Black Widow

Every once in a while throughout this whole "movie critic-lite" thing, I find myself giving out a lot of the same scores in a row (or very close to one another). Part of that is because my scoring system tends to not be an even bell-curve distribution (I don't waste very much time on bad movies anymore), but it can also signal I may be in a rut. 

Or, perhaps, there are just that many films out that deserve a score of 8/10 (spoiler alert, I guess?). Movies that I had a hell of a time with, are considered "great" by my scale, but may not necessarily crack the Top 10 at the end of the year as that's saved for the truly incredible. 

So, as I thought about what my final rating for Black Widow would be over the past couple hours, the "great" range comes immediately to mind...because that's exactly what it is. 

Shockingly, we've been without a Marvel film in theaters for > 2 years at this point. There's obvious reasons for that and in a lot of ways it doesn't feel like it has been that long, does it? (But in a lot of ways, it has). Luckily, we've had ~9 months of good/great Marvel TV shows to connect us back to this universe, but in terms of going to the theater for a Marvel film, it has been a while. And in a lot of ways, I'm thankful that it was Black Widow we had to wait for. I probably would have lost my mind if we'd have had to wait 2+ years for Endgame. Despite that scary alternate universe, Black Widow comes at a very awkward time in the MCU release timeline. From a chronological standpoint, it sits nicely between Civil War and Infinity War but as a Phase IV starting point, this was a miss for Marvel, plain and simple. Part of it was reactionary to Wonder Woman's success back in 2017, reactionary to fan outcry for a female solo movie, and perhaps them overstocking certain films in particular years. Clearly, it all worked out for Marvel just fine, but Black Widow will always feel like a bit of a forgotten need in the grand scheme of their plan. That's a bit of a shame because had this come out between Civil War and Infinity War like the story suggests (2016 and 2018), I think it would have A) made a much bigger statement for Marvel about how they view their female superheroes and B) gotten people very excited. Hell, even as a holdover between Infinity War and Endgame (perhaps swapping out Captain Marvel intro to kick off Phase IV) would have worked. But that's not the way the schedule panned out and, in a non-COVID world this would have come out closer to Endgame anyway where the timing may have felt better. 

Spoiler: it's Katniss underneath that hood!

As a film however, Black Widow is a great film that could have been top-tier action (more on that later). The story is unsurprisingly dark (many of the themes/topics talked about are arguably R-rated, though they're never shown) and contained into its own film, this is a solid tale of espionage and revenge. In its simplest terms, this is about Natasha, on the run, reconnecting with her family to take down the Red Room. There's a lot less of the how of the brainwashing and behind-closed-doors Russian practices to turn little girls into killing machines because that's likely too dark and gross for Marvel right now, especially if it had been anything like [the surprisingly great] Red Sparrow. Those looking for the interconnectedness to other Marvel stories will find several verbal nods here, but that's about it. Given that we've come to expect that, it's disappointing and seeing how often Natasha was in other hero's movies, I do think it's a bit bogus we couldn't have gotten a Steve Rodgers or Tony Stark cameo, but hey! Whatever! 

In terms of lasting implications, Black Widow's impact feels light and/or "remains to be seen". Obviously this was never going to be an Endgame level event, but I come back to the fact that if this had been released semi-chronologically, the impact would have been greater. But (!) at the very least, Black Widow gives us Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, the sister of Natasha Romanoff. Pugh has been a fast rising star in Hollywood (Midsommar and Little Women are some highlights) and Marvel being able to snag her for future projects - not to mention she sounds genuinely delighted to be part of it all - is huge. She makes a big impact in Black Widow and I'd argue she's the best part about it. She's part Natasha, part sassy teenager, but Pugh nails it in terms of looks and performance. The biggest laughs in the film come from her, but also some of the more tender moments.

While Pugh may be the highlight, other characters shine brightly too. Obviously, the film belongs to Scarlett Johansson and at this point she can do no wrong as Natasha. Her performance in Endgame was stronger - mostly because of the material - but it's a solid combination of strength and vulnerability in Black Widow that helps us to learn more about the character. David Harbour is towering and pretty damn funny as Alexei (the father) while Rachel Weisz starts off forgettable as Melina (the mother) but gets some better material near the end. Ray Winstone as our villain, Dreykov, is convincing and gross in a post #MeToo world and his confrontation with Natasha near the end is probably one of Marvel's darkest scenes thematically (though he's not going to make any Top 10 villain lists). 

Black Widow also excels with its action, though it's here where I desperately wanted it to be more. What we have here is good, often great action that hits hard, looks cool, and plays well on a big screen. But a part of me was hoping that Black Widow could have been Marvel's John Wick or Mission: Impossible. Something where the action is so good that it's the star of the show...and unfortunately that's not what we got. The hand-to-hand combat is exciting, but too quickly edited and sometimes choppy. The car chases are thrilling, but not inventive enough. Luckily, some of the bigger-spectacle stuff near the end that we've come to expect from Marvel is very cool, but I was left wanting from the film that should/could have been Marvel's best action film to date. A "single-take" fight scene with Taskmaster or all the Widows could have elevated this film even higher. 

Check out that vest! So many pockets!

Despite Black Widow feeling really out of place as a Phase IV starter (and after the events of Endgame), it's a very solid solo Marvel entry that's overdue. The action is good, the characters are better, and the story is appropriately dark and revealing about Natasha's past. If nothing else, this gave us more time with Johansson in the role and introduced Pugh's Yelena, so I'd consider it a win. 

CONS

• It's not "too little too late", but this film definitely should have been made/released sooner (COVID not counting) for greater impact
• The action never reaches the heights set by some of the top tier action franchises there are now. I think it could have
• Connections to MCU are verbal only which, for all the times she was in other people's films, you figured one of them could have stopped by?
• Not a terrible thing, but this being part of Disney/Marvel prevents it from going as dark as it could have gone

PROS

• Simple, straightforward story of revenge that gives us more insight into Natasha's past
• Johansson is as much Black Widow as Robert Downey Jr. was Tony Stark...filling her shoes is almost unthinkable
• Pugh's Yelena suggest she could play the same role when we look back at her Marvel resume 10 years from now. She's my favorite part of the film
• The rest of the cast is enjoyable and gets some good emotional beats and laughs
• Good, sometimes great action that hits hard and can be brutal
• It's great to have a Marvel film back in theaters! Wahoo!

Rath's Review Score | 8/10