Black Widow
Edwin Arnaudin: Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff hasn’t exactly been my favorite Avenger. Though a talented fighter, her skillset feels somewhat out of place next to Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, but there’s consistently been enough mystery about her shady past as a Russian operative to keep me invested in her character. With Black Widow, we get plenty of answers on that front. Were you pleased with the results?
Bruce Steele: I was! I always thought Natasha got cheated out of her own origin story movie, so I was pleased to have this one appear on the Marvel schedule for May 2020 — and pleased more than a year later to be sitting in a real movie theater to watch it. It reminded me of Captain Marvel — not because there's a female superhero at the center but because it's so detached from the Marvel universe of alien supervillains and magic gems and all that. It's an earth-bound story of reunions and revenge. And the movie acknowledges that — by having Natasha watch the James Bond film Moonraker at one point. Black Widow is what you get when Marvel crosses James Bond with Ordinary People. Did it win you over to the Widow?
Edwin: Big time. Even though Loki, the third MCU series of 2021, is nearly complete, it’s been two years since Spider-Man: Far From Home — and I’d been experiencing somewhat of an Avengers withdrawal when it comes to extravagant action. Director Cate Shortland (whose perfectly OK 2012 Nazi refugee drama Lore isn’t exactly a great audition for Marvel) delivers impressive spectacle via a trio of thrilling set pieces, while writer Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) connects and augments them with a sense of humor that, to your point, resembles the comparably excellent Carol Danvers standalone film. It also helps that the central cast is composed of four immensely talented and likable actors.
Bruce: It certainly is an A-list cast. The theme is family, and the nuclear core of Black Widow are the four Russian-born adults who once formed a sleeper cell in suburban Ohio: mom Melina (Rachel Weisz), dad Alexei (David Harbour of Netflix’s Stranger Things), and daughters Natasha and Yelena (Florence Pugh, Little Women). Harbour is mostly comic relief, but Weisz and Pugh have more-complex characters to play. Pugh in particular hits the trifecta of humor, emotion, and action skills. The plot turns on her awakening from mind-control by the dastardly Dreykov (Ray Winstone). What did you think of this new villain?
Edwin: We don’t see much of him for a while, so he initially comes off as not quite as sinister as the Widows he controls from his Red Room base. But once we get to see him up close, the extent of his powers are revealed and I found him far more formidable. Doing his bidding on high-stakes missions is the mysterious Taskmaster, a masked, Terminator-like assassin with the ability to mimic anyone it fights. What did you think of this baddie’s showdowns with our “family” of heroes?
Bruce: The fight scenes were all gripping, and often a bit uncomfortable, since watching women get beaten up — especially by an older white man — makes me wince and disconnect from the narrative. But pushing every battle to the limit, and the edge of defeat, is a Marvel tradition, and this film is intended as a metaphor for #MeToo — young women freeing themselves from patriarchal enslavement. So I get it. On the other hand, one of our screening companions pointed out that the laws of physics are often disregarded, especially in a long freefall fight scene. It’s true, but it didn't bother me the way it did in F9 — another "family" action film. F9 was so shallow and idiotic, I found its implausibility annoying. But here the writing was sharp and the themes well developed, so I barely registered the absurdities.
Edwin: Ditto. The extended “sky fall” — now we’re even on Bond references — is something I don’t think I’ve seen presented to the length and intricacies depicted here, so I was rapt throughout that stretch. The same goes for an earlier prison break sequence, which gives Johansson and Pugh plenty of fist-pumping moments, and lets Harbour be a ham. (Weisz’s “unintentional" deadpan comedy likewise warrants praise.) Weave in some winking, self-critical humor in the form of Yelena steadily roasting Natasha for her penchant to strike poses mid-battle (“Such a poser…”), and you get one of the best standalone MCU films, up there with Thor: Ragnarok, Captain Marvel and Black Panther. I give it an A-minus.
Bruce: That’s a list I can endorse. Black Widow also benefits from being bookended by Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame within the Marvel Cinematic Universe time line, so it doesn’t waste time setting up sequels (although fans will want to stay for the post-credits teaser). It’s focused on Natasha personal quest and personal issues — something I don’t think you can say about any other MCU film. I hope the fans detach themselves from their couches and come out to theaters to see it. 3D is optional; we enjoyed it just fine in 2D. I’ll concur with your A-minus.
Overall grade: A-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at the AMC River Hills, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios)
