After fans clamored for it for years, and a year-long delay due to the pandemic, Black Widow is finally here. It also marks the return of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the big screen after 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Does it live up to the expectations? Yes, but only as long as you moderate your expectations.
In 1995, a seemingly normal family of four leave their home in the middle of the night and board a propeller plane to escape to Cuba, with the police hot on their tail. In 2016, Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) is on the run from the US government when she runs into a deadly assassin named Taskmaster who can copy the fighting style of anyone he observes. She finds her long lost ‘sister’ Yelena (Florence Pugh) and embarks on a quest to vanquish a foe she had thought had been put down long ago.
Johansson is solid as the straight (wo)man in the film, playing off the sibling rivalry with Yelena and then the disgust at the father figure, Alexei (David Harbour) for abandoning them to the Red Room, where girls are plucked from home and trained to be Black Widows. Yelena is the clear standout of the film, giving a confident (and almost brazen) performance as Yelena. She’s also emotional to a fault, which is a nice contrast to Natasha who plays it close to the vest. David Harbour is also great as the comedic relief, despite being the strongest person in his ‘family’. Rachel Weisz is decent as Melina, but she doesn’t have much material to draw from.
The action sequences are great as well, mirroring quintessential Bond and Bourne set pieces in the first half, with rooftop chases and car chases. The film gets more ridiculous as it goes on, however, eventually ending in a freefall thousands of feet in the air as a massive airborne base crashes to the ground.
The villains, unfortunately, aren’t up to the mark.
The way Taskmaster is handled is drawing mixed reception, especially from viewers who wanted a more comic accurate version of the character. The Bond villain-like figure, Dreykov (Ray Winstone) is comically evil, reveling in a long drawn out monologue, but he doesn’t really stand out. Many fans may also be annoyed by the fact that this isn’t more of a spy story but rather a superhero movie with some spy elements thrown in.
Where does Black Widow place in the hierarchy of MCU films? It’s one of the better standalone films, but it falls short in comparison to the Russo Captain America films as well as Taika Watiti’s Thor: Ragnarok. That’s not to say that director Cate Shortland did a bad job with Black Widow. It’s entertaining and will keep you hooked throughout its runtime, and its action scenes will look the best on a theater screen. However, for many people, the Russos raised the bar for MCU films with their two Avengers films, and for them, this may be disappointing.
Black Widow is only the first of four Marvel films to come out this year. If this doesn’t quench for demand for superhero goodness, hopefully the next few offerings will be more to your liking. Not to mention all the TV series and DC movies coming out as well.