*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
Black Widow takes place shortly after Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War and focuses on Natasha confronting the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
A lot of people will argue that Black Widow is unnecessary because Natasha died in Avengers: Endgame. Because of this, it’s obvious she’s going to survive all of the danger she encounters. Despite this, Black Widow is still worth a watch for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it provides one of the most popular characters with background. In her appearances, Natasha has always been a supporting player. Now, in Black Widow, she finally gets to lead her first film and, despite the decade long wait, it doesn’t disappoint.
The strength of Black Widow lies in Johansson’s portrayal of Natasha. Because she’s only ever had a supporting role in the MCU, it would have been easy for Johansson to portray Natasha as one dimensional and fearless, however, she’s always succeeded at humanising Natasha and making her a character viewers cared about. That’s why her death in Endgame was so heartbreaking as she was one of the most beloved characters. Undoubtedly, Johansson’s performance is one of the most impressive aspects of Black Widow as she captures Natasha’s fighting skills and fierce and brave personality. With her Oscar nominated performance in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, Little Women, and after appearing in Ari Aster’s horror, Midsommar, Pugh has quickly established herself as one of the most talented actors today. As Natasha’s adoptive sister, Yelena, Pugh proves to be a welcome addition to the cast. Yelena provides comic relief with her memorable and witty one liners. In one scene, she makes fun of Natasha’s superhero poses. Because Yelena is such a fun and interesting character, hopefully, she’ll make more appearances in future films in the MCU. Harbour is best known for portraying Officer Jim Hopper in the Netflix fantasy series, Stranger Things. Unfortunately, his transition from the small to the big screen with his reboot of Hellboy being negatively received and failing at the box office. However, as Natasha and Yelena’s father figure, Alexei, Harbour delivers an amusing and energetic performance. Weisz is underused as Melina, however, she gets involved in the action during the climax.
Although Natasha has found a surrogate family with the Avengers, in Black Widow, she reunites with her first family. However, the four aren’t on the best of terms after they were separated, leading to Natasha and Yelena being trained by the villainous Dreykov (Ray Winstone) in his intense Red Room. The theme of family makes for some amusing banter between the four. What I liked most about the new characters was that they weren’t portrayed as perfect individuals as they’d made mistakes in the past but, after reuniting, are able to forgive and work together as a team to stop Dreykov.
The majority of the films in the MCU feature exhilarating action sequences and that’s still the case with Black Widow. Director Cate Shortland manages to balance the action with the character building and story, making for a compelling watch for the majority of its 134 minute runtime. Although it’s obvious that Natasha is going to survive, that doesn’t make the action any less exciting and thrilling to watch.
Although most of the films in the MCU have impressed with their action sequences, coherent storytelling and bringing superheroes to the big screen, a significant flaw with the films have been the villains. Aside from the intimidating Thanos and mischievous Loki, most of the villains that have appeared in the MCU have failed to leave much of a lasting impression. Unfortunately, that’s still the case with Dreykov who is described as threatening and evil, however, because most of the film, understandably, focuses on Natasha, he is forgettable. However, Black Widow isn’t about the villain, it’s about telling Natasha’s story and it succeeds.
A common trait with the films in the MCU is their post credit scenes. Some of them are fun and unnecessary and others hint at future instalments. The Black Widow post credit scene is the latter and is worth sitting through the lengthy credits for.
With a lot of cinemas still closed due to the ongoing pandemic as a result of COVID-19, Disney have made the decision to make Black Widow available to watch in cinemas and on their streaming service, Disney+, for those who pay the pricey premium access fee. Although I can understand many people probably won’t want to go to the cinema and be in a screening filled with strangers, I think that Black Widow is definitely worth experiencing on the big screen, due to the high quality of the picture and sound that emphasise the action sequences.
Featuring exhilarating action and a strong performance by Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow is definitely worth the decade long wait.
8/10
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