Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie

After eleven years and nine films, also for Scarlett Johansson it's time to hang up the costume like Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. did before her. It's a weird farewell letter, though, as his character died in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the course of Avengers: Endgame. Time travel, resurrections and alternative realities have nothing to do with it: Black Widow, the film with which Phase 4 should have officially started and which instead has been continuously moved due to the pandemic, to then be distributed starting from 7 July in cinemas and from 9 on Disney + with VIP Access, it's a giant flashback. Directed by Cate Shortland, it all takes place in the period of time that separates the ending of Captain America: Civil War from the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, telling us an adventure of Natasha Romanoff that will have important repercussions on the next films and TV series. But is it also a film that we really needed?



Obviously, if you have not yet seen the film, we warn you that in the next lines you will find a series of references to the events narrated.

History between past and present

The very first few minutes of Black Widow are among the most compelling and chilling in the decade-long history of Marvel Cinematic Universe. The editing during the opening credits, in particular, immediately suggests the dark and dark tone of a film clearly focused on violence and abuse against minors. As we have said, it is a long flashback that begins with another flashback: the glimpse of the strange life of a family in Ohio in '95 soon turns into a spy film that in the atmosphere is very reminiscent of the excellent Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Natasha Romanoff is on the run after violating the Sokovia Accords along with Steve Rogers and the other Avengers. Determined to start again elsewhere, Nat finds herself dealing with the past when she suffers the attack of a masked enemy that forces her to look for her half-sister Yelena Belova, played by the talented Florence Pugh.



Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson in una scena.

Between daring escapes and fights to the death, the two Black Widows decide to definitively dismantle the Red Room that Nat believed he had destroyed by killing its creator, General Dreykov (Ray Winstone). It is not the first time we hear these names. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Nat explained to Bruce Banner that in the Red Room they trained Soviet spies like her, going so far as to surgically sterilize them to better control them. In the very first Marvel's The Avengers of 2010, it was Loki who named "Dreykov's daughter" and the guilt that Nat carried inside for murdering her. Black Widow explains exactly what happened and what he was referring to in the squabbles with Hawkeye in which the two often brought up Budapest.

Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson e Florence Pugh in una scena.

To reconstruct this mosaic, Natasha and Yelena put their dysfunctional family back together, made up of Alexei Shostakov, a swashbuckling David Harbor who plays the Russian Captain America called Red guardian, and Melina Vostokoff, a Rachel Weisz as good as ever but perhaps little used in almost two hours of film. In reconstructing this extravagant core of strangers who have pretended so well that they belong to each other until they really believe it, Natasha will discover the true meaning of family and realize the importance that the Avengers have had in her life. But we had already understood that Natasha was the beating heart of the team for some time and it had become very clear in Avengers: Endgame, so the question we really have to ask ourselves about the Black Widow credits can only be the following: was this film really needed?



Are two families better than one?

Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson in una scena.

The answer is: yes and no. Yes, because Natasha was the only founding member of the Avengers without an origin movie, which she absolutely deserved after her noble sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame. Do you remember? She killed herself in place of Clint on Vormir to produce the Soul Stone with which the Hulk brought back every living thing dissolved from Thanos, but despite this we have always known too little about her, her past and the aforementioned background. On the other hand, the story written by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson doesn't add anything that relevant to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. Okay, in the movie we find out where Natasha got the vest she wears over the costume in Avengers: Infinity War, and also how she procured the jet with which she, Captain America and Falcon extract the Vision and Wanda after the Black Order ambush. Aside from this less than fundamental information, Black Widow seems to exist only for the sake of the skit. after the credits, stinger in which the character of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was supposed to make her debut.

Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, David Harbour in una scena.

The character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, on the other hand, made his debut in the fifth episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Here the very short skit would only seem to set the premise for the TV series focusing on Hawkeye, but it is clear that the entire film has an even more important purpose: to present to the world what, in all likelihood, will be Scarlett's heir. Johansson in the next Avengers movies, that is Florence Pugh. It is no coincidence that most of the characterization work in the film is all about her. Yelena is a bold and captivating character, much less cold and calculating than her older sister, with great potential in terms of stories and characterization. The alchemy that is established between the two is the driving force of the whole film.



Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, Ray Winstone in una scena.

After all, the "family" scenes involving the quartet are intimate and hilarious, and the excellent Cate Shortland directs them by practically sliding Natasha into the background, partly to emphasize her sense of isolation and discomfort, partly to give more space for the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, the roles assigned to these talented actors are not all on the same level. Self Yelena is practically the protagonist of the story along with Natasha, Weisz's Melina has very little material to work on, apart from a few really touching scenes, while Harbor's Red Guardian is essentially a walking gag that offers few valid action scenes and rips just a few laughs, more thanks to the eccentric portrayal of the actor who became famous as Sheriff Hopper in Stranger Things than for the authentic value of his jokes.

Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, Rachel Weisz, Scarlett Johansson e Florence Pugh in una scena.

The rest of the cast is ... passable. Ray winstone he is a hateful but monothematic villain, which does not reserve any particular surprises and seems decidedly inspired by the figure of Harvey Weinstein: it is no coincidence that Johannson, also a producer, has linked him to the #MeToo movement. OT Fagbenle's Rick Mason is essentially a deus ex machina that exists only to justify a fugitive's equipment and freedom of movement. TaskmasterFinally, it is a real disappointment. We absolutely won't tell you who is behind his mask because it's a very important twist, but we can assure you that the story of this popular character has been heavily reworked compared to the comics. And this is not a problem; unfortunately, however, the Shortland and the choreographers have not been able to exploit her peculiar ability to imitate fighting styles.

Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow, Taskmaster, and the Black Widow face off in a scene from the film.

Taskmaster is supposed to be a formidable opponent that the Avengers in the comics have often struggled to defeat, as he is able to mimic their every attack or strategy. In the film, however, his clashes with the Black Widow and the others are short and forgettable, but in general we had the impression that the Australian director, more at ease in intimate moments and quiet dialogue, wanted to fill the film with explosions and action scenes that were often free and unbalanced . The final showdown, for example, is one of the most spectacular, excessive and elaborate scenes in the history of Marvel Studios, and left us speechless for some truly breathtaking finds; all the other clashes, on the other hand, did not convince us, starting with the senseless fight between sisters in the Budapest refuge that it is not clear what it wants to demonstrate or the sequence of the avalanche, so drawn to the length as to be cloying.

Black Widow, the review of the new Marvel movie
Black Widow is Scarlett Johansson's latest MCU movie.

Ultimately, Black Widow starts off well by following in the footsteps of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but then he gets lost along the way and turns into a normal action movie like so many others that prefers to fill the screen with explosions and fights when he could have dwelled more on the characters and their relationships. On a technical level, the production has done a good job despite all the problems that COVID has caused, even if some special effects appear visibly weaker and more artificial than previous films or even TV series. In this sense, it is also worth mentioning the excellent colonna sonora composed by Lorne Bolfe, who manages to maintain a sober rhythm in every sequence of the film and dampens a bit the excessiveness of some scenes that are perhaps too chaotic.

Comment

Resources4Gaming.com

6.5

Black Widow is a fun film, which entertains mainly thanks to the interpretation of the cast, but it is certainly not among the most memorable in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We were delighted to see Scarlett Johannson in this role one last time, however it must be admitted that the entire film would seem to have been made only to justify a final contract and not because she really felt the need to tell this story. It's a negligible piece of this expanding cinematic universe, a moment of transition before the next big hits: to see if you love the actress and Marvel Studios films, limiting your expectations.

PRO

  • The cast is great, especially Florence Pugh
  • It is one of the darkest and most violent films in the MCU
  • The touching relationship between Nat and his "family"
AGAINST
  • Too many superfluous action scenes
  • The Red Guardian gags are too many and become cloying
  • Taskmaster's character was misused
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