About a year and a half ago, I was really looking forward to seeing Marvel Studios’ "Black Widow.” My cousin had been talking it up since the first trailer appeared way back in December 2019. But, as I said, this was a year and a half ago, Spring 2020. Ah, the first year of covid. The movie was all set to come out in the Spring/Summer, the merchandise was out, and millions of fans were ready. Long story short, the movie got delayed to May 2021, all because of covid. When the movie eventually came out on Disney+, it was even better than I expected. "Black Widow" is an intense but thrilling movie that provides an exhilarating backstory for this previously mysterious character.  The plot of the movie, characters, cinematography, and special effects characteristics of this movie will be discussed, all in ways that these great elements helped build another action-packed Marvel movie. But beware, lots of scenes from the movie are discussed, so expect a few spoilers!

First, the very exciting plot structure kept viewers on the edge of their seats in my opinion. The plot was full of action and explosions, but also great sentiment for Natasha. The movie plot is structured around her exploring her past and stopping an old enemy with allies that make their first MCU debut. I really enjoyed the movie for its plot, which, adding up all of the little connections to other Marvel movies, helps provide a story of what happened to Natasha Romanoff after "Captain America: Civil War.” Although the movie plot is very good in itself, adding in a fake news story, or conversation in a future Marvel movie mentioning the events of this movie would really help make the movie seem realistic in the MCU. After looking at the plot structure, investigating the characters and what they did in the movie is next.

Second, the characters, whose development was awesome, and it was obvious that Marvel had worked hard to get to the depth of character background and development as the movie had. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) has obviously been a large part of the "Avengers" since her first appearance in “Iron Man 2”, and every movie she has been in has built on her personality and role in the movies building up to the final "Avengers" movie. She displays a cool, calm, and collected personality, being a spy. Although the acting for her was phenomenal, this was an emotional experience after the events of "Avengers: Endgame.” Next, her sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) was a brand new character in this movie and had never been in other "Avengers" or Marvel movies previously. She did a great job as a new character portraying a sister, who is also a Russian black widow. Marvel Studios successfully posed her in the movie as a sister who obviously knew and had met Natashabut had tension with her for reasons explained in the film. As for other side characters, Marvel had based them on characters from Marvel Comics. Being a Marvel movie fan, not a comic fan, I originally viewed it as another way to profit, by creating new characters. After research, I have now come to a respectful conclusion that these characters are based on real characters that were maybe unknown in Natasha’s past. Now that the two main characters have been identified, we can look at some filming strategies to make these characters look good in action.

Third, the cinematography aspect of the film really added to the acting and plot that was already discussed and is really the filter into making this movie look realistic and awesome. First I would like to address the camera movement in fighting scenes, such as in Yelena’s apartment. The camera moves with the characters and shows all angles of the fight, sometimes moving from fast paced punching to a hard staredown. Quick cuts to different angles complementing the actor’s swift blows to their enemy. In several scenes, cuts of the action were in slow motion, a nice addition to the intense battles, while in others, unique shots through windows and reflections of something off a shiny surface were an interesting add on. 

For lighting, most scenes had a realistic source of light, for example Natasha in combat on the countryside bridge. The eerie yellow glow was a perfect mock of old lights from an aging structure. Or, when several characters were in deep discussion outside a helicopter, the sunlight seemed clouded over, like the Russian countryside in this instance. Music was combined well with different kinds of scenes whether that was an intense stare down, to kicking and punching, to a sappy family dinner. These aspects of filming really add on to the characters in plot, as most great movies do. Speaking of adding onto movie quality, we will finally look at what puts the action in an action movie.

Fourth, the thirst for action was met in full by the thrilling special effects of “Black Widow.” The movie was full of special effects, gunfire, explosions, and a whole lot more.  Matthew Giampa, the special effects supervisor for "Black Widow", was tasked with creating visual effects for some of the intense fight scenes. My personal favorite was the final fight scene, at the Red Room. The scene, including Natasha climbing on debris in the air, had an intense battle as well as an intense filming sequence. Sources show that the scene was filmed in a wind tunnel with blue screens for CGI. I think these processes really made a realistic fight scene, although it is computer generated. The movie really wouldn’t be able to have the same final format as it was released without the special effects. They range from the second to the very final scenes of the movie and create intense action wherever they are placed. Overall the movie’s special effects were an extremely beneficial part of the show, an important part combined with other aspects in the creation of this movie.

Finishing up, it is now easy to see that the plot, characters, cinematography, and special effects all complement and benefit each other in many ways through the film. The cinematography adds up the plot and character development, and special effects add that zing to the movie. All of these characteristics went into creating another successful part of the Marvel franchise. The movie is a great backstory for the infamous Black Widow character and an interesting sidestory for "Captain America'' and "Avengers” movies. For those looking for an action packed movie for watching alone or with family, this would be a great choice for Marvel fans, plus, if someone decides to try this movie out, it's easy to stream from Disney+, so viewers won’t be stuck waiting around another year for this marvelous movie to be released!