Black Widow Movie Review

Looks deadly but doesn't really have a lethal bite
Rating: 3/5

After multiple pandemic delays and three months of premier access pay walls on Disney + I finally got the chance to watch the MCU film that should have been released in the first phase of the Infinity Saga. As an integral part of the Avengers team, I always felt that Natasha Romanoff’s story was done a great disservice by just shoehorning her into the Iron Man films.

Don't get me wrong, Iron Man 2 was a great place to introduce her considering her status as a spy. An entrancing ginger shows up in a movie about a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist was a great way of throwing off both Tony Stark and the audience to Agent Romanoff’s true skills.  I still think that film was the best place in the first phase to make her debut.

The problem for me comes with the fact that without a dedicated film of her own during that time, she felt one dimensional compared to her other teammates. So when Avengers came out in 2012, she honestly still felt like the eye candy badass that Tony expected her to be. The tidbits of knowledge we get of her backstory throughout the rest of the Saga in a weird way also helped add to the mystery of her life as a Russian assassin, but it only fleshed her out slightly.

Now, we have her own solo film 11 years later. Black Widow filled in the gaps that fans have always wanted but left me a bit frustrated.

Where it resolves questions fans have been curious about for years, it leaves awkwardness behind. That’s because it needs to answer new questions about the plot that need to be resolved within the same 2 hours and 15 minutes.

By showing what Natasha’s childhood was like and what happened to her family, we consequently got a multi-layered family dynamic dilemma. By answering what extent the Red Room’s influence was, it introduces a never seen villain who was only mentioned once in passing throughout 23 movies, and then quickly resolves the problems he still poses. By explaining what Natasha and Clint’s mission to Budapest was about, we are learn about a secondary villain who Natasha feels she needs to atone for. Not to mention we need to find out how she initially went into hiding after the events of Civil War.

That’s a lot of information for a viewer to take in and process for the sake of an entire saga arc and a new story. It also makes the film unable to carry its own weight.

As a result the plot suffers from what I like to think of as a vast ocean that’s only a few feet deep. Since so much has to happen to get to the conclusion with the Red Room, characters that get introduced need to be explained quickly and any potential conflict between them is glossed over. The depth of the characters just feels so shallow that I can’t really care deeply about what’s going on in the plot.

The best example of this, in my opinion, is when Natasha meets up with her “family” again under the same roof. Normally with such a multi-layered family dynamic there would be some emotional tension on Natasha’s part.

She should feel something towards Alexei and Melina after learning so much in a short amount of time. Instead, they all just sit casually together as if everything is fine, Yelena makes a little bit of a fuss, and it quickly transitions into their plan to take down the Red Room.

For me, that scenario is something intensely personal that, regardless of how well Natasha has been trained to handle her emotions, warrants some sort of reaction from her; even if it is short lived for the sake of run time. Some might disagree with this particular sentiment but considering how Natasha shows hints of vulnerable emotion throughout the other films, I think it wouldn’t be totally out of character for her.

The other issue I noticed with the film is the pacing. I never felt like I was allowed to take a breather. If there isn’t some action heavy fight scene, then we are treated to an info dump dialogue that we need to immediately absorb in order to get to the next fight scene.

Multiple times throughout the story I felt confused because I was questioning the characters’ actions or behaviors to then immediately have to remember that the reason for it was mentioned a few scenes back.

From where I sit, there’s no denying the sister dynamic is what carries the film. Overall, I think they did a great job weaving the backstory topics into the dialogue between Natasha and her little sister, and the on-screen chemistry between the two actresses is spot on. I especially like the sibling banter tossed in throughout the story. I cracked up when Yelena re-enacts her sister’s hero pose, which then becomes a running joke.

Since they developed the relationship between Natasha and Yelena so well in comparison to other characters, the end credit scene did actually feel like a proper pay off. Although Yelena is given misleading information about Natasha’s death it makes sense why she would want to go after Clint. So,the idea of watching the Hawkeye show is much more appealing to me now.

After the end credit scene faded to black, I’d say my hunger about Black Widow the assassin had been satiated, but by no means was I full, and I don’t even fault the actors for it. I think they did the best they could with the script they were given, and Scarlett Johansson surely cared enough about the project to be an executive producer.

Ultimately, the problem with the film is that it tries to cram the details of Natasha’s entire character arcand establish her possible successor’s story within a short amount of time. Trying to do too much with so little leads to a story that feels hallow; much like Black Widow herself in the early days of the MCU.

With that said, I’m glad I didn’t pay the $30 for premier access on Disney +, because it’s just not worth that price. I got what I needed out of the film, but I don’t think I would revisit it or add it to my collection.

The one saving grace is Florence Pugh’s performance. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I would be ok with the idea of Yelena becoming the next Black Widow as long as her story arc is given the love and care that her older sister was robbed of.