Hey everyone and welcome to my latest review of a movie from last year! Today I’m finally going to be taking a look at a fairly recent entry from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that was also the kick off flick (in terms of movies) for phase 4, Black Widow. Now when this project was first announced to be happening, I was both looking forward to it and thought that it was way overdue. Despite being one of the founding Avengers and being a very popular character in her own right, I find it incredibly odd how it took this long for Natasha Romanov to get her own solo adventure when it arguably should have came out sometime in phase 3 (okay I know there were certain things regarding some people in charge that prevented that from happening, but still). Adding to that it also feel weird getting this movie… after her character died in Avengers Endgame, making this film more of a send off more than anything. Still though I was interested in the project as I like this character and have wanted to see her get her own project. Plus I really dug the idea of another MCU spy thriller in the vein of Captain America: The Winter Soldier as well as the talent involved. So now that it has come out, I can happily say that I found it to be a very solid entry in the franchise that I thoroughly enjoyed. Let’s now go back and see how this swan song to Natasha’s story turned out and why it ended up working for me.
Set sometime in the aftermath of the events of Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War, Natasha Romanov is now on the run after violating the Sokovia Accords with S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to catch up with her. While trying to keep a low profile in Norway, she ends up getting attacked by a masked individual known as Taskmaster and realizes that she was unknowingly carrying an item that was sent to her from Budapest. The sender: her adopted sister, Yelena Belova who after an initial skirmish tells Natasha that the Red Room, the organization that made them into who they are, is still active and it’s leader, Dreykov (whom Natasha thought she killed years ago) alive and in charge. Knowing what he is capable of, the sisters go off on a mission to locate old faces from their past in order to stop him before he enacts his heinous scheme.
It is very much evident that director Cate Shortland and screenwriter, Eric Pearson, are trying to craft a spy thriller in the vein of films like the Bourne films that just so happens to take place in the MCU and I think they mostly succeed. It delivers what one would want from that type of film with the political intrigue, the mostly grounded action sequences, and some globe trotting thrown in for good measure and I found it all to be very entertaining. What I appreciated most though was how the movie was able to strike a surprisingly good tonal balance. One common criticism thrown at the MCU recently is that the use of humor tends to undercut so much of the emotional weight or serious stakes that are trying to be established, and I do agree with that sentiment on a number of their projects. Here though, while there were a couple of times where the comedy felt a tad forced, I felt that the movie maintained an appropriately serious tone throughout with the humor coming naturally from the personalities of the characters and their interactions with one another. This was a smart choice as it makes the emotional moments more impactful and allows the movie to not shy away from showing/discussing the cruel way the Red Room manipulates it’s agents. On a similar note I liked how the flick does manage to serve as a nice good bye to Natasha while wrapping up certain loose threads for the character to take care of (in this case her history with the Red Room ) in a satisfying fashion. That being said I will admit as having liked the first two character driven acts more than the third act as that’s where it felt more like a grounded spy thriller whereas the climax feels like a pretty standard super hero climax where a huge object is falling from the sky and there is a lot of CGI. Still, similar to The Wolverine it’s watchable and doesn’t discount what came before.
As mentioned earlier, the film has plenty of action sequences and for the most part they are well done and deliver the excitement that one would want from a Marvel comic book movie. They are all coherent and easy to follow and utilize some impressive stunt work, in particular in the first act when Natasha and Yelena are doing some hand to hand combat in an apartment room which then leads to foot chase with the other agents and then a car chase through the streets of Prague. That was my personal favorite sequence in the movie as it felt like I was watching something straight out of the Bourne films and Cate Shortland’s direction helps in emulating the feel of the flicks like those. Again the CGI heavy third act did little for me as it is where the movie feels more like a conventional MCU venture and there wasn’t anything too special regarding the action here. Some of the effects are also pretty shoddy here, although that has more to do with how the VFX artists at Marvel are seemingly being rushed to meet a deadline. I will admit to being amused that the location in which the climax does take place in was cleverly foreshadowed by the movie Moonraker out of all things. Also while it does have the usual Marvel look that is commonplace in their movies, there were a couple of neat little flourishes here, in particular the use of Black Widow’s own colors (red and black) in certain scenes and I really liked the use of an opening credits sequence set to a haunting rendition of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” after the really compelling prologue. Not only that but I really dug Lorne Balfe’s score here as it fits the movie well and I like the use of the chorus as it makes it feel more sweeping and heroic in tone. Might be one of my favorite MCU compositions in quite some time actually.
Now in terms of how this movie works as a solo vehicle for it’s lead, I think it does a good job showcasing a unseen part of her story as we see her come to terms with her past. Scarlett Johannsen is great per usual as she has played this role many times and slips in naturally. The sarcastic sense of humor is on point and she does very well in the more emotional scenes as well as we see her re visiting her past through her “family” and learning to come to terms with it in order to stop Drekov from causing more harm to girls through the Red Room just like it did to her. Heck I came out appreciating the character just a tad bit more after watching the film as it does a good job showing why she is such an effective character in her own right. With that said she does get overshadowed by her sister, Yelena, played by the always fantastic, Florence Pugh. She has the same type of humor as Natasha except Pugh injects a lot more energy into the role which contrasts nicely with Natasha’s dead pan delivery. Their interactions are a highlight of the feature and provided a lot of the strongest comedy present as well as some of the best character wise as we see them reflect on their past. Also adding a lot of energy to the proceedings is David Harbor as Alexei (AKA Red Guardian) who was both a father figure for the two and was essentially the Russian equivalent of Captain America. He’s a fun presence with his boisterous personality, but also a flawed individual who yearns who the glory days when he used to fight for his country as an icon and doesn’t seem to be the most caring father initially. Also adding to this family dynamic is Rachel Weisz as Melina, a mother figure to the girls when they were young, who may not get as much to do, but Weisz is solid as the character, giving her a layer of ambiguity that works for the story and she does share one great emotional moment with Natasha. The whole family angle for the movie was what made the click as well as it did for me serving as the beating heart of the feature that adds to Natasha as a character and makes her death all the more tragic, knowing the connection she formed with them over the course of this movie. Same goes for the brief but charming alliance, Natasha has with an ally from her past, Mason (O-T Fagbenle) who manages to make a small impression which is impressive given that he is just there to help Natasha get from one place to the other. On the villain side there is Drekov played by Ray Winstone and I found him to be a solid foil to Natasha who is a nasty, power hungry, individual that treats women like objects that he can bend to his will. He may not be the flashiest personality or the most memorable baddie, but Winstone does a good job portraying him as a slimy scumbag that is easy to root against. Then there is Taskmaster who I was worried was going to be more of Hench man based off of the trailers (spoilers about to be discussed in the next couple of sentences). Luckily the character does play a bigger role than I thought she (played by Olga Kurylenko) would. Yes, I know it’s not accurate to the comics and yes I can understand the disappointment that fans have in not seeing the character as portrayed in that fashion. But in the context of the film I thought the reveal of her being Drekov’s daughter worked and further added to his despicable nature as well as serve as a shocking reveal for Natasha herself.
In the end, I really dug Black Widow and find it to be a somewhat underappreciated picture in the MCU canon. Yes the third act is it’s weakest part, some of the visual effects were shoddy in certain places, and there were times when Natasha felt a bit sidelined in her own movie. However I like the spy thriller angle, the tone is balanced, most of the action is well done, the new characters are fun and I would like to see more of them, I really enjoyed the family dynamic at play, and it works as a nice send off to this character and show cases why she is so popular with many people. I also appreciated the that since it is an MCU prequel focused on a now deceased character, it doesn’t spend so much time on explicitly setting up future plot threads (save for the post credit scene, which I personally did not like as it did sour what should have been an emotional goodbye to Natasha) and instead focuses on being telling a solid story, something I always appreciate with any film in this series. Should this have been released a long time ago? Absolutely. Am I still satisfied with what we ended up getting? Ditto.
Rating: B+
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