Support NeoGAF

[Pagusas]

I think this joins Thor 2, Black Panther and the first Hulk movie as one of the worst MCU films. It was pointless, felt silly, there were literally no stakes at all and it all seemed redundant.

Had this film come out before Infinity War I think maybe I would have liked it just a slight bit more, at least then it would make sense and not feel completely pointless.

Also SJ's performance felt phoned in and lackadaisical. Like the character also knew there were no stakes so play everything silly and loose. Can't blame her for collecting a paycheck after 10+ years of these films, but still surprised as she herself was the Executive Producer of this film, you think she'd give it more effort. But may it was just the director giving her poor directions.

 

[sol_bad]

I like the character in Winter Soldier, but it just made no sense to have her in the Avenger's movies. At least without her own Iron Man suit or something that would blemish the character anyway.

You forget that the majority of threats the Avengers would face would be basic human type people. Even if they are fighting aliens like in the first Avengers film, the aliens don't have any crazy super powers. The Chitauri are just normal "people" as well. Super powers aren't necessarily required to fight them. Instances of Ultron and Thanos popping up are quite rare for the team.

 

[sol_bad]

No idea if anyone watched the first half of this interview, but part 2 of Mr Feige's new interview.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

You forget that the majority of threats the Avengers would face would be basic human type people. Even if they are fighting aliens like in the first Avengers film, the aliens don't have any crazy super powers. The Chitauri are just normal "people" as well. Super powers aren't necessarily required to fight them. Instances of Ultron and Thanos popping up are quite rare for the team.

That's a good point, but I'm not sure it's really established how many threats they go up against that we aren't privy to.
Seems they mostly go up against world-ending stuff.

 

[sol_bad]

This is really interesting. Numbers for domestic Disney+ numbers.

Black Widow Streaming - PVOD

www.boxofficemojo.com

It made over 7 million domestically so the remainder is overseas which is not surprising.

 

[longdi]

Never understood the character, always found her useless same as the arrow guy with the avengers. However that trailer looked mighty dope probably will check it out.

she seems to got a power spike in BW, at least the final bits. may as well reveal the widows were injected with small bits of super soldier juice

 

[DelireMan7]

An OK MCU movie. Not exceptional but not bad either.

I enjoyed my time with it. The overarching story of the first phases of the MCU (Infinity War being a magnificent culmination of it) is really something I loved so I have a bit of difficulty with the new movies that will slowly start the process all over again.

It gives nice insight on the past of Natasha and the Red Guardian is entertaining. I never red a comics with Taskmaster but I am a bit disappointed by the few screentime and fights he has. He's presented like a master fighter but we see him fighting like 2 times. And the second fight is a quite underwhelming. The first one is really nice and show his superiority but I wanted to see more.

I watched with french Dub and it was ages since I watch a MCU in french. The voice of Natasha really doesn't fit her and at several occasion it really made her sounding stupid or very naive. I'll rewatch it in english when it comes out in Blu ray.

 

[BarringGaffner]

I see a lot of praise for Pugh and I have loved her in everything but I can’t be the only one who thought her character was a huge miss? Her accent was just awful, her character made no sense (a super soldier that was completely rebuilt, drained of all humanity, and she is joking all the time?). I would have preferred her character be less silly and have had to actually struggle with regaining her free will and re-entering the world.

Overall I liked the film but that last act let it down. The mom switch was ridiculous, as was the pheromone thing.

 

[sol_bad]

I see a lot of praise for Pugh and I have loved her in everything but I can’t be the only one who thought her character was a huge miss? Her accent was just awful, her character made no sense (a super soldier that was completely rebuilt, drained of all humanity, and she is joking all the time?). I would have preferred her character be less silly and have had to actually struggle with regaining her free will and re-entering the world.

Overall I liked the film but that last act let it down. The mom switch was ridiculous, as was the pheromone thing.

She isn't a super soldier and she wasn't drained of her humanity.

Spoiler

She was under mind control until she was cured at the start of the film.

 

[Pagusas]

While I am harsh on the film and feel it didn’t need to be made, I will say it’s opening title/credit sequence is AMAZING. Wonderfully edited, perfect song choice, and just really hits well to give the impression of time/growth/sadness

 

[strange headache]

RLM verdict: Meh




Evil guy looks like fat Scorsese

Salty fanboys already downvoting their video:

 

[Javthusiast]

RLM verdict: Meh




Evil guy looks like fat Scorsese

Salty fanboys already downvoting their video:

Did you watch their video to the end? In the last minute they specifically asked for people to dislike the video. xD

 

[strange headache]

Did you watch their video to the end? In the last minute they specifically asked for people to dislike the video. xD

Don't ruin all the fun

 

[AgentP]

Weak ending and lack of "super" people. Not horrible, but not great. Clearly they are using this movie as a vehicle to write in a younger black widow.

 

[balls of snow]

They also femenized (!?) Smells Like Teen Spirit..
Ugh..lucky american pie is still Don Mclean and not some Sheryl Crow bs. Am i doing this right ?

 

[Aggelos]

 

[strange headache]

Erik Kain gave it a middling review.

‘Black Widow’ Is A Prime Example Of What The MCU Keeps Getting Wrong​

Black Widow is a fine MCU film—perfectly average in every way—and I’m not sure that’s enough to justify its existence. If it were truly great, I could shrug off timeline issues, but it’s not. It’s decidedly OK. [...] The movie tries too hard to say too many things and ends up saying nothing much at all except that—in predictable MCU fashion—the good guys will win and the bad guys will lose. Neither heroes nor villains manage to be particularly interesting along the way. On both sides we deal with remarkably shallow characterization, even for a superhero film.

Also the movie is already suffering from a catastrophical drop.

‘Black Widow’ Grossed $215 Million This Weekend, but Theaters Need More​

Still, the Saturday drop of 41 percent is not good news. All Marvel films, including those with massive initial numbers like “Avengers: Endgame,” fell no more than 31 percent their initial Saturday. “Black Panther” fell 13 percent. The “Black Widow” A- Cinemascore is similar to some franchise entries that held better, so it’s tough to blame audience reaction. Perhaps the home competition was a factor. Most likely is initial results came from extreme pent-up interest from core fans.

Initial success was mostly driven by starved fans while Disney is leaving cinemas out to dry.

 

[Javthusiast]

I mean it is a perfectly fine movie, but nothing more, same as everything released from Disney so far this year.

Wanda was mediocore, so was Falcon and Winter Soldier. They can't even come close to some actual great tv shows.

Haven't seen Loki yet, but also not expecting much other than the Marvel Fine™.

 

[mortal]

Taskmasker unmasked scene

Spoiler

 

[sol_bad]

The only reason some people give this film a middling review is because it is middling when compared to the other 23 MCU films. IMO I still give it an 8 or 8.5 out of 10 as a whole, loved it.
It's still like a "masterpiece" when compare it to other films as a whole.
Just compare it to the likes of Gunpowder Milkshake, The Tomorrow War or Thunder Force.

 

[strange headache]

Just compare it to the likes of Gunpowder Milkshake, The Tomorrow War or Thunder Force.

Movie is just as bad as Tomorrow War.
What's next, we gonna compare Marvel movies to Plan 9 from Outer Space to make them look good?

 

[sol_bad]

Movie is just as bad as Tomorrow War.
What's next, we gonna compare Marvel movies to Plan 9 from Outer Space to make them look good?

There is no point with that comparison, of course Plan 9 is terible. But generally yes, movies should be compared to your viewing experience as a whole. Some people try and pin the MCU films as the worst ever made when it's simply not true. Current MCU is a millions times better than what we used to get with things like The Punisher, Ghost Rider and Daredevil. Movies that try to pretend they aren't super hero movies basically.

 

[Atrus]

Saw the film yesterday. Was an OK film, about on par with the Marvel TV shows in quality and it was somewhat disconnected due to it being set it the past.

Not as much Taskmaster as I expected, if you’ve seen the trailers you’ve pretty much seen Taskmaster, and the credits pretty much give their identity away (not that you couldn’t guess who the character would be before the reveal).

Florence Pugh and David Harbour were entertaining but the rest were forgettable.

The film had many of the theatrical elements of a Bond film (villainous mastermind, secret lair, henchman mini boss, gadget guy, etc.) except that the titular spy and assassin doesn’t do much of either.

 

[AJUMP23]

I enjoyed the show, but there is some bad CG in this movie. Loki and this suffer from some rough looking scenes because of it.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

The only reason some people give this film a middling review is because it is middling when compared to the other 23 MCU films. IMO I still give it an 8 or 8.5 out of 10 as a whole, loved it.
It's still like a "masterpiece" when compare it to other films as a whole.
Just compare it to the likes of Gunpowder Milkshake, The Tomorrow War or Thunder Force.

Nonsense. It’s not better than those movies. In fact, I think The Tomorrow War had a better premise. I saw it less than an hour ago and it is very forgettable. Even most of the fight scenes were weak.

 

[FunkMiller]

What a pile of mediocre, cliched shit.

Started okay. I genuinely thought we might be getting a Bourne/modern Bond type grounded action spy thriller… but no… it gives way to big, stupid, pointless CG garbage and ordinary human beings being completely fucking invulnerable.

Why? Haven’t we seen enough big airship things exploding in these fucking movies?

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Ulysses 31]

What a pile of mediocre, cliched shit.

Started okay. I genuinely thought we might be getting a Bourne/modern Bond type grounded action spy thriller… but no… it gives way to big, stupid, pointless CG garbage and ordinary human beings being completely fucking invulnerable.

Why? Haven’t we seen enough big airship things exploding in these fucking movies?

People seem so share your sentiment judging from the 80% BO drop off in week 2.

 

[Ulysses 31]

For those interested in a full break down of the movie and lots of time to spare



Really exposed the crazy/ridiculous stuff in the movie, sky fortress bit especially.

 

[jason10mm]

she seems to got a power spike in BW, at least the final bits. may as well reveal the widows were injected with small bits of super soldier juice

Oh, she got some super soldier juice FOR SURE. You really think she and Cap didnt bang at least once? Their love child is the "What If..." I wanna see

 

[DeafTourette]

Oh, she got some super soldier juice FOR SURE. You really think she and Cap didnt bang at least once? Their love child is the "What If..." I wanna see

The widows can't get pregnant. They were forcibly given hysterectomies.

 

[jason10mm]

The widows can't get pregnant. They were forcibly given hysterectomies.

SUPER. SOLDIER. JUICE! You think it gives a damn that there is no uterus?

 

[DeafTourette]

SUPER. SOLDIER. JUICE! You think it gives a damn that there is no uterus?

I'm trying so hard not to laugh!

 

[FunkMiller]

People seem so share your sentiment judging from the 80% BO drop off in week 2.

80%? Fucking hell!

 

[strange headache]

People seem so share your sentiment judging from the 80% BO drop off in week 2.

As I thought, thirsty fanboys gobbled this up but regular audiences don't care.

For those interested in a full break down of the movie and lots of time to spare



Really exposed the crazy/ridiculous stuff in the movie, sky fortress bit especially.

Mauler and EFAP is good stuff, unfortunately their video got copyright claimed by Disney.

 

[FunkMiller]

As I thought, thirsty fanboys gobbled this up but regular audiences don't care.

Endgame really did feel like the end. I doubt the MCU will ever hit those heights again.

 

[sol_bad]

It was a 67% drop, not 80% drop, which is still disappointing. In a post pandemic world it matches up with Fast 9 though, they both had about 67% drops, Black Widow was .1% higher.

Black Widow Sets a Disappointing MCU Box Office Record

Black Widow brings in an additional $26.5 million at the domestic box office, dropping roughly 67 percent in its second weekend in theaters.

www.cbr.com

I think Disney+ is definitely helping with that impact unfortunately. I wonder if Disney will announce it's second weekend numbers.

 

[YCoCg]

It suffers from not being rewatchable as you're over the damn film before it ends the first time.

 

[ManaByte]

Mauler and EFAP is good stuff, unfortunately their video got copyright claimed by Disney.

If something's a big Disney+ release, any video of it gets DMCA'd almost immediately. I know someone who got suspended from Twitter for a 5 second Baby Yoda clip from the Mando S1 finale.

 

[Ulysses 31]

It was a 67% drop, not 80% drop, which is still disappointing.

The 80% is from the Friday to Friday drop.

 

[CloudNull]

Damn... is this the worst drop for any marvel movie?

 

[sol_bad]

Damn... is this the worst drop for any marvel movie?

I think 2nd to Ant-Man and the Wasp.

 

[bitbydeath]

I think 2nd to Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Black Widow had a steeper drop.

‘Widow’ dropped by 67% in its second weekend to a $26.5 million domestic haul. That’s the steepest drop of an MCU film to date – easily beating the 61-62% drops of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp”.

Exhibitors Slam "Black Widow" Release - Dark Horizons

In the wake of this weekend’s box-office numbers, movie theater owners and operators have slammed Disney over its release strategy in regards to Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow”. The film opened on Friday July 9th and on its opening weekend managed $80 million at the domestic box-office and $78...

www.darkhorizons.com

 

[sol_bad]

Black Widow had a steeper drop.

Exhibitors Slam "Black Widow" Release - Dark Horizons

In the wake of this weekend’s box-office numbers, movie theater owners and operators have slammed Disney over its release strategy in regards to Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow”. The film opened on Friday July 9th and on its opening weekend managed $80 million at the domestic box-office and $78...

www.darkhorizons.com

Guess I was totally wrong about that.
derp

I'm really hoping this is still available at the cinemas when they lift the lockdown around Sydney. I want to experience this in the cinema.

 

[MastAndo]

Just finished watching it - yeah, it's pretty much an inconsequential nothing of a movie. It wasn't exactly terrible, but it wasn't particularly enjoyable either. I didn't care for the Black Widow character going in, now I care even less to find out she's just one of many. The plot is all sorts of goofy, with silly devices like Dreykov's pheromones being able to keep the widows at bay...naturally, big brain Natasha counters that by smashing her own nose on a table in such a way to render her olfactory nerve useless, and barely flinches in the process. Speaking of which, I know it's a comic book movie and I'm going to sound like that guy, but this particular flick just screamed to have more of an explanation as to why this understandably very skilled, yet still very human person somehow never gets hurt. Yeah, they crowbarred in a scene with bruises on her back, but the stunts and feats she's able to pull off are so far beyond anything possible even from a human in peak condition (most of which she quickly stands up and walks away from, unscathed), it doesn't even make sense in a silly popcorn flick. I mean, their car was blown sky high by an explosive, flipped into multiple parked cars then continued to tumble down a flight of stars...and ScarJo immediately crawls out of the overturned vehicle like she just fell off of a chair.

...but yeah, Red Guardian was pretty entertaining, and some of the normal moments with the reunited "family" interacting were alright. It was just all part of a package that was a little too uninteresting for my tastes.

 

[strange headache]

Filmento hit the nail on the head:

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I havent enjoyed a female led action movie this much in a while. Felt like a Bourne film. Fight scenes were well choreographed and the movie is shot like a Mission impossible movie.

Isn’t Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence kinda like Bourne but during the Cold War ?

 

[sol_bad]

Isn’t Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence kinda like Bourne but during the Cold War ?

It's a very different type of film, I wouldn't call it an action film at all.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It's a very different type of film, I wouldn't call it an action film at all.

I see. Shame we don't have more movies like that, I will probably watch Black Widow at some point but seeing Soviet Union and NKVD (Soviet secret police agency) through the lens of US superhero adaptation doesn't make it more attractive...

 

[Alx]

Atomic Blonde was also a decent spy-action-movie starring a female protagonist. Also Salt, Anna, and of course Nikita.
There are many examples of the genre, not all great, but sadly I wouldn't put Black Widow on top of them.