‘Black Widow’ Review: A Succesful Baton Pass Helps the Latest MCU Entry Rise Above Poor Villains and Timing Problem

Scarlett Johansson continues to strike a moving portrayal of Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. However, the film struggles to provide a fitting sendoff for the first official female Avenger. Black Widow succeeds better as a passing of torch film between sisters.

When director Cate Shortland and writer Eric Pearson focus on the Romanoff family, Black Widow is great. Johannson’s unselfishness is on clear display as she gives ample room to the ensemble cast. Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova is a marvel to watch in Black Widow. Even when Yelena mocks her pseudo sister, Pugh always maintains Yelena’s earnest yearning to reconnect with the only family she’s ever known. Dave Harbour is a riot as Red Guardian, The Russian version of Captain America. Rounding out the Romanoff family is Rachel Weisz as Melina. Weisz has the most subtle performance in the film as Melina.

An old MCU problem rears its head in Black Widow. The villains are forgettable. Taskmaster provides the physical threat in the film, while Dreykov played by Ray Winstone utilizes psychological and physiological torment. Both have ties to Natasha’s past, which she somewhat naively believed was behind her.

The action is up to the usual MCU standards. I was a little disappointed in the lack of spycraft in the film. Black Widow chooses to go for more bombastic action over espionage.

The only thing that has an impact on the MCU is the introduction of Yelena. Without her inclusion, Black Widow struggles to justify its place in the current MCU. If the film was released after Captain America: Civil War, but before Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow would have been a much more effective film. Johansson has been tremendous as Natasha and deserved a film exploring her origins way earlier. Black Widow is solid, but could have been so much more.

With the non-spoiler details out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the family dynamics, spy theatrics and bad villains of Black Widow. The film is available theatrically and on Disney Plus.

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Sister, Sister

After the Sokovia Accords in Civil War, Natasha is on the run to the start film. She receives a mysterious package from Yelena and is attacked by Taskmaster.

Inside of the package is a chemical agent, which controls free will. She heads to Budapest to figure out what’s going on. Natasha has a contentious meeting with Yelena. Yelena sent her the vials hoping another Avenger might help. With that, Black Widow is off and running.

There’s some great conflict between the two sisters. Natasha tries to deflect and deny the familial connection. Yelena seeks out that connection from her older sister. Natasha made some cold-hearted decisions in the past in regards to her sister. Knowing she made that decision shows how far Natasha has grown since Iron Man 2. Those decisions work in building up Yelena as a future player in the MCU. Johansson and Pugh are just great in every scene together.

The best action scenes are in the first half of the film. In one of the better action scenes, Natasha and Yelena devise a plan to break Alexei aka Red Guardian out of prison. Once out, the trio reunites with Melina. Natasha’s first skirmish with Taskmaster is another memorable action setpiece.

Black Widow does a great job of making you root for Natasha and Yelena. These sequences go a long way towards showing the decision Natasha makes in an effort to save her other family in Avengers: Endgame.

Natasha has Family in Black Widow

Outside of Thunderbolt Ross, Black Widow is pretty much a self-contained MCU film. The decision to focus the story on just Natasha, Yelena, Alexei and Melina allows these four talented actors room to maneuver.

The family reunion between the pseudo sisters, mother and father is the highlight of Black Widow. Harbour is a consistent source of humor throughout the film. Weisz comes across much colder, which makes for an interesting dynamic. Natasha and Melina try to keep their fake father, husband and sister at arm’s length. Yelena sees these people as the only family she’s ever known. It’s truly heartbreaking and wonderfully played by Pugh.

There’s a sweet father-daughter scene. Yelena and Alexei sing Don McLean‘s “American Pie” together, which was Yelena’s favorite song as a child. Melina may appear colder, but the affection she felt for her fake daughters was quite real. She still has photo albums from when Natasha and Yelena were children.

After the family reunion, Black Widow steps back into the bombastic territory.

Taskmaster and The Red Room

They do a great job of tying the two villains to Natasha’s past. Johansson digs deep to show the pain Natasha still feels for what the Red Room did to her under Dreykov’s command. My favorite aspect of The Red Room, Dreykov’s headquarters, is the location.

The chemical agent is actually a nice inverse on the Super Soldier serum. In The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the serum is used to increase strength with the likely side effect of making the person insane. Black Widow‘s chemical weapon actually cures Black Widows. Dreykov is able to control each Widow’s free will. Thanks to this cure, the widow can regain control of their free will.

Taskmaster is cool to look at. Unfortunately, the only purpose in this story is to fight Natasha, Yelena and Red Guardian. I like the twist on Taskmaster’s origin, but the lack of personality means the bulk of the villainy falls on Dreykov.

As a villain, Dreykov falls into the camp of lackluster MCU villains. At one point he goes on and on about taking women who were treated like scraps and he turned them into something. Of course, what the women became was under his full control.

Pugh and Johansson do a great job of showcasing the horror of the red room through their facial expressions. There’s also a fun Avengers call back to when Natasha tricked Loki.

Black Widow Final Thoughts

The performances by Johansson, Pugh, Harbour and Weisz raise the stock of Black Widow around the top-10 MCU films. As a launching pad for Yelena, Black Widow is an unquestionable success. If this is Johansson’s last performance as Natasha, then this film isn’t a great send-off. The lack of great villains keeps Black Widow from the upper echelon of the MCU.

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