CINEMA
BLACK WIDOW
From Russia With Grudge
★★★★☆
►RELEASED OUT NOW! 12A | 134 mins
►Director Cate Shortland
►Cast Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz
Marvel kicks off Phase Four of its cinematic activities in a surprisingly low-key manner. Not that Black Widow isn’t without Marvel’s trademark spectacular superhero action, but it is an odd choice for the first post-Avengersera MCU movie in a number of ways.
First, it’s a film many thought should have happened at least two phases ago – as one of the original Avengers, Black Widow deserved her own movie long before now, surely? Certainly before she died. Secondly, it’s essentially a massive flashback, mostly set between Civil War and Infinity War, that feels a little like an i-dotting/t-crossing exercise – more of an addendum to the Infinity Stones saga.