Black Widow Review

Black Widow (2021)
Directed by: Cate Shortland
Written by: Eric Pearson, Jac Shaeffer and Ned Benson
Starring: Scarlet Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, David Harbour etc.

You know the necessity of a Black Widow movie had been a topic of discussion years prior to its late 2021 release due to the insufferable aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic spreading throughout the world. Ever since her debut in Ironman 2, Black Widow has always been seen as amazing, badass female hero alongside her fellow male dominated Avengers' teammates that fans of the MCU and well casual movie goers were interesting if the character could carry her own film by wanting it for so long. How said was it when Black Widow unfortunately met her demise during the events of Avengers Endgame by sacrificing herself so the surviving members of the Avengers could get the soul stone to bring back half of the universe's population. With Scarlet Johansson's black clad Russian superspy now dead, news of her impending solo film debut seemed like the worst possible time; drawing a massive "How?!? O_O" with the many viewers of this multi-billion dollar shared universe franchise. Marvel Studios, while being so incredibly groundbreaking with their own cinematic universe, it seemed a bit too late in the game for them to finally release a female lead superhero film. For once, Warner Bros./DC beat them to the punch with 2017's inspiring epic debut of Wonder Woman that garnered synonymous praise commercially and critically. Marvel soon released "Captain Marvel" a year later, a mixed and mediocre origin story for Carol Danvers that fancied 90s nostalgia inspired humor instead of a truly emotional rewarding and empowering female hero tale. So Black Widow wouldn't exactly be their first female lead superhero film but definitely its most anticipated since people have wanted a solo film between Avengers releases. How could a Black Widow movie work moving into Phase 4 of the MCU with the titular character now dead??? Well, luckily, "Black Widow" smartly takes place between the events of "Captain America: Civil War" and "Avengers: Infinity War" while Natasha and a handful of other Avengers were on the run from the US government thanks to their efforts against the Sokovia Accords that Team Ironman was supporting. The character of Black Widow had always been such a dark, tragic character, especially given her origins of becoming female spy by force instead of choice while dealing with emotional turmoil of being used a weapon to kill others in cold blood.

As I said, it had the makings for one of the most ambitious and darkest MCU films since "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" which was such an unforeseen and brilliant espionage action thriller that broke the MCU formula for once. Sigh.....unfortunately the same can't be said about Marvel Studios' Black Widow, which feels more like a meandering solo mission for the title character instead of a deeper look in the complexity and tragic backstory of Natasha Rominoff. Honestly, I feel bad for Scarlet Johansson as she is as usual solid as the character throughout but it just doesn't even feel like it's her movie at times. Instead more about the infamous, deadly Red Room and the family dynamic that she grew up with before being sold into assassin servitude by the malicious leader of the Russian human weapon making Empire. There were so many possibilities for us to see a more vulnerable Natasha, not to mention having some thought provoking psychological flashbacks on how Natasha became the cold blooded bada$$ she's been since we were first introduced to her. Idk, maybe even get a sequence of finally learning about happened with her and Barton at Budapest! :P What we get tho, is a family drama about Natasha's Russian spy family and her sister dragging her pretty much into a mission of taking down the Red Room when a new generation of Widows are being controlled, even terminated by Dracoff thanks to new technology that puts them more into control for him. It's not a bad premise but it's just unfortunate that clearly the story isn't as developed or engrossing as you'd expect for a film about not only Natasha but her past. The opening story of a young Natasha and her little sister Yelena, played by the gorgeous and truly masterfully performed Florence Pugh, being sold into the Red Room thanks to their Russian agent parents looked liked we'd get an emotionally gripping tale of Natasha's rise as Black Widow and what was so brutally robbed from her in the process aka her own humanity, not to mention childhood innocence. But after that, it's no where to be found and the story just jumps right into Black Widow on the run from Secretary Ross after the events of "Captain America: Civil War". She spends most of the first 20 minutes coming up with her own hideout and a place to stay before being attacked by Taskmaster and the events of the movie are set into motion.

Like I said, Scarlet Johansson does her thing as best as she can as usual for Natasha's solo journey here but the breakout start and best part of the movie is without a doubt her sister Yelena! :) Once again, Florence Pugh is so superb in the role and nearly steals every scene she's in even when she barely has any lines in it. I love her bound with Natasha and the intense friction between them before deciding to bring the ole family back together again. Florence has some impeccable comedic timing as well, especially the recurring joke of her making fun of Natasha's incessant posing during battle. It just feels so natural and really sells the sisterhood bond they have. Honestly, the film isn't as humor heavy as usual MCU films are but then again, maybe more could have been used to balance the family melodrama here. After a CGI heavy prison break sequence, we are introduced or rather reintroduced to Natasha and Yelena's father, Red Guardian, the Soviet Union's own super soldier but clearly not on the famed level of Captain America hence why so many are in disbelief of his super soldier history. David Harbour is fine in the role as Alexei, but his character feels kinda thrown at us without any much depth to him besides his humorous romance with Natasha and Yelena's mother, Melinda, played by Rachel Weisz, who I also feel was so underutilized in the film. Yeah, there are moments between the four family members that evoke emotion, not to mention a very well acted scene from Florence when Yelena laments missing the family she grew up with no matter how fake it was considering her and Natasha were sold into espionage life by their real families. Yeah, so they aren't a real family and there is literally a major plot point about Natasha's real mother but.....it barely has any significance, only to remind her in the end that her fake family was real for her too like Yelena mentioned earlier, blah, blah, blah.

Honestly, would it have been too much trouble to actually see that tragedy in Natasha's life to give this film a deeper edge to it and more emotional stakes would be invested??? O_o Even the Red Room itself, this infamous instillation of breeding young girls into trained killers gets more referenced than shown and it truly one of the biggest disappointments in the film as we gets powerful sequence of it but that's it. My god, that shot of all those training Black Widows in unison was one of the most haunting images of the movie but was far too short and not explored more. Outside of Natasha and Yelena, the other Widows are pretty much faceless causalities in their mission that they are trying to free from Dreykov's control. As for Dreykov himself.......sigh.......as usual, the villain is so subpar, coming off as more a sadistic misogynistic overseer of a demented program that trains female assassins and plants them around the world in preparation of something even greater that could in danger the world. I mean, Ray Winston is ok in the role, but feels a bit too cliche for my tastes. There's also a plot point about Natasha and Dreykov's own daughter but it only feels like it was there for only a left field twist with the other villain of the movie, Taskmaster. Oh Taskmaster! :( Smdh....When word got out that Taskmaster would be used as the main villain of the film is was a complete shock and another major disappointment to find out he's just an another gloried henchman for Dreykov who was programmed to memorize all the Avengers' moves instead of the comic book accuracy of being born with photographic memory that makes him able to mimic anything he sees right away. And it's a real shame as design wise, not to mention the few and too far in between action scenes we get of Taskmaster are really awesome, in both choreography, stunt work and forbidding atmosphere. Considering the inevitable twist with Taskmaster's identity, it amazes me he wasn't used more like how the Winter Solider was used in Cap 2. There should have been more emotional resonance with that reveal, not to mention build Taskmaster as Natasha's own personal enemy in having to defeat an villain who knows not only too much of her past but reminds her of her friends because of how she is essentially finding them all in one with this seemingly unstoppable fighter.

Even the final battle between them is as anti-climatic as it gets in favor of a massive third act final battle that has more to do with falling out of the sky than actually being the last stand of Natasha and her family. With so much emphasis put on them and not her, you would at least think they four of them would fight together during the last fight as the family they were against Dreykov and especially Taskmaster, but man is that yet another missed opportunity. -_- Also, I understand Alexei being a super solider, able to withstand a lot of what happens during the climatic battle at the Red Room, but Natasha and her sister are only at peak human strength/agility, yet are bouncing off of and falling through huge pieces of debris like their cartoons or something. Then there are some very stupid decisions being made toward the end of the film that end up making Taskmaster return out of nowhere and making it even more ridiculous that he was made into such a major threat to begin with. Also, there's a moment when Natasha is about to get caught by the US government lead by Secretary Ross but the film just cuts ahead and never explains what exactly happened that allowed Natasha to escape this time! O_O Ummm is there a deleted scene some where? Was it cut for time? What the hell??? In the end, Black Widow has some strong elements in action, newcomers in Florence Pugh as Yelena, some emotional payoffs that work but ultimately feel short changed by a script more concern with keeping the story moving instead of really delving deep into these character, especially Black Widow herself. As a post-Endgame feature from the MCU, it's a pretty meh movie overall that feels unneeded in the long run. I mean, we could have gone without knowing what happened to Natasha between Civil War and Infinity War because it wouldn't have matter thanks to the rather lukewarm execution of her first solo adventure. :(

"While Marvel Studios does its best to break their formula with a betweenquel that finally has our red haired, Russian superspy in the lead role of her own film, "Black Widow" suffers more than it soars to new heights with a fascinating character who's complicated backstory and traumatic past are rather skimmed over in favor of over the top action sequences than a fully developed look into a much more darker tale of her rise to supreme assassin glory before joining up with the Avengers. The villains are either too cliched or underused to make a lasting impression and while Florence Pugh is set up as a welcomed, superb new addition to the cinematic universe, Natasha's story is just so underwhelming in how profound it could have been in making us finally understand who she was and ultimately became. Even the more serious, disturbing details of the Black Widow training are used more for punchlines than seriously analyzing the horrifying nature of child soldiers. Sigh....." :(

Final Film Score: C-