Review:
"Black Widow"
Release Date: July 9, 2021
Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 134 minutes If Tony Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgameseemed inevitable, Natasha Romanoff’s sacrifice came as a shock that still reverberates today. As Black Widow, Romanoff served as an invaluable founding member of The Avengers, one perfectly comfortable relying on her mental acuity, highly developed skills, and physical prowess to earn her a place among the superpowered and the immortal. Unlike the Vision, who enjoyed a resurrection of sorts in WandaVision after his purported demise in Avengers: Infinity War, Romanoff’s death remains a guarantee within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, of course, this does not mean we have seen the last of Scarlett Johansson as Romanoff, as proven by the sidequel Black Widow. This Cate Shortland-directed prequel not only provides further insight into the origin of Russia’s nefarious Black Widow program but conceivably offers both Johansson and Romanoff the sendoff they deserve but did not necessarily receive in Endgame. Of course, Black Widow arrives more than a decade after Johansson’s MCU debut in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Why we had to wait until after Romanoff’s death for this solo adventure speaks as much to Marvel’s prior hesitancy to showcase its female protagonists for fear of audience rejection as it does to the studio’s effort to allow devoted fans to fully process Romanoff’s death. So Black Widow certainly is a case of better late than never. That said, there is no excuse that Black Widow is the first MCU installment solely directed by a woman (Anna Boden co-directedCaptain Marvel with her longtime collaborator, Ryan Fleck.) In all fairness, Marvel will also release Chloé Zhao’s The Eternalslater this year, but the studio’s failure to hire women directors until now remains both baffling and sadly indictive of an industry that has inexplicably continues to question whether a woman can oversee a big-budget popcorn movie. Australian Cate Shortland, who comes to the MCU after directing several low-budget indies, immediately establishes herself to be the perfect choice to blend Marvel’s house style of action and mayhem with the dysfunctional family drama that fuels Black Widowfrom start to finish. Set after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil Warthat led to the fracturing of the Avengers, Black Widow reveals how Natasha Romanoff and her sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) were forced as children into the Black Widow program and emerged years later as lethal weapons. Actually, Natasha and Yelena—played by Florence Pugh—are not sisters. Instead, as orphaned children, they were used as props for two Russian sleeper agents posing as a married couple in the United States in the 1990s under the command of the Black Widow program’s mastermind, Ray Winstone’s Dreykov. Black Widow opens with Yelena—equally as deadly as Natasha—breaking free of Dreykov’s control and recruiting Natasha to locate and destroy the Black Widow program’s home base, the so-called Red Room. In order to do so, though, Natasha and Yelena must first reconcile with their “parents,” Rachel Weisz’s scientist Melina Vostokof and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov aka the super-solider Red Guardian. Easier said than done. Yes, Black Widow is filled with the elaborate fights, shootouts, and action set-pieces we expect from Marvel. But Shortland, working from a nimble script credited to Eric Pearson, is more interested in the family dynamic that informs each and every interaction between Natasha and the members of her faux family. Shortland examines Natasha and Yelena’s trauma-inducing shared history against their conflicting feelings for the adults that abandoned them at their darkest hour. Melina and Alexei may not be Natasha and Yelena’s real parents, but Shortland and Pearson never discount their influence and impact on two young lost souls desperate to be a part of a real family. Shortland often breaks up the tension between with a warm, telling humor that speaks to the bond that the four developed over the course of three years posing as your average American family. Black Widow features a funny running joke driven by sibling rivalry. Most important, Black Widow compares and contrasts Natasha and Yelena as equally damaged lost souls whose life experiences remain the same but different. “Your pain only makes you stronger,” Rachel Weisz’s Melina tells Natasha and Yelena as children. But the pain still remains for Natasha and Yelena. Natasha, as we already know, rejected her self-ordained destiny as a cold, calculated Russian killing machine to escape to the West and become a hero to all. Yelena remained at the mercy of a cruel and cunning puppeteer, one who treats his trained assassins as disposable instruments of death and destruction. While Scarlett Johansson has always coated Natasha with a hard shell, Johansson knows when it appropriate for Natasha to display her feelings. In Black Widow, Johansson finds good reason for Natasha to open up more than she has in prior MCU films. And Johansson gives it her all emotionally and physically as Natasha knowing this could be her last major appearance as the Black Widow. Yelena, however, has lived a sheltered life under watchful eyes. When freed of Dreykov’s control, Yelena experiences a profound sense of liberation. Florence Pugh always allows Yelena to wear her emotions on her sleeve, whether it is in regards to her sentiment for the people she still considers her family or to the small joy of buying her own outfits for the first time in her life. Natasha certainly is less enthusiastic about a family than Yelena. As a Black Widow, Pugh instantly positions herself as a force to be reckoned with, and she proves herself to be Johansson’s equal when Yelena and Natasha fight each other for no good reason. Pugh also makes Yelena’s very much her father’s daughter. David Harbour fills his portly Alexei Shostakov with an infectious jovial bluster that makes his failings as a father figure almost forgivable. Rachel Weisz is all business as Melina but that does not mean Weisz to fails to instill in Melina a maternal instinct unexpected of a Black Widow. If Shortland successfully establishes Black Widow as a family drama, she comes up short in creating a true threat to Natasha and her Russian superhero relatives. Ray Winstone’s villain is as generic as his Russian accent. His obedient foot soldier, Taskmaster, possesses the ability to mimic an adversary’s moves but Black Widow fails to fully realize Taskmaster’s potential. While Black Widow is not overtly informed by the current tense relationship between the United States and Russian, the post-Cold War elements put in place within the context of the MCU by credited screenwriter Eric Pearson certainly makes Black Widow a more satisfying James Bondian undertaking than F9. Shortland imbues Black Widow with a Daniel Craig 007-era grittiness but the action sequences—including a prison break and an assault on the Red Room—are straight out of a Roger Moore mission in size and execution. Even Lorne Balfe’s score feels influenced by recent Bond outings. As a Bond homage, Black Widow works as well as Captain America: The Winter Soldier does as a 1970s-tinged conspiracy thriller. And, just as The Winter Soldier did, Black Widow sets up events for at least one upcoming MCU project. By doing so, Black Widow more than justifies its existence as one last hurrah for Scarlett Johansson and Natasha Romanoff. And gives us the closure we need when it comes to Natasha Romanoff. Yes, we will miss Johansson’s Black Widow. But Black Widow gives us reason to believe that Pugh’s place in the MCU is assured. Robert Sims Aired: July 8, 2021. Web sites: https://www.marvel.com/movies/black-widow https://www.facebook.com/blackwidow/ |
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