Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, is on the run from the American government following the events of Civil War, with her fellow team members captured and being held at a high security facility. Whilst in hiding she's given a parcel with the power to bring down a force from her past who, as far as she was aware, was already taken care of. Dare I say Budapest?
Black Widow sees the return of Scarlett Johansson as former special agent Natasha Romanoff, the assassin turned Avenger who is keeping herself out of the limelight in an attempt to stay unnoticed by the powers that be. With a warrant out for her arrest she's forced into hiding and chooses a nice, isolated location. Upon her arrival she's greeted by a friend who was nice enough to collect her belongings and mail from the Budapest flat he'd allowed her to use, since there was no chance she'd be heading back there. Right? ...
When her generator breaks she has no choice but to head into town. En route she's ambushed by an unknown adversary in a peculiar suit who flips her vehicle. But they appear to be searching for something rather than someone. Upon opening her trunk she discovers a box of unknown origin. She manages to escape with said item and embarks upon a journey to locate the person who sent them, and of course why. Cue a reunion with her baby sister Yelena, who happens to have been the best child assassin to come out of the widow programme. The sisters work together to find father figure Alexei Shostakov; Red Guardian, and the woman they once called mother, Melina Vostokoff, to unearth the secret location of the Red Room and the man who ruined their lives in the first place.
This action-packed Marvel movie certainly could have done with being released a lot sooner because it was outshone a little by the release of Marvel's Wandavision, Falcon & The Winter Soldier and Loki shows. The end credit scene will make a little more sense if you've seen Falcon & The Winter Soldier too btw. Was this a movie that made an impact? In terms of origin story, we learn about the type of childhood Natasha and Yelena had to endure. Do I feel as if Black Widow is the focus of this movie? Not particularly. Yelena's quips and digs at Natasha were super comical. Florence Pugh was phenomenal, and really drew attention away from everybody else. I'm not sure if the character was written this way due to the fact that future Natasha is dead (so there's not much point in developing her character thoroughly), or if it was just her talent that really her pushed her to the top. Whilst Scarlett put on a good performance it wasn't in the way I was anticipating. As a character she showed a lot of flaws and weaknesses, whereas previously we've seen her as a strong, independent fighter whose abilities were unparalleled by any other human - without super powers or armour of course. As a big sister she doesn't appear to be particularly supportive, but as the plot develops we come to see the bond you would expect between two sisters developing as it should have first time around. David Harbour is absolutely perfect as the Red Guardian, with a full-bodied performance; no pun intended, and a very crooked sense of humour and understanding, that sets him apart from traditional heroes. Rachel Weisz left me feeling deflated, but it is possible this was the intention as her character wasn't particularly charismatic and it's reflected in her acting.
I loved the costumes throughout, so kudos to whoever did that because I loved all of them! They're very modern, and also make sense for what they have to endure. Often hero costumes are unbelievable, as in the practicality is definitely not the forefront of their design.
The soundtrack wasn't particularly strong with this one in my opinion, and as it's such a big selling point in a movie for me. Sad face. That cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit was cringe! I love Cheap Thrills by Sia but it totally didn't fit with the scenes it was used alongside. Weird choices...
What didn't I like? A few of the casting choices were a bit hit and miss. I enjoyed the overall story of the 'family' reuniting to face a common enemy, but I think the movie had a lot of unnecessary segments that didn't bring anything to the table. This film doesn't add a whole lot to the Marvel timeline either. You could watch every other Marvel movie and skip this, and it wouldn't change anything. Yes it was something a little bit different, since we've all waited almost 2 years for the movie, but after the delays I really had hoped for more from it. Some exciting cameos would have given it an extra little something. Also, Thunderbolt Ross alluded to there being a whole army searching for Natasha, and yet nobody seemed to care other than him. She didn't have much trouble at all with those intending to imprison her. Did I get what I expected to from this movie? I strongly doubt anyone did. It was a nice idea I just think we needed more links to the current day, more Avengers related discussions and just a little extra oomph. The fight scenes were super cool so that was a bonus. Perhaps even if it was the opposite, a true origin story which threw us back to her childhood training for an extended period of the movie, then we could have went through the motions with the character.
I decided to give it a 6 because I think it's worth watching, and any Marvel fan would enjoy it because it is interwoven with snippets we've seen and heard in previous movies, but I like so many of the other movies so much more. There weren't exciting gadgets, and the only thing Black Widow as a character excelled at was being beaten up and manipulating people with her brains over brawn.
Review by CB
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