Black Widow Review

After many years of waiting Black Widow finally gets her own film. After a year’s delay Black Widow’s film was a great return for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) has gone on the run after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Not only does she have to avoid the American government, but Natasha also gets targeted by former handler and controller of the Black Widows, General Dreykov (Ray Winstone). He sends his best agent, Taskmaster, to kill Natasha. Natasha has to reunite with her family and bring down Dreykov and the Red Room.

Black Widow was very similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier: both were Marvel versions of a spy thriller. Captain America: The Winter Soldier had elements of James Bond and the Bourne series and Black Widow have those as well. Black Widow also had elements of Mission: Impossible, Hanna, and Killing Eve. As someone who enjoys superheroes and spy media, Black Widow was pure nirvana.

Black Widow didn’t hide its influences. When Natasha was in hiding she was watching a Bond film and there were many ideas from other films and TV shows in Black Widow. The Red Room where Black Widows were trained in combat and American culture was like UTRAX from Amazon’s Hanna – although this was more coincidental because Black Widow was meant to be released in 2020. Black Widow had a prison break sequence which felt like a similar sequence in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. All of this was done through the MCU lens.

Due to the spy story, Black Widow used more practical effects than was normal for an MCU film. Some of the highlights were the car chase in Budapest, Red Guardian’s escape from the prison (especially the footage inside the prison), and the fights with the Red Room. There was an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat which was of a high standard. Whilst this was a Black Widow movie Red Guardian offered the most fun because he was a bruiser: he just used brute strength. Think of him as Captain America if he really let himself go. The car chase in Budapest felt like Grand Theft Auto because the villain was smashing up cars with a tank.

There was some CGI sequence as to be expected from a big superhero film, especially for the climax. But it wasn’t over-abundant as with previous Marvel films.

The big issue facing Black Widow was the character died in Avengers: Endgame. The filmmakers had to find a way to tell a story that was big enough that would require her abilities but not so big that it required the rest of the Avengers. The filmmakers managed this by making it a personal story for Natasha. She was bringing down an organisation that used and must work with her dysfunctional family. For Natasha, her battle with The Red Room was unfinished business. As the villain stated, the Red Room operates in the shadows so didn’t draw the attention of superheroes or the authorities.

Black Widow had a great cast with Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour as Natasha’s makeshift family. Pugh has been going from strength to strength as an actor and she seemed to have modelled her performance on Villanelle from Killing Eve. Like Villanelle, Yelena Belova was Russian, she bickered with Natasha which led to some of the film’s funniest moments and both characters had no filter. Yelena also had an emotional core because she stated the family was real to her. The MCU is blessed with an incredible actress if they decide to make Pugh the new Black Widow.

Harbour was a delight as the big dumb muscle of the family who tried to be supportive in his own way. Although he meant well he often said the wrong thing. Weisz’s role was of a scientist as well as a Black Widow and found a way to manipulate the human body. Weisz’s Melina reminded me a tiny bit of her role in The Bourne Legacy because both were scientists in spy thrillers.

Ray Winstone’s Dreykov was one of the blander villains in the MCU but this was forgivable because he was a man behind a desk. The more threatening presence was Taskmaster, Dreykov’s enforcer. Taskmaster had the determination of a Terminator and had the ability to mimic other characters. Taskmaster used the fighting styles of Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Panther. It made them formable.

On a final note, Lorne Balfe, the composer for Mission: Impossible – Fallout deserves praise for his music. He filled Black Widow with lots of Russian-sounding music. It was fitting and gave Black Widow one of the more distinctive MCU soundtracks.

Black Widow was a great fun film that mixed espionage and superhero action and was able to have an emotional core.