After a rough start to the year, the summer movie season finally gets off the ground with the release of Marvel's Black Widow making its way to theaters after a year long delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With audiences last seeing Scarlett Johansson's character in Avengers: Endgame two years prior and her characters fate in that story, it feels right that the Marvel team revert backwards in exploring Natasha Romanoff's past. Though it may confuse general audiences with its setting in the timeline, Black Widow contains enough of what Marvel fans desire to be thoroughly entertained by, even if it doesn't really bring anything groundbreaking to the table in regards to storytelling.
Picking up after the events of Captain America: Civil War before both Infinity War and Endgame, Black Widow explores the origins of gifted Spy Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) beginning in 1990's Ohio with her posing as an elder child of a Russian spy couple (David Harbour and Rachel Wesiz) with the story fast-forwarding years later to her meeting her fake younger sister (Florence Pugh). Together they try to track down and destroy a Russian operation that creates Black Widows through mind control. With the films plot designed to give audiences answers regarding Natalia's past, Black Widow does its job very well in giving Johansson her first standalone film in the universe with it being a highly enjoyable and intense action-packed experience. The film combines the Spy elements of Captain America: Winter Soldier, along with giving the story a more personal approach which makes it feel grounded in scope. It's not the Marvel film to change the course of things nor reinvent the wheel, but it succeeds in giving Johansson a fitting farewell with the character while humanizing her.
The effectiveness of the story was always going to hinge on the strength of both Johansson and the cast in bringing it to life on the screen. For Scarlett, the role represents a decade of playing Natasha Romanoff with the character starting out as being hypersexualized before becoming more fleshed out as the universe progressed. Here, she appears to have a genuine understanding of Natasha and compellingly plays the part as someone forced to confront her own past regarding her family tree. Although Johansson does well in her role, Florence Pugh steals the show as Natasha's fake younger sister Yelena who rivals with her at first, but deep down accepts her false family heritage to be real. Rachel Weisz and David Harbour deliver strong performances as both Natasha and Yelena's false Russian Spy parents Melina and Alexi with Weisz's character being a Black Widow and Harbour's being the Russian super-soldier counterpart to Captain America named Red Guardian. Ray Winstone is effectively menacing as Dreykov, the Russian general and head of the Red Room who controls the Black Widows. The rest of the supporting cast give noteworthy performances with William Hurt reprising his role from The Incredible Hulk and Civil War as former Army general Thaddeus Ross, and Olga Kurylenko in a key role as Dreykov's daughter Antonia/Taskmaster who completes missions for the Red Room. Like all previous Marvel films before it, Black Widow assembles a talented cast of actors/actresses who show pure devotion to bringing the overall story to the screen in a way that feels both realistic and memorable.
The directing by Care Shortland is dark, though feels steady-handed and focused with its overall narrative. She presents the story as being funny along with being dark, brutal, and honest with its revelations regarding Natasha's past. The films action is executed with a dose of kinetic energy, including well-shot and choreographed fights between Widow and Taskmaster, as well as an eye-catching fight sequence between Natasha and Yelena that results in a John Wick style kitchen fight. The cinematography creates a gritty feel with the costume design reinforcing the grim nature of Natasha's past while giving her a more superhero appearance (Natasha's white costume for example), whereas Yelena's suit gives off the Russian Spy vibe. The score by Lorne Balfe is effective in reinforcing the Russian aspect of the plot. The editing gives the action sequences a fast-paced feel with the overall film feeling a bit slow-moving given its two hour running time. Shortland does a decent job of balancing the action as well as developing the characters. Much of the films action is what Marvel fans have become accustomed to with Shortland providing the right rush of adrenaline, while emphasizing the emotional core of the story. Despite certain moments carrying an overuse of CGI that gives the movie a video game feel (The climactic action sequence for example), Care Shortland does a sufficient job of crafting a taut family comedy/drama sprinkled with elements of a classic Spy thriller that just happens to be a Marvel flick.
The writing by Eric Pearson from a story by Jack Schaeffer and Ned Benson utilizes elements from Civil War with the heart of the story being the sibling relationship/ rivalry between Natasha and Yelena. Their dynamic is not written to strictly show the two fighting each other straight through, but shows the strengthening of their bond through shared experiences along with them sharing light-hearted moments such as Yelena making fun of Natasha's pose while fighting her enemies. Yelena's character also appears set to pick up the mantle passed to her from Romanoff. The characters of Melina and Alexi are shown to have distinctly layered personalities with Melina being deadpan, while coming to terms with her past as a failed mother. Alexi is shown to be a comically flawed individual who isn't a noble person, but shows signs of redemption through his admitting of faults as a father-figure to Natasha and Yelena. One of the scripts boldest moves is the switching up of Taskmasters gender from it originally being a male to a female. The change proves effective with character being presented as extremely skillful in mimicking her opponents' fighting styles, while carrying much internal pain due to her fathers abusively controlling ways. Dreykov feels like the appropriate villain for the story with him being written as a corrupt puppeteer, who holds no regard for hurting anyone and controls everything from a Red Room with him appearing to be untouchable. Other interesting character subplots involve the hinted romance between Rick Mason and Natasha with the film toying with the idea, but rightfully dropping it to focus on Natasha and her family. As a whole, the story for Black Widow is carefully written in a way that doesn't make it contradict with the events of Infinity War. Here the characters and themes are thoroughly fleshed out with the audience becoming invested in Natasha's past and dysfunctional family dynamic. The newer members of Romanoff's family are properly introduced in the films clever opening scene with them being appealing along with the villains of the story.
Putting it simply, Black Widow is a story about pain and sacrifice which both Natasha and Yelena feel in knowing what's real and what's not with their relatability bringing them together in the form of a unique sisterhood. The film works effectively in giving Natasha Romanoff's character proper closure with the story being groomed to continue through the perspective of Yelena's. Although it can be said that some of the films best elements come from others in the MCU like Civil War, it succeeds in removing the hypersexualization of its main heroine and providing her with a soul. Black Widow stands as being a solidly entertaining standalone origin story that's elevated by top notch action, deeply engaging themes, and a fantastic supporting cast which makes it an enjoyable cinematic experience that should've been the film to come out first before Captain Marvel.
Final Verdict: See It.
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Images courtesy of Disney
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