Straight out of Mother Russia, the MCU is back on the big screen!
It’s been a long, hard road for Scarlet Johansson’s founding Avenger Black Widow to finally get a solo feature film. First, there was the corporate reign of notoriously sexist Marvel exec Ike Perlmutter, who blocked attempts to get the movie rolling. Then, once it was finally announced, COVID-19 descended upon the world and the release date was delayed again. And again. And again. Until finally it hit theaters a whopping two whole years after Avengers: Endgame, when Natasha Romanoff gave the ultimate sacrifice to help defeat Thanos.
So, inevitably, this movie is a prequel. But the decade of waiting did allow the stars to align and give us Florence Pugh as the perfect Yelena Belova, so if for no other reason, that much was worth the wait. Spoilers are incoming but, if you haven’t seen it yet (I know, I know, I’m way behind once again) I would definitely recommend - It’s one of Marvel’s strongest solo offerings with a quality blend of action & humor and amazing performances from its stars.
We reconnect with Natasha on the run after the events of ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and before 'Avengers: Infinity War.' With the government hot on her tail, our hero is looking to lie low. But that proves impossible when a mysterious assassin hunts her down, setting her on a thrilling collision course with her mysterious past.
'Black Widow' is firing on all cylinders straight out of the gate with an opening flashback equal parts exhilarating and emotional, leading into a haunting opening credits that is easily the best in the MCU. It sets a grim and gritty tone that the rest of the movie doesn't always follow through on. But when it does commit to the brutal, pared-down, nuts and bolts spy film it's meant to be, it excels and stands apart from the fun but largely homogenous stalwarts of the MCU.
On the flip side, however, it is clear that Marvel Studios is still unwilling to let its output stray too far from their tried and true formula. We still have the all too familiar tropes - emotional moments interrupted by cheap jokes, a needlessly bombastic CGI third act and frantically over-edited fight scenes.
The heart of 'Black Widow' is certainly its cast, and this is where the movie is strongest. We reconnect with Natasha's Russian "family" one by one - Pugh as 'sister' Yelena who nails her deadpan delivery and has stellar chemistry with Johansson; David Harbour as 'father' Alexi, a Karl-Marx-knuckle-tatted Soviet Super Soldier called the Red Guardian; and Rachel Weisz as pig farming scientist 'mother' Melina. The three of them perfectly embody their new characters, quickly endearing themselves to the audience and stealing the movie right out from under its star.
This is not Johannson’s best performance as Natasha. It is by no means BAD but, coming off her delivering 2 Oscar-nominated performances in 2019, one might expect her not to be so easily overshadowed by the rest of the cast. And yet she is. It would be unfair to call her a weak link, and she certainly delivers the key aspects of the Black Widow character fans have come to know and love over the past decade, but it definitely feels like her heart left when the character was killed off. She doesn't seem nearly as invested in her performance as the first-timers.
If there is a weak link in the cast, it lies with the villains. I do feel that a lot of the criticism leveled at Taskmaster and Dreykov (Ray Winstone) is overblown - Not every great antagonist needs an elaborate backstory and character arc. They only need to be memorable. And, unfortuantely, neither mastermind nor henchman are given enough content to truly make that big of an impact. Winstone is delightfully hatable, with his slimy, human-trafficking Weinstein-esque aesthetic hitting very close to the headlines, but is fairly generic.
Taskmaster has the most promise. The glimpses we see of the killer "studying" footage to mimic moves and especially their first attack on Natasha is truly chilling. But in choosing to keep their true identity a secret, Marvel undercut the ability to really get to know them. Even then, just giving Taskmaster one more fight scene could have made a world of difference. They pretty much disappear for the entire second act - inserting them into the prison break sequence would have gone a long way to making them truly memorable. But I do hope we haven't seen the last of them.
In the end, despite its flaws, 'Black Widow' cements itself as one of the best MCU solo outings and a proper, long overdue send-off to one of the first Avengers. And while Natasha Romanoff may have joined the fireflies to fly over the horizon once and for all, it leaves behind an exciting cast of new, great characters that will hopefully be with us for years to come.
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