The long-anticipated Black Widow film that was doomed to never release at cinemas is now out, and people can't shut up about it. It took me a while to finally set a time to go see this film because, to be frank, I had low expectations. Marvel movies are back, and I feel like with that things are finally back to normal!

To put it simply, Black Widow did the job it set out to do. We never really had a Black Widow origin story. I won't go into spoilers, but overall I walked away satisfied with how this film presented itself. Were there issues? YES. Am I bothered? No.

With a Marvel movie, you almost always know what you are getting yourself into so it's hard to judge the film based on conventional story elements. I think that the first half of the film was stronger than anticipated. I am extremely well versed in MCU lore, so I judged the film based on that premise also. With that being said, you can watch the film without a complete understanding of the majority of the MCU.

The Black Widow movie is similar to the first Ant-Man movie in the sense that it can hold itself up without connecting back to the rest of Marvel. Having said that, there are small references in the film you can appreciate if you are an avid MCU viewer. The Budapest easter egg is mentioned.

The best element this film had going for it was simplicity. The hero journey was clear, and we finally got to see a glimpse into why Natasha Romanov wanted to be a good person. For the first time in MCU filmography, we understand a few of the things Black WIdow did that were so bad. Because of that, I personally connected to her character way more than I ever did before. This film makes you look back at previous films in the universe with a completely new understanding of who Black Widow really was.

My second favourite aspect was the tone of the film. Marvel does a good job at mixing drama, and humour into a symphony of emotions. I don't remember cringing at any of the jokes. There was one joke in particular that I think everyone familiar with Black Widow would appreciate. I don't think that Marvel is above self-deprecating jokes, and I wish the Fast franchise would catch on to that.

Family is also a huge trope of the film, but it doesn't come close to the same level of ridiculousness as the Dom Toreto meme. Just google: Dom Family meme, enjoy.

Overall Black Widow is not breaking any barriers. The movie is not trying to be something it's not. Marvel has a formula for making movies that people want to watch. This film can break into the idea that if you have seen one Marvel movie, you've seen them all. However, unlike the likes of Captain Marvel, this film is much more fun. It might be fun for me to release an MCU movie tier list once the year is over. I give this movie a 7/10.