Black Widow Review: Natasha Gets Pushed Out of the Spotlight…Again
It took Natasha Romanoff about a decade to get one solo movie, not even a trilogy like some of her male Avenger counterparts. And yet, it still does not feel like her film. Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow” mixes in a heartwarming family reunion with a spy thriller, with a Phase 4 character set-up. These pieces all fit together okay, but the movie doesn’t leave much room for Scarlett Johansson, who ultimately gets overshadowed.
The first scene of the movie is the strongest, which isn’t exactly what you want from a film. We open with a flashback to Ohio in the ’90s: Natasha is a brave, adventurous girl who looks out for her innocent younger sister, Yelena. We meet her parents, Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei (David Harbour), who seem like a pretty normal married couple, but are deep undercover on a spy mission. The family dinner quickly develops into a stealth mission and then a chase scene, involving Shield and a narrow escape by airplane. This is some of the most exhilarating action of the movie as you are unsure of the family’s fate and nervous for such a young Natasha to have to take the lead.
After the escape, we meet Dreykov and Natasha and Yelena are separated. Natasha has already been to the “Red Room” and will do anything to stop her sister from experiencing the same fate. This is the first glimpse we see of the Black Widow we know. She grabs a gun and threatens anyone who dares to touch Yelena. Unfortunately, her father talks her down and their paths are split. Her mother tells her not to let them take her heart, and Natasha says back to her mother that pain only makes them stronger. These themes are a little heavy-handed as they resurface throughout the movie. Marvel is starting to think we want everything to be a call-back.
After the beautiful opening credits sequence, we jump ahead to Natasha post- “Civil War” where she is a fugitive who has broken the Sokovia Accords. Soon after setting up a remote hide-out (with the help of her cool friend Mason, who I hope to see more of), Natasha gets a strange package from Budapest and runs into Taskmaster. After a too-big explosion that won’t be the last, Natasha escapes from the villain that can copy the moves of any hero. We see small glimpses of Cap’s fighting style here along with a few others.
Natasha then reunites with adult Yelena (Florence Pugh) in another strong action scene in Budapest. I love seeing an even match of two assassins who were trained to react the same in certain situations. They both keep up with each other move for move, and neither can get the upper-hand. It’s a treat to watch the fast-paced choreography here in an easily re-watchable scene. Soon they call a truce and Nat learns that not only is the Red Room still operating and Dreykov still alive, the other widows are chemically controlled to become assassins without free will. To take down Dreykov and his Red Room, Natasha reluctantly teams up with her fake family. Rachel Weisz and David Harbour have a wonderful dynamic throughout, even if it makes the tone of the movie unclear. Their banter is entertaining and hits all the right beats. I would gladly watch them again in a future project.
What follows for the rest of the film feels like the writers were a little unsure of what direction to take. The intriguing set-up turns into some ridiculous car crashes that gave me the vague feeling I was watching a Fast and Furious movie, along with humor that doesn’t always hit, and a messy third act. Marvel chase scenes can be incredible when done correctly, and these just weren’t. Natasha miraculously escapes deadly fates a few more times with nothing but some bruises. This was very unrealistic for such an otherwise grounded character and movie. Although, in the comics, Natasha receives the Russian super-soldier serum from the Red Room, so I will pretend her movie counterpart does as well to make me feel better about those outlandish choices.
Natasha’s growth feels a little one-dimensional seeing as they never dive into her feelings about the Avengers and instead just repeat the line that they’re her family. We get hints of what a complex redemption arc would look like with the line “I’m not the killer that little girls call their hero”, but the idea is never expanded. Even Bucky’s short time with his list in Winter Soldier was more satisfying closure. Her sacrifice in Endgame just does not feel any more meaningful after this movie, like I had hoped. We know she has “red in her ledger” and thinks she accidentally killed Dreykov’s daughter but we never really get to see her deal with that or make her journey to be better. Instead, we get forced family time. I really wish they had pushed the envelope and explored the heavy themes of civilian casualties and the manipulation of young women. Dreykov could have been a much more sinister villain if they had leaned into the concept of child trafficking and the forced procedures. Black Widow has always been a darker character in the comics as well, so I wish they embraced that instead of laughing it off in to appeal to the widest audience possible.
As annoyed as I am about them using this movie to introduce Yelena, Pugh does steal the show. She is blunt, sarcastic and still has a bit of that childlike innocence. I look forward to the next phase exploring more of her adjustment after being under mind control. Her palpable chemistry with Scarlett Johansson is one that will undoubtedly carry over to the rest of the MCU cast. I can already tell she will be a formidable New Avenger. I suppose it comes with the times, now that our Marvel women are getting featured and developed much more on screen. However, it is a bit of a slap in the face for the new Black Widow to be everything that Natasha wasn’t allowed to be before.
For a movie about female strength, we don’t spend much time with the other widows. Not to mention Taskmaster does not get a scene to enact justice on her father for controlling her like a puppet. The women warriors spend time fighting each other-confused about who the enemy is-and by the time they team up, they part ways and the story is over. Dreykov dies in an anti-climactic explosion, and it all just kind of ends and the loose ends are glossed over. We see the set-up for Infinity War, cementing this as a true placeholder that finally represents the female avenger, but fails to expand on her.
