the 1st Iron man, the 1st Thor, the 1st guardian of the galaxy and this black widow movie on theater. The fact that they all are connected make me wanna try Avengers and captain America too
Except they can't watch the after credit scene, because HOLY SPOILERS
@@vailismyname Yup! I'd probably have people watch that after endgame, so we can all grieve Nat 💔
I actually think 2020 would have been the right year for this to come out, had that been an option-- but as the sequel to the first movie Natasha should have had, the one actually showing her time in the Red Room, and her defection to SHIELD.
Dude you can’t even start to imagine how annoying the “Russian accent” is to Russians. And Florence accidentally said one phrase in perfect Russian and that was the twistiest plot twist in the movie
I don't understand why Hollywood decided giving actors funny accents is the non-racist thing to do.
@@annalang5687 russian accents is one of the most abused accents in Hollywood, and we all know why US based movies are ok with it.
I don’t get why they don’t just hire actors who already speak fluent Russian and have a natural Russian accent? Is there any reason why they don’t just hire actors who are Russian? Seems like the easiest solution to me
@@blue1584 there was 1 Russian actress in BW. She didn't have any lines
I can relate so hard. As an African, the Accents in Black Panther were so off putting and weird that I’ve never finished it to date
It's okay, Amanda. I simp for Florence Pugh in heavy eyeliner, too.
same
FP looks like a friend of mine. Everytime I see her I remember that friend who is very sisterly. 🤩
@@floschad9771 I think we ALL simp for Florence Pugh regardless of what she's wearing
Fun fact, Alexei has some tatoos of Nat and Yelena, and the face of Melina on his heart. That was cute.
And did he also have karl marx on his hands or did I not see that correctly? Laughed so hard at this
I didn’t realise this, great excuse for a rewatch!
@@katitax508 Also, I would recommend to check out the deleted alternate ending scene. Which should have been kept in.
The reason the movie took so long was because of the open secret called, Isaac Perlmutter. He was the CEO who was notably racist and sexist, and was apart of most of Marvel's biggest behind the problems, like me why Black Widow, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel weren't made sooner with merch (Widow was suppose to come out after Iron Man 2 or at least after Avengers 1. By the time he was kicked out, Marvel had already made so many plans that they were placed so late. It's unfortunate, Marvel is slowly making up for these shortcomings, but man, did that man hinder the studio for years.
i hope they realise how much money they lost to this. fads like twilight and bieber/kpop show that the female demographic is a goldmine, and black panther was a huge hit. companies should realise that they shouldn't be led by prejudiced old creeps.
Yep!
Got a source for this?
Even the pitch meeting references it
@@calamitysangfroid2407 kpop is not a fad just saying
Clearly Yelena was snapped because if she wasn't Nat and her would have had those 5 years together and gotten closer where Yelena would know that Hawkeye is like a brother to Natasha and would never do anything to hurt her.
I loved the way they portrayed real world female problems, like not having pockets in them or the fact when your in a bad mood people (usually men) immediately assume it’s because of periods. It’s like an inside joke that is a funny gag to begin with but just makes it funnier. The third act seemed to comic booky run of the mill superhero but hey it’s a mcu film
Yelena freaking out over how many pockets the vest has is adorable.
@@ultrabigfella It's real though. I bought cargo shorts like two months ago and it's still so satisfying everytime I put stuff in there.
Skirt pockets. I didn't know they had them but boy was that a pleasant surprise! Hehe, they're really good pockets too
Still confused why a lady hasnt made a pants store with pockets.
I never thought I’d hear the words “involuntary hysterectomy” in what’s technically a Disney movie
Then again, it is still a Marvel movie
Disney still has a say at the end you know ?
That was about 5-6 shades darker than Marvel-standard-snark usually is, and I am impressed.
Tbh, I think Disney learned not to touch the MCU after they literally killed star wars. Something that noone thought was even possible.
I think mcu movies are gonna be more and more hands off.
@@iopohable god I hope so! With a few exceptions, I felt that phase 3 was really swirling the drain. Phase 4 seems to be looking up, though.
I suspect that Yelena having a feud against Clint will quickly fizzle out when he is unsatisfyingly (for her anger) completely willing to let her beat him down however much she feels he deserves the moment he realizes her connection to Nat and that that's what she's there for, and that makes Yelena realize that something fishy's going on with this assignment.
Dude already agrees that he's the one who should have died there, Nat's grieving sister appearing to punish him for her death isn't going to _lessen_ his survivor's guilt.
This bugged me. Hawkeye is one of the heroes and so is Yelena now, and Civil War proved that Marvel only have the stomach to go so far (just like that movie, this is really just going to be a misunderstanding). So the threat of this confrontation feels stillborn to me.
Don’t even give me started on how pissed I was when I saw that end credits scene.
yeah that scene wont have any payoff at all. most of the fans would love if Yelena killed him anyway so what? all of this movie to present Yelena just so she can beat up Clint for a while and then become friends with him. just felt like a waste of time
@@letguelere1102 “most of the fans would love it if Yelena killed Clint”
This did not age well. Also those “fans” were mostly just rabid and vocal Nat stans on social media.
After watching the Hawkeye series, you nailed it, that's exactly what happened.
Yelena was iconic and has already become my fav MCU character along with Loki and Wanda
Indeed, all three of them stole the show in their individual Marvel projects, and a highlight of 2021 so far!
What about Zemo?
@@trinaq Loki didn't they treated him like a bitch in his own show
Recency bias in action
Poor Natasha. Shes always under appreciated and pushed to the side. Even in her own movie!!
Yes
Yes! I'm sick and tired of people saying Yelena is the only good thing about this movie.
She is definitely one of the best parts of the movie but definitely not the only good thing.
@@meghnagoel6766 Right?!
Well, she is played by Scarlett Johansson. YMMV, but not exactly teaming with charisma.
@@floraposteschild4184 I think Scarlett Johansson is a great actress! I love her as Black Widow.
WAIT as someone who literally doesnt gaf about the MCU as a franchise only about individual peices, They literally killed black widow before she even got her own movie what the actual fuck
As someone who gives too many fucks about the MCU as a franchise, you are absolutely correct about this being a what the actual fuck. If you pay attention to Nat's storyline throughout the last 15 years she's an incredibly integral part of the Avengers and she got done so dirty.
@@iaredoge1971 exactly! Especially when they killed her off 🤦🏾♀️
I heard the guy who was in charge before who is no longer with the company didnt think female super hero movies would sell well and changed their mind after Wonder Womans success
@@kingofnara Ike perlmutter is the person you’re thinking of, and he didn’t change his mind they fired him. Good riddance I say, but I wish it happened earlier so that this movie could have started production earlier
Same. Can't bother to care, but her being killed off before her own solo movie is weird.
I don’t know if anyone has pointed this one out yet, but Yelena calls her dog Fanny... which was the name on the fake ID Mason got Natasha early in the movie. I thought it was a nice touch... =)
Right I was like “wait, did I hear that right? Maybe not since no ones talking about it” 😂
@@kellyc7902 it’s a very “blink and you’ll miss it” thing, isn’t it? But I thought it was a very sweet little moment... (it made it to the Brazilian Portuguese subtitles, so I guess we heard it right 😂)
@@GabrielaClemente yeah it is, and ah that makes sense 😂
Also, I'm absolutely not surprised that Yelena would choose a fanny joke to pay hommage to her sister.
don't make a movie where you do the same thing as florence pugh, and have her do it right next to you, because you will fade into the background of your own movie 👀
I still think Nat kicks ass but the dry dark humor delivery by Pugh is unparalleled
That's a dangerous tightrope to walk.
@@AmandaTheJedi Hope u do a review of Loki!!!!!
That's kinda the point. Pugh is gonna be the new Black Widow for the rest of the comercial strategy.
I was thinking this throughout the entire movie (granted, I watched it only because Florence Pugh was in it 😔)
Taskmasters dad saying it’s disgusts him to look at her and her first words after being released from mind control being “is he gone?” Really hit me hard
i remember watching the intro and it just skipping all natasha’s time in the red room and i turned to my friend like:
👁👄👁
i still loved it tho
Yeah I was like 'oh..oh so we're not doing that okay'
Her time in the Red Room should be like two seasons on Netflix.
And then they explained Nat and Clint's Budapest thing in 3 seconds when we've been dying to know the whole thing for almost 10 yrs.
@@NaomiTCOOKIES the arrow marks on the wall were a nice touch though.
@@JadeReloaded True, and the games they played in the air vents
The joke about the god from space not needing an ibuprofen after a fight would be even funnier if Black Widow wasn't seemingly invincible in this movie. She brushes off so much physical trauma with no issues that I'm not even sure how she managed to die in Endgame. :D
she has a form of super serum in her that makes her stronger than average and heals faster than normal read a comic its all explained
@@Historyglobal1220 If it's not mentioned in the movies then it doesn't count. The MCU is a separate canon to the comics, with characters and storylines being changed to fit the movies better.
I thought it would have been appropriate to say to that line something like 'only two barrels of ale', but probably joking with another character's dependence on alcohol is not that great. XD Also, Thor was technically not an alcoholic until after Infinity War. Anyway, it would have been nice if Natasha had something to say to that, because it's her movie, and it would have been great if they emphasize how the enhanced characters have their flaws too and it's probably not the biggest issue to take an ibuprofen after a fight.
@@Historyglobal1220 I get it, but it should’ve been explained much more in the movies. We can’t keep reading through tons of comics just to clarify these small issues.
I love Pugh but this film should've been entirely about Nat's character. It's so obvious Marvel used this film to set up Yelena to take Nat's place that it took away a lot of the spotlight from Nat's character. Like, they gave all of the best lines and put in much more effort in Yelena's character development than Nat's and it shows. Nat's performance here is no different than all her performances in other Marvel films when she should've been shining here.
They should've released this right after Civil War and used the post credits scene for Endgame or Far From Home
I think you meant Infinity War or Homecoming. Though they could have released it instead of Captain Marvel and used the end credit scene for End Game and made Captain Marvel earlier. As it was, they shot Captain Marvel's End Game scenes before making her standalone movie and the character had not been fully developed by the time they were filming.
@@Sam_on_RUclips or they could have done captain marvel later and cut her out of endgame, since she did basically nothing in the movie.
@@thomasw7908 That was a large part of why she did nothing. If she had been in earlier, she would have been handled better.
YES
I agree with RLM's review. The villain played by Ray Winstone is a cross between Harvey Weinstein, with the big casting couch, and Martin Scorsese, with the same hairstyle and big glasses.
If you really agreed with RLM’s review, you would have disliked the video
I love Red Letter Media!! Those guys are hilarious.
RLM is the best. Rest pales in comparison.
Wait Martin Scorsese is on the same level as Harvey? What did Martin do?
@@quizzlybear Watch RLM's review of the movie and you'll understand. Marty did nothing.
2 things I expected and didn't get from the movie:
- seeing more of nat's training when she was young (I really wanted that)
- the Budapest mission (it would have made sense)
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the movie, and I agree with everything you said
Can we also say that they put only one russian actress Olga Kyrelenko in the costume with a mask, with no lines and stunt double being Taskmaster for almost all of the scenes?
Ugh, seriously? This trend of casting Americans and Brits as Russians and other Slavs is already annoying as is, but that's just fucked up.
I mean it's a bit annoying yes and most of the Russian spoken in the show (even by background characters, they could've easily found a real native speaker for that) is just horrible in pronunciation. There's also a scene when Yelena is in the medical room where the subtitles don't really match what the voice is saying which is funny. But I would say it's moving in the right direction these days. At least they don't mess up the labels and (almost) don't portray Russia in typical Hollywood propagandist manner lol. Hope we can get some Russian actors soon too and would love to see our Slavic culture explored a bit more.
Right? I was really looking forward to finally getting some slavic representation and a little bit of slavic culture/ traditions but there wasn't almost none (well there is Scarlet J. with polish heritage and Olga K. but that's it + the Russian accents and weird pronunciation in some scenes were like 🙄)
@@Keznen we are misrepresented so much that no one even cares. How I wish we got some slavic Disney princess or smtg 😣
@@Liza-pe9xp Yeah, they got a bit better with labels, but "Соловьёв Эйр" still cracked me up
That opening sequence with the kids was one of the best sling of scenes I’ve seen in any film, culminating into Natasha protecting Yelena in this heartbreaking panic attack where we find that she was already in training herself, didn’t want that for Yelena, and it still happened. It still hurts.
Surprisingly, despite being a movie about family; Dominic Toretto doesn't make an appearance
They should have revealed Taskmaster as Dom
FAMILY
Yeah, but then Cipher would be revealed as the one behind everything again and then she’d get away from Dom scot-free at the end like always.
I understood that reference.
I'll just say, I had a great time identifying Taskmasters fighting styles. I picked out Cap, Bucky, T'Challa and Nat in most of the fight scenes
It kinda sucks that literally all from Black Panther were the claws she shot out at the beginning of the final fight, and I think a few kicks, but I freaked out when she used TWS's Knife Skills.
@@ultrabigfella she used him in the first fights with Nat on the bridge then switched to Nats defenses. She mimicked his kicks so damn well
I also loved how the red guardian got to fight “captain america”
Yeah that's nice and all but the character was still butchered. What a waste of potential...
It almost felt like the movie wasn't confident enough in making Dreykov and mind controlled Widows the only antagonists so they threw in Taskmaster at the last second to make a more direct (and personal) threat for Natasha. It just sucks because they added nothing to the story at all. You could remove them and the events of the story would basically play out the exact same way.
Still an enjoyable movie overall, but it's a shame that MCU writers keep making these types of mistakes with their villians.
It would remove the entire aspect of Natasha's guilt, and that was a very enjoyable part of the movie to me, so I'm glad they had it in there.
@@sleepysera Ehhhhhh it barely comes up much in the movie and was resolved painfully easy with minimal effort. Plus it just makes the whole thing somewhat of a rehash of Steve and Winter Soldier so its not really worth much since Nat is already extremely guilty of everything she's already done for the Red Room.
I think it's interesting how you mention that Hawkeye didn't really need his own movie in the beginning because of his smaller role. Because had a theoretical Black Widow movie been made back in phase 1 it could've been about the Budapest mission thus introducing him better than his random practically cameo intro back in the first Thor movie. And it actually would have made lines like the "Barton's been compromised" line a little more impactful to audience since we would've actually known his character a little more.
What I thought walking out of the theater. This is gonna be a gay awakening movie for a lot of women. Also I need to be attacked by 20 assassin ladies.
Down bad dramatically
I personally think Red Guardians "Fake" history with Captain America is true but it took place in Captain America's new timeline after he went back to live his life in Endgame
I thought the same thing. Paging the TVA!
oh my god you're right
But travelling back in time doesn't change the past based on Endgame's time travel rules. So this would only work if "Black Widow" is taking place in a different timeline to the rest of the MCU.
@@theomegajuice8660 Captain America lived out the rest of his life in the past. All of the MCU now takes place in a different timeline to the rest of the MCU.
@@theomegajuice8660 Timelines and time travel and all that really don't make any sense. The TVA was pruning alternative timelines, so how the fuck could there have been an alternate timeline for Captain America to live in? Fuck it.
I would argue that Antonia, after having gone through all the horrific things that her dad put others go through, understood why Nat did what she did.
It's so interesting how people's opinions on this movie differ. I've heard a lot of "It's really weak" and "Taskmaster is terrible" and all that stuff. I quite enjoyed it, but - like most people - I would have preferred to see the "real" Black Widow movie years ago.
Am i the only one who wanted taskmaster to still try to kill her even after the she was cured? Like i would still be mad if you blew me up, Im sorry isn't going to cut it. Also did they ever explain how the buy survived the building blowing up?
Yeah that’s valid actually.
Originally I was like “I guess she was just more grateful to be free of him”. But then I realised the only reason she needed freeing was because of nat
It honestly would have been epic if she had free will and hated Natasha and worked with her dad, it would have also made Dreykov less one dimensional, because he would actually show care for another human being, and show actual emotions.
@@Ethan-nl2wg or hell, have the explosion actually kill Dracov and have is daughter take over the red room as taskmaster. Make her the an opposite of Natasha.
@@matman329 that also sounds awesome
@@matman329 Uh, that sounds _awesome._ Like, everyone thinks (and Yelena tells Natasha) that Drakov survived the explosion and continued his work - except he didn't, and Natasha thought she destroyed the Red Room because she _did._ But his daughter survived, and came back to take control of all the sleeper agent widows and restart the program using Drakov's identity, and using the 'Taskmaster' identity to do field work when necessary.
2 things: 1. I think Cap rescued her from the prison, when he rescued the others at the end of Civil War. 2. I keep wishing a youtuber/creator would mention the several times they hinted that Nat was enhanced in the film, like seeing the girls being experimented on in the beginning montage and some dying, and her talking to Drakov (as Melina) about how nat had been injected with needles during her time in the red room. Not to mention her falling from a ten story building and landing on her feet lol.
Yes, I've seen several commentaries saying it's plot armor while it was clearly shown she and other widows were enhanced.
Nat was never in the prison.
Remember, she was on team Iron Man at first and she changed sides later when she stopped T'Challa from catching Steve and Bucky.
And while everyone else on team Cap were arrested, she was at the hospital with Tony since Rhodey was injured.
She probably went into hiding after their conversation/confrontation in the hospital.
@@meghnagoel6766 i'm talking about at the end of the BW movie, when she was taken into Ross' custody. She was likely put in the Raft with the others and broken out when Steve came. At the end of Civil war, they never specify how quickly Steve rescued them. It could have been after the events of BW
@@JadeReloaded Thank you!! lol
@@eileen8787 Oh... Thanks 😂
This movie wasn’t named after Nat, it was named after Yelena, the Black Widow. It was her origin story moreso than a story about Nat. Nat got stuck with a supporting role AGAIN. It was a fun enough movie, but I think it’s funny how they managed to make her a supporting character in a movie that was supposed to be hers.
I really liked this film, but I didn’t understand the whole “you’ll understand Nat in Endgame” via this movie and I felt super dumb because I didn’t really get it. As an aside - I really loved that Yelena’s costume wasn’t skin tight.
They did Tony Masters dirty, reducing his 'photographic reflexes' to a high-tech suit. His abilities come with a bit of a tragic side effect: He can copy the movements of anyone he sees, but doing this overwrites his own memories. At one point he lost all memories of his wife. He'll always be the one and only Taskmaster.
I've noticed a lot of male commentary bemoaning the mind control plot from Dreykov but I thought it was a pretty obvious allegory for the abuse and possession of the female body by men in power.
Was it clumsy? Of course it's a Marvel movie, subtlety is not what they're going for, but I thought it was creepy and had horrific implications. Yes it can only imply because of The Mouse, but it's still there.
I think I would've liked a little more of Dreykov throughout but ultimately I think he worked and so did the plot.
Taskmaster shows how little studios learned from the Deadpool in Xmen origins Wolverine
But at least in this case, they have a chance to bring in the “real” Tony Masters without doing much retconning.
I was thinking like the Mandarin, but just in a better movie
@@archer1949 And even if they want to keep the female version, there's a good in-universe explanation for her lack of personality that she was mind controlled.
Next time we see her she could be back with the usual personality and swagger, just as a woman rather than a man.
Doesn't Tony Masters not even have much character though? I'm pretty sure he's just a cool badass bounty hunter that can somehow mimic actions perfectly, and the only time we've seen his face is from a flashback comic showing him as a child.
@@ultrabigfella I recommend watching ComicDrake's Taskmaster video
Finally, someone being fair to this film, which mostly other reviewer's can't be for some reason
Ya I was excited to look at reviews after watching it last night and was disappointed in all the reviews I saw. Like, there were definitely some flaws and it came too late but it was solid marvel blockbuster and an enjoyable ride.
Black widow has a 81 critics and a 92 audience score in RT.... its only the click hungry RUclips reviewers that more than often cater to the Fandom menace that skews their reviews to be more edgy for more clicks.
Is this review fair because you agree with it, and some other reviews aren't fair because you disagree with them?
@@KillahMate this review is fair cuz its actually a review and not just "lets bash the shit outta this movie cuz its about wahmen".
@@davemarty265 those fandumb menace chuds REALLY need to get a life.
I really enjoyed this movie solid 8 out of 10 I liked the Taskmaster twist it works in the context of this movie it's literally her past coming back to haunt her and she has to confront her I liked it but hopefully in the future we will get a more comic accurate Taskmaster kinda how we are getting the real Mandarin in Shang Chi
The original Taskmaster ran the Red Room project...
This version is a cheap knockoff of a villain that can take out the Avengers by thenself....
Exactly my feelings
Came for Yelena, stayed for Yelena. This was honestly one of the only movies I've watched where I was more excited about the supporting cast than the protagonist. I love Natasha, but considering that this came out after Endgame, it felt way too late and I had a feeling her story wasn't going to be as much of a focus. Sad that it's partly true.
I literally JUST watched Black Widow, open up RUclips, and what do I see in my recommendations...
*Chef's kiss* perfect ^^
The MCU has problems with mid level, henchmen villains.
Loooove how Yelena (I’m sorry if I miss spelled that) kept deeming each potential death as cool or not lol.
same
I know the perfect role for Yelena once she has sorted out the whole wanting to murder clint thing. Her and Kate Bishop.... Murder Girlfriends
YES! THIS! GIMME!
... big ass nope. Not because I am against WLW romance, which I am not, but because Yelena is canonically asexual and heavily implied to be aromantic as well. So... yeah. Not gonna take away aro-ace rep.
@@medeaworbs6970 Kate and Yelena Platonic Murder Friends?
@@allisonf3508 now _that_ I could get behind! Yup to that!
Hi. I enjoy the black widow movie. I like the chemistry between Scarlett and Florence.
"this would be a cool way to die." I'm addicted to that line.
I enjoyed the movie. The family dynamics were amazing and I adored Yelena, I get why they may not have given Natasha everything she deserved because she's dead and they want to move forward. A Black Widow 10 years ago would've been good.
Side note though: that Smells Like Teen Spirit cover absolutely slapped and I loved how often they shift into speaking Russian.
I think Alexei *did* fight Cap. ...Or some sort of Cap. Someone else with the Cap mantle, or something time-y wimey, or something variant Multiverse of Madness thing, or a Secret Invasion Skrull. He seemed to genuinely believe he fought Cap and whether he did or not it could be expanded on.
I felt a little weird about how all the widows and the daughter were just, like, automatically on their side after being freed. I mean, there has to be some level of conditioning there beneath the mind control, right? Surely they wouldn’t just instantly be like, so chill about it all. I also wished we got more espionage stuff, but all in all yeah I really liked this movie. I liked Yelena so much more than I was expecting to, if she’s Nat’s successor and basically becomes the Avenger’s new Widow I am 100% on board with that. Not sure if they’re going that route with her, but I hope they do. In addition to just being really cool, she’s got such a charm to her that somehow just feels really authentic
as someone who recently saw Agent Carter what I'd have loved to see it Dotty be from the early stages of the red room, to show how far the red room had come, that would have been really cool to have that small reference so you can get a gadge on how long the red room has been around and how overtime they evolved and changed their craft
I kinda like that they didn't show us everything of her backstory for two reasons
1. she was already in the thick of it when she was a small child. To tell her story, you'd have to just show her entire life from birth. That would be a bad movie
2. she doesn't talk about her past! She isn't the type to info-dump her whole history onto people. Telling her backstory in this way feels like an accurate reflection of her personality.
but yeah, we should have gotten this movie before she died
Rewatching the film, I realised that the last dinner in Ohio foreshadowed their reunion. They are seated in exactly the same positions. Alexei and Yelena leave the table first, leaving Nat and Melina facing each other.
Also, it stands to reason that Yelena would get a replacement vest for herself. It would be hilarious if this became a running gag in future films, where she pulls super random stuff out and it becomes unexpectedly useful in tight situations.
I honestly don't love what they did with Taskmaster in this movie
I feel like they could've used Adaptoid and accomplished the same thing since instead of being a trash talking assassin they just turned them into a mindless drone for the Red Room, when the character used to be so much more than that
I remember when I saw the movie in the cinema, soo many people were disappointed by the post-credit scene instead of being hyped like in all previous Marvel movies.
Like, there was literally a woman sitting next to me who loudly exclaimed 'I waited extra minutes after the movie's end for fucking Hawkeye?' and I've heard other folks saying the same while we were leaving the cinema lol.
That’s just depressing honestly
It also pissed me off how Valentina (that’s her name right?) was being a complete bitch while Yelena was mourning. Like we waited and joe talking about how Nat didn’t get a funeral but when we get something similar to it, it gets ruined by this bitch. Wtf?
I had the opposite experience, the post-credit scene was the most excited the people in my cinema were lol (and also sad during the first part of it).
Interesting take, I honestly think it was an incredible end credit scene!!
I think Marvel put in Valentina in the end credit scene just so they can definitely say that the Disney+ shows are indeed canon to the MCU.
Ike Perlmutter made it clear he did not think women would sell toys. He's gross and I wish he would leave but little by little we will get a more balanced field.
I saw what I thought was a really good point get brought up on another video about Black Widow, which is that Malina basically never really gets called out by Yelena or Natasha for her complicity in all the pain Drakov's organization has caused. Obviously she sides with them to bring the Red Room down, but even so, that seems like a substantial aspect of the story to gloss over. Not that Alexei is innocent or anything, but he's been rotting in prison for years, while Malina was working with the man who had Yelena enslaved up to like a month ago.
"Should we explore this disturbing family dynamic through Yulena played by an incredible upcoming actress who is clearly going to play a big role in future projects for our third act?"
"Nah I think a generic cgi action scene would be better."
Who is making these decisions!
Exactly, and the cgi wasn’t even good, it looked like it was made with action movie fx
The studio. They have mandates for how many action scenes and when, and often those are pre-visualised before a script is even finished on a project of this size.
Moreover, it's not likely that the action is Kate Shortland's. Another female director refused the job because Marvel told her "don't worry about the action scenes, we'll have people do them for you".
I love how honest and realistic her videos are, not pretentiously harsh, but still smart
I think a good way to explain how Nat escaped from Ross at the end would be from a call back from earlier in the movie where they talked about cutting a deal. Since no one was able to find Dreykov's redroom she probably cut a deal with Ross and gave him all the info on Dreykov and not go public if Ross let her go. And Ross probably took all the credit for catching Dreykov.
I really like how all the pieces of her backstory mesh with the information we get on the red room from the agent carter show, with the character of Dotty.
Hoped it would be a bit more grounded &
more in line with say.. the recent Mission Impossibles or even John Wick, i.e; over the top but where punches feel like they actually hurt.
Instead it was more in line with the Vin Diesel xXx films. Great cast though! Florence killed it as Yelena. 🔥
totally agree. I enjoyed everything and then the last 40 minutes happened and it got crazy silly. Stakes vanished into thin air
Same, imo the last bit went too big unnecessarily...I enjoyed it overall but I was definitely hoping for a more grounded story after all of the flashiness from the other movies
Honestly would've liked it so much more if they had gone the MI or John Wick route. Would make Black Widow stand out against the rest of the MCU and her superhero counterparts.
@@Sage0fThiccPaths yeah not like Winter Soldier exists...
@@ultrabigfella LMAO he's got a literal bionic arm with super strength. Not exactly just your run of the mill agent, nor is he a woman. But here, lemme rephrase this so you understand: I wanted a FEMALE character that was badass with just her own skills and to have the movie centered around her. Unlike Captain Marvel, which was just pandering garbage and shouldn't have been the first female led MCU film.
I do love a repeating motif in a film score too, especially when it notifies 'an act of heroism' or more simply, whenever each character appears on screen and they have their own motif or theme. Sometimes the completion of a mission/task uses the title theme's motif which you recognise subconsciously to know it is the conclusion (or to fool you into thinking the mission is complete but it's not) or motifs are repeated when anyone expresses a certain emotion which is a key theme of the film-this is definitely one more for your subconscious!
The issue with taskmaster besides the fact that it's a man in the suit for all the scene except for 5mins at the end , the part should have been a played by a very young girl in the suit not a 40yo woman . When Nat did the bombing, the girl who becomes taskmaster was about 8 and the film takes place around 10 years later, it should have been a teen in the suit . THE other issues, RACHAEL WEISS character did some really heinous shit , and just because she was once a widow does not excuse that .THEN the stupidest thing besides from Ray Winstone's acting the hole pheromone plot, and Nat making that stop by bashing her head on a desk , that was moronic.
That pheromone tactic and Nat breaking her nose was actually from the comic, they directly took it.
@kshamwhizzle Oh its equally just as silly. I just pointed it out.
Ray Winstone needed a bigger lasso to rein in that British accent of his, it was distracting the hell out of me
I completely agree with you, and to add to all of that, that horrendous make-up for Rachel Weiss in the final act. Someone clearly must hate her.
@@user-is7xs1mr9y I would have been more mad if she shows up in perfect pro makeup with 10 minutes of in-movie prep time. I love a messy eyeliner.
I think the casting of Rachel & Florence was perfect & DEFINITELY knew their audience when casting those two.
Just as Nat had a huge part in my own discovery of my sexuality I'm more than positive that this movie will have a huge impact on younger girls. I so wish this came out after Civil War... but this is easily in my top 5.
The only thing that bothered me a little is how absolutely no one hold Melina accountable for all she did
Like okay she went through a lot and all, but she is not even the one who came up with the antidote ? Can we please be a little mad at her 😭
I agree, what she did was terrible but everyone was fine with it in the end. She didn't even seem guilty about it, she was proud about it when she demonstrated it on the poor pig.
I think this character was actual a villain in the comics, and for me it would have been better if she was the villain in the movie too. But no, can't have a woman as a villain cause women can do no wrong and are always victims, better have a gross old man instead.
100% agree! That movie I felt was so late to the game it felt out of place a little. But I loved it. The only other gripe I had was there was a lot of oh that was convenient moments to the movie but it was a great watch!
Not black widow related but I always appreciate Amanda's super cool shirts 🙌
Became a big fan of Florence since she played a wrestler in Fighting With My Family. She's a great talent.
I really enjoyed Black Widow personally.
I do care about your opinion, cuz every movie reviewer I watch is saying it's meh, but they said the same for Cruella... And Cruella is great
I think... I still prefer Cruella - but I thought this was a lot of fun with great chemistry between Natasha and Yelena
Cruella is just so extra
Cruella is good if you pretend it's an original movie, bur it's terrible as an villain movie. If you changed her hair, name and dogs race, nothing would have changed.
@@enzojose4001 Cruella is good if you watch it as it’s own movie. Kinda wish they just made an original character instead of cruella
@@AmandaTheJedi oh, I could see that. But my opinions tend to align with yours, so it is probably a safe bet. (Cruella was my first movie theater experience since the pandemic, tho, so would be hard to surpass that)
I watched the movie today and I loved it! But my best friend and I were also discussing that we wished that's the movie would've been out before Endgame ...
And I am gay for Yelena and Melina.
As always, love your reviews and humor! Don't worry about late uploads, I would honestly watch whatever you review, new or old. You have the ability to even make stuff I don't follow turn out to be interesting coz of your commentary!
My theater burst out into painful and awkward laughter once the end credit scene ended. We enjoyed the movie but the best part was the reaction. The person next to me started saying "But he actively tried to save her. Nat mentioned they were friends. I don't understand"
I did enjoy the movie though
The thing is Yelena doesn’t know that. Nobody really does.
@@tigamaki1345 I assume they’ll probably explain it in hawkeye but how do they know that Clint was even involved in her death at all?
@@tigamaki1345 yes but during the movie Natasha mentions that Clint saved her and helped her
So why would Yelena have any reason to think Clint killed her?
@@AkireraStraberri3 Yeah, Yelena's only ever heard good things about Clint from Nat. It's weird that she's being fooled like that
maybe she doesn't know his face, and Val never said his name, so maybe Yelena doesn't know he is Hawkeye.
I thought Amanda was about the take off into a whole, symphony orchestral, beat-box tangent at @2:23. She really sold it.
Of course I care. I didn't review it, but I thought what you did. It wasn'tmy favorite MCU movie, nor the worst. It was a fun action flick.
The American pie scene hit well with me cause it's the song my dad would always sing to me when we were being silly. That was pure dad vibes.
The whole time Natasha and Dreykov were on screen together all I could think was “Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn are having a bad fight”
every single video of yours just makes me want to buy every shirt that you own how are they all so good
Olga Kurylenko was criminally underused in this movie.
That last scene of Natasha walking towards the quinjet made me so emotional cause you just know even though it’s a few years away, she’s walking right to her death.
I will never forgive this movie for what they did to my boy Taskmaster. This was worse than IM3 Mandarin twist.
Yelena was EXCELLENT though and casting Florence Pugh was one of Marvel’s best decisions
When you get a black widow movie but still waiting for black widow origin movie
Dracov was right about one thing, what _could_ Nat say to Antonia? She knew she was getting a little girl killed. Antonia being cool with Nat was weird to me but also, Taskmaster being Dracov's daughter felt just as weird.
why no one talks about that scene where Natasha was making fun of her friend for mispronouncing Budapešť when even she had problem with saying it. lmao🤦🏻♀️
I know as a Hungarian (Budapest is our capital city) that scene was quite hilarious
I’ve been waiting for this
I’m so salty this came out now. I would’ve been way more willing to pay good money to watch this back circa early 2010’s. Between being salty at ScarJo and salty with Marvel for how they killed her… I’m gonna watch it, I just wish it came sooner.
I’ve had respect for marvels casting director since I found out she started her casting career with she’s the man, and casting pugh as yelena even further solidifies my respect 😂
She’s one of the reasons the mcu is so successful IMO
Amanda, thank you for pronouncing Budapest WELL!! OMG, music to my ears. As a hungarian, I sooo appreciate this. THANK YOU!
Also, amazing review 😎
I think I liked it more than a lot of people did because I had absolutely zero expectations coming in.
I do hope they bring in the real comic accurate Taskmaster in the future.
There is also one more call back. When Nat and Yelena saved Alexei, he is so proud that they killed many people he says "your legger must be dripping, gushing red" (from what I remember, might be a little different sentence)
And that's a call back to Avengers when Nat spoked to Loki to get information out and they talked about her ledger and Loki said:
"Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red"
I love when they make call backs like this ❤️