'Black Widow' film review: Gritty, personal spy flick closes the Avenger's red ledger
After 23 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, founding Avenger and morally flexible Natasha Romanoff seeks redemption for her bloody past in the action-thriller 'Black Widow' (in theaters and streaming on Disney+ with Premier Access starting July 9).
In short: Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) lives in hiding as a wanted criminal when she's forced to face the darker parts of her past when her younger sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) sends her a package. David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, William Hurt, O-T Fagbenle and Ray Winstone also star.
For clarification, Natasha Romanoff isn't back from the dead after sacrificing herself in 'Avengers: Endgame.' 'Black Widow' finds Romanoff on the run following the events of 'Captain America: Civil War,' a fugitive after Romanoff broke international law to help Steve Rogers fight Tony Stark. She's on the run. There's no backup - all her allies are also in hiding or in prison. Recommended movies to watch as a refresher would include 'The Avengers,' 'Age of Ultron,' 'The Winter Soldier,' 'Civil War' and 'Infinity War.' (This review is spoiler-free for 'Black Widow,' but does include spoilers for previous MCU movies).
While Romanoff was introduced way back in 'Iron Man 2,' it was only 'The Avengers' when she hinted at all the "red in [her] ledger." Along with some coy references to past adventures in Budapest and her guilt for the crimes she committed before joining SHIELD, the Marvel movies have been vague but tantalizing with Romanoff's tragic superhero origin story. After more than a decade of teasing Romanoff's back story 'Black Widow' makes good giving the long-time Avenger a redemptive arc, while unabashedly confronting the horrors she's endured and the horrors she's committed.
Each film in the MCU embraces a unique tone, and 'Widow' is decidedly gritty and soulful. Romanoff has hinted at her dark past, but all her previous adventures have pit her as a supporting player against a larger existential threat. The entire time Romanoff has been globetrotting as a heroic Avenger, she's always had some unfinished business lingering in the shadows. And her backstory includes some disturbing darkness, unveiling just how far back her espionage career goes and revealing that she's essentially a child soldier conscripted and programmed for the darkest of black ops missions.
Exactly 'when' this film takes place is no accident - the SHIELD "family" she thought she had was pulled apart in 'Civil War' and this film restores her faith in family - something Romanoff has reclaimed before 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame.' 'Black Widow' continues the MCU's larger theme of the family one chooses rather the family one is born into - be it Thor's adopted brother Loki or the ragtag Guardians of the Galaxy. This film's opening sequence is disarming because it's exactly what the audience doesn't expect from a spy-thriller: children playing in a Midwest suburb, doted on by warm parents. The film's opening 15 minutes -- one of the strongest opening segments in the MCU -- quickly pivots from the mundanity of suburban life to a thrilling chase sequence. But the heart of this prologue is a young girl grimly aware of "the mission," while desperately clinging to normalcy and her family.
Pugh steals the show as Romanoff's younger sister Yelena Belova. And it's transparently obvious 'Black Widow' pulls double duty as an origin story for Natasha Romanoff, while establishing Yelena as a worthy successor to the Black Widow mantle in the MCU. Although this is Natasha's journey as a Black Widow intent on tearing down the cruel machine that created her, Natasha is clear-eyed and decisive in her mission. Yelena, freshly awakened from her programming, is allowed more dramatic range - she's a ruthlessly efficient killer, yet she's also Natasha's little sister and misses the only family she ever knew as a child. And watching Natasha, Yelena and her estranged "parents" Alexei (Harbour) and Melina (Weisz) naturally slip back into family mode is pretty adorable. Everyone was playing a part - but there's a sweetness to Natasha's dysfunctional family of spies and assassins.
The Taskmaster will not rank among the MCU's stronger villains. This intriguing fighter is little more than the muscle for the film's true antagonist. Taskmaster has the unique ability to perfectly mimic the fighting style of anyone after just analyzing a target fight, so watching Taskmaster copy Romanoff, Captain America and Black Panther's signature styles is fun, albeit short-lived and underutilized fun. For the most part, however, Taskmaster is basically an unstoppable, Terminator-like enemy relentlessly stalking Romanoff across the globe. A rushed, last-minute reveal attempts to add some dramatic gravitas to Taskmaster - but it's too little, too late.
In the vein of antagonists, many of the fights just end in a stalemate - which saps a lot of the tension. Romanoff keeps fighting other Black Widows, who are as skilled in combat as Romanoff. It's one thing to watch Romanoff fight Taskmaster, whose literal ability is to mirror fighting abilities. This homogeneity of hand-to-hand fighting sequences gets tiresome - and the film's only remedy to this sameness ... is to just throw more Black Widow agents at Natasha.
Final verdict: 'Black Widow' is a personal story that finally gives closure to Natasha Romanoff's transformation from reformed KGB assassin to loyal Avenger. And the film's parting gift is the promise of teasing Yelena Belova's future as the MCU's new Black Widow.
Score: 4/5
'Black Widow' opens in theaters and streams on Disney+ with Premier Access starting July 9. This action thriller is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence/action, some language and thematic material and has a runtime of 133 minutes.
