Takes me back to the early days of the MCU. Before there were massive crossovers, intergalactic threats, and now parallel universes. A time when it was just a single hero in a relatively grounded conflict that didn't leave earth or enter another plane of existence. Heck, the title character doesn't even have powers which gives the action a Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible vibe. It's also unconcerned with throwing a constant barrage of humor at the audience making this the most tonally serious superhero movie we've received since the last time a Zack Snyder work was released in theaters. Set not long after the events of Civil War, the plot sees Natasha Romanoff taking on a secret shadow organization with ties to her past. Not since Ant-Man and the Wasp has a Marvel flick been so self-contained and detached from moving the overall cinematic world it takes place in forward at all. As a result, it is totally skippable as you won't be missing anything in the grander story of the MCU should you choose not to watch it. Black Widow does still have value though in that it takes a hero who for years has sat alongside Hawkeye as the lamest, most out of place feeling member of The Avengers and actually provides a reason to give a crap about her. The emotional journey the former KGB agent goes on and the unique bond she shares with her supporting cast/family finally grants her a moment in the spotlight when in the past she's been little more than someone who was just sort of there and didn't really contribute much. Not every issue with the heroine has been fixed however. I've always felt Kevin Fiege and crew have played it a little loose with the character's abilities to make up for the lack of girl power present in the "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." I understand she's a highly trained and physically fit individual, but there's nothing here that says she's expressly any more resistant to damage than you or I so seeing her walk away from moments that should have killed or at the very least seriously injured a non-superhuman with hardly a scratch is egregiously unbelievable. That combined with the fact that some of the narrative's big reveals are incredibly predictable are what keep this from achieving perfection. Still, in an era when this franchise is focused on adapting the weirdest, wildest, and most grandiose chapters of its comic counterparts, it's nice to get something that hearkens back to the scale and scope of the first Iron Man while sporting an espionage thriller style that calls to mind The Winter Soldier. It's also the only time a director not named James Gunn has been able to make their distinctive presence felt in a MCU project. I would love to see Cate Shortland helm another entry maybe centered around Yelena Belova or, if my dreams come true, Red Guardian. So despite admittedly being a couple of films and a few miniseries behind, this is what currently has my vote as the best post-Endgame content to come out thus far.