DIRECTED BY: CATE SHORTLAND STARRING: SCARLETT JOHANSSON, FLORENCE PUGH, & DAVID HARBOUR
RATED PG-13 FOR INTENSE SEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE/ACTION, SOME LANGUAGE AND THEMATIC MATERIAL
LENGTH: 133 MINUTES
It's been eleven years since audiences were introduced to Scarlett Johansson's femme fatale Natasha Romanoff (better known as the Black Widow) in Iron Man 2 and at last she finally gets her first solo film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The ironic part is the fan-favorite character had already been killed off in her previous appearance making the timing of this solo film feel questionable to say the least. To top that off the film is a prequel to the events of the mega-hits Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame taking place after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Why the the creative minds at Marvel decided for the first film in Phase 4 of the franchise to be a prequel instead of further exploring the aftermath of the monumental Endgame is beyond many fan's comprehension. Nonetheless, we finally have the Black Widow solo film that fans have been yearning for.
Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Natasha (Johansson) finds herself as a fugitive of the US government. Through several close encounters her journey ultimately leads her to reunite with her surrogate family: her skilled sister Yelena (Florence Pugh), her super-soldier father Alexei aka Red Guardian (David Harbour) and her scientist mother Melina (Rachel Weisz). With the emergence of the mysterious killing machine known as Taskmaster as well as their past with the nefarious Dreykov (Ran Winstone) catching up to them, leads the makeshift family to band together to take down the conspiracy that ties them all together.
Black Widow is a welcome surprise, while a film centered around Johansson's action heroine had potential there was also quite a bit that could have gone sidways. It's noticeably darker than most of the other films in the franchise and the humor is definitely not as forced. In fact, director Cate Shortland along with screenwriters Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson make this a more character-heavy MCU title. There's still plenty of action and a lot of the plot beats you've come to expect from a Marvel flick but it also delves into some of the supporting cast giving them as much time to shine as the main star.
Johansson is as striking as ever in her final turn as the character, she clearly hasn't lost a beat and does exceptionally well playing in the spotlight. That being said it's Pugh and Harbour who leave the biggest and most lasting impressions out of the cast. Pugh truly shines as Yelena giving the character a mountain of personality by injecting her snarky charm into the character while equally giving the MCU one of it's most memorable new additions. Harbour is excellent as well playing the Russian version of Captain America. Not only is his comedic timing genuine but his character isn't used solely for comedic purposes, something that could have easily happened. He adds his personality to the film and his dynamic both with Pugh and Weisz is delightful. Weisz doesn't get as much time to shine as some of her co-stars but still brings in the charm as Melina.
While recently Marvel has been improving their work with their villains, the central villains here, without spoiling too much feel like afterthoughts. Particularly Taskmaster, who had the potential to be an exciting new adversary but ultimately doesn't offer anything to the film, simply serving as something to move the plot along. The motivation is weak and there's no personality which holds the film as a whole back. The plot twists as well are incredibly predictable and while the film is very entertaining the central mystery isn't as well-constructed as it should have been. There's also the issue that this movie still has the unavoidable burden that it came out too late, audiences already know what happens to Natasha after the events of the film, making her character development not feel as significant.
All that aside Black Widow is sure to please MCU diehards as well as moviegoers in general. Having been over two years since the last theatrical MCU entry, this will make audiences excited again about what's to come for one of the biggest franchises out there.
4/5 Stars
Black Widow is now playing in theaters and is available to rent on Disney+ with Premiere Access.