A Bourne Assassin
With theatrical releases slowly coming back into full swing, the first new MCU film in two years has just hit theatres and also Disney+ Premium. Black Widow, a prequel to the events of Infinity War tells the story of what happened to Natasha after the conclusion of Civil War; seeing her and a few other superheroes on the run from the US Government, mainly that of Thaddeus E. Ross, who is set on tracking her and everyone else down. Black Widow certainly has some exciting action scenes, and some laugh-out-loud moments, not to mention some wonderfully staged explosions and chase scenes, but its execution on its villains is where the movie just simply falls flat.
This long-awaited film touches upon the events of Budapest that Natasha and Clint briefly mentioned in The Avengers, even if we only catch a glimpse of it here. With the pair tracking down General Dreykov, the man responsible for Natasha’s time in the Red Room, and the blood in her ledger, they appear to have him in their sights, using bait to ensure his location, and set off an explosion, killing him and putting an end to his villainous schemes. However; with the introduction of Natasha’s adoptive sister, Yelena, we discover that Dreykov may not have actually been killed back in Budapest and that his involvement in the Red Room has been left unchecked for decades.
What continues is Natasha and Yelena reuniting with their adoptive family, a father in Alexei Shostakov, and a mother in Melina Vostokoff in order to find out the location of the Red Room and to not only shut it down for good but to finally kill Dreykov once and for all. Despite the film having a run time of 2hr 14m, the movie moves at a brisk pace that makes it not only feel too short but that events happen far too quickly and far too convenient. The fast pacing does ensure you’re never bored, but the group stumbles across the Red Room far too quickly, even if the plan itself is well framed, and told in a way where we see the plan in action before we are actually told it. It works, sure, but a lot of this film works off convenience in all the wrong ways.
The cast itself is solid, with Scarlett Johansson giving a typical performance once again as Black Widow, and is joined by Florence Pugh as Yelena, Rachel Weisz as Melina, and David Harbour as Alexei. I’ve been a huge fan of Florence Pugh ever since Wrestling with my Family, a movie based on the life of WWE Wrestler, Paige. She was fantastic in that and is honestly a scene-stealer here. While it’s fairly clear by the time the movie ends on what her role will be in the future of the MCU, I was really impressed with her take on the character and how well she works as potentially the next Black Widow. Harbour, as the Red Guardian, a Soviet version of Captain America is used for a few laughs, and while he does have a few decent moments, it’s a shame his moment to shine via his fight with TaskMaster is so short and often cut away when it’s just getting good. In fact, I’m pretty sure his entire fight is in one of the trailers. Weisz is decent enough as well but is not really given much more than being the film’s way to layout exposition and to set the stage for Natasha confronting Dreykov, so it’s a shame she is so underused here.
While Dreykov is a waste of time when it comes to being the film’s core villain, it is Taskmaster where the film just vastly disappoints. While there are the other widows to contend with, including a pretty brutal fight with them; their resolution, and especially with how Taskmaster is wrapped up, is painfully bland. While I don’t mind the take on what they did here with Taskmaster, nearly every scene we see them in via the trailer is what we get here. The final fight between them and Natasha is incredibly short and ends so unsatisfyingly that I almost had my head in my hands sighing. We get to see some of the ability to mimic their opponents, but only just enough for that explanation to exist. It’s also unfortunate that the actor playing the role is someone who I’ve wanted to see in the MCU for a long time, it’s just unfortunate that they are part of it in this way instead of a more prominent role, especially since they have but maybe one or two lines.
Overall, Black Widow is a disappointing film but does contain just enough action and humor for it to be at least watchable. I enjoyed lots of it, but its negatives are just too apparent and apart from the big-budget finale, this could have worked better as a Disney+ show in many respects, especially since it looks to be setting up plot points towards one of the next big shows. While It’s certainly better than the first two Thor movies, that isn’t saying much considering I think they are the worst the MCU has given us thus far. If you can watch it in a group through Disney+ Premium and have everyone chip in a few bucks, that likely will be your cheapest option to view it, as while the big action moments look great on the big screen, you won’t be losing much of their appeal on a decent size tv. Still, it’s a billion times better than the dumpster fire that was Wonder Woman 1984.
Directed by: Cate Shortland Produced by: Disney Release Date: July 9th, 2021