Factual error: The sisters run out of fuel for the helicopter, which is then shown slamming down on the ground and essentially destroying itself. All helicopters are capable of autorotating safely to the ground in the event the engine(s) quit. Of course, that would not have been as dramatic. (01:05:15)
Black Widow (2021)
Directed by: Cate Shortland
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Weisz, David Harbour, Florence Pugh
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Suggested correction: You may have noticed the helicopter was severely damaged, it may not have any rotating capabilities left after the fuel was gone.
I did notice it, but it did not look that any damage would prevent it from autorotation.
Perhaps the sisters (not being experienced helicopter pilots) couldn't use the autorotation properly.
OK, while that may be a possibility, if they have a helicopter pilot's license they would have had to demonstrate autorotation as part of both the curriculum and the practical exam. But listen, it's just a movie. The way they did it makes it more dramatic.
Factual error: Melina tells Natasha that the only way to get past Dreykov's pheromone block is to sever her olfactory nerve. So Natasha smacks her head on a table to sever it, hits Dreykov, then later pops her apparently broken nose back into place. Not only was her nose visibly not broken, but the olfactory nerve is a direct extension of the brain, with projections passing through a key bone in the skull. Severing that nerve would involve brain damage, and traumatic damage to those structures capable of this would require surgical repair.
Other mistake: Black Widow and her sister steal a BMW. Getting away they damage the left rear quarter. A few cuts later they show the car again and it has no damage to the left rear quarter. (00:40:15)
Trivia: When Yelena is talking about Alexei wanting to relive his glory days as the Red Guardian, she sarcastically calls him Crimson Dynamo. In the comics, Crimson Dynamo is one of Iron Man's enemies. Ivan Vanko from Iron Man 2 was partly based on this character.
Trivia: This film marks William Hurt's fifth and final appearance as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. He died from prostate cancer the following year, and his role was recast with Harrison Ford moving forward.
More trivia for Black Widow
Yelena Belova: OK, you got a plan, or shall I just stay, duck, and cover?
Natasha Romanoff: My plan was to drive us away.
Yelena Belova: Well, your plan sucks.
Alexei Shostakov: We're family. We fight with you.
Natasha Romanoff: How many others are there?
Yelena Belova: Enough.
Question: At the end, General Ross' convoy is nearly to Natasha, intent on arresting her...then we cut to two weeks later, and she's about to embark on a prison breakout. Are we just meant to assume she escaped...somehow? Fought off everyone who was in those about 20 SUVs? Ran for it and somehow got away?
Chosen answer: It was done intentionally that way by the director to be left up to the viewer's imagination. Cate Shortland said "that was intentional, because we wanted to leave the question of how she would get away, rather than allow the audience to get exhausted by another fight." Of course, it's also possible that future films or TV shows will discuss/show her escape. Perhaps she negotiated her way out with information on the Red Dust.
I don't see why she didn't just leave with everyone else. There was no reason for her to stand there and wait. She could have flown off, as well. The convoy was cars, not planes.
Natasha activated her tracker which led Ross to her. The plan was to have Ross and his men arrest Dreykov, but basically things went sideways. Natasha stayed behind to hold Ross and his men off from pursuing the Widows. Presumably, had she left with them, Ross would still be able to track her and everyone would be in danger of being captured.
Until it is explained by one of those future shows, it really can be thought of as a plot hole. The interview, after the quoted bit, goes like this; "We wanted to leave you guys on a high with the question of how did she use her ingenuity? Because she did. And it was probably, I would say, she bargained her way out of that situation. But I don't know." So...the director says she does not know how the hell did she -really - escape that situation, just that she must have done something clever. Hilarious.
Leaving the how unanswered isn't a plot hole, even if writers or directors don't know the how. At best, it's an unexplained Deus ex machina. A plot hole is something that contradicts what's been established for the sake of the plot, but here, nothing was established.
I wouldn't say it's a DEM. Wikipedia; "Deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence."There is no occurrence here. Nothing that we (nor the director.) know of intervened between the two scenes.On the other hand,"Plot hole is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot." Natasha's situation is established and then ignored.
Which is why I said it was "unknown." An unknown occurrence happened that resolved the situation that wasn't illogical. However, I wouldn't correct you if you submitted a plot hole mistake, but others might since something not being explained isn't a plot hole.
Yes, sorry, I was splitting hairs as usual; I don't think a DEM can be "unexplained" in the sense of "unknown" because its whole point is that it is the narrative device that gives the story its twist; as absurd as it is (like a literal God appearing out of nowhere fixing things), it must be "something." Here there's nothing; we only have a statement of the director, movie-wise it's not even particularly implied that the resolution was peaceful, since Nat simply says she'll hold them off.
Question: Was the post-credits sequence changed at all, given the film's delay? Without giving specifics away, this was intended to be the first appearance of a certain character, but due to changed release dates that character first appeared in one of the Marvel TV shows instead. Presumably the character featured would have had slightly more of an introduction in this film if they hadn't already been in the TV show?
Answer: I can't attest to if the end credit scene was altered, but I can say that it's been Marvel's M.O. to introduce new characters to foreshadow upcoming projects without really giving them much of an introduction. For example, Fury, Thanos, Captain Marvel, the Wasp. It seems this credit scene was meant to tease the audience for her upcoming appearance in the TV show rather than build on who they've already established her to be.
Question: Spoilers! The woman who Yelena kills at the start isn't seen hugely, but bears a passing resemblance to Olga Kurylenko, who's in the opening credits but isn't actually seen until nearly the end of the film. Does anyone know if this was a deliberate choice to misdirect more casting-savvy viewers as to the part she actually plays, or am I misremembering, and the woman at the start doesn't look much like her at all?
Chosen answer: Are you talking about the woman who has the mind control antidote that ends up freeing Yelena from the Red Room's control? She's a rogue ex-Widow named Oksana played by martial artist and stunt coordinator Michelle Lee.
That's her. It's only a semi-resemblance, but was close enough that I basically assumed if that was Olga Kurylenko she'd had her role cut down, or was a cameo, or might appear in flashbacks. Either way I didn't spend the film thinking "when's Olga Kurylenko showing up?", and anyone asking that of themselves presumably might figure out who was playing Taskmaster before the big reveal. I might just be overthinking it of course. :-).
I actually thought it might have been Olga Kurylenko at first as well.
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