{"id":16802,"date":"2021-07-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=16802"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:14:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:14:21","slug":"review-black-widow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/review-black-widow\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Black Widow<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You could chalk Black Widow\u2019s<\/em> moderate energy and mid-level excitement up to unfortunate timing: Marvel waited so long to make a vehicle for its first female Avenger that it had to be set before the character\u2019s death in the canonical timeline to work. COVID delayed the movie for another year, and in that twelve-month period, we got three Marvel TV series, two of which reimagined characters in creative, genre-bending ways. In the wake of Wandavision <\/em>and Loki<\/em>, or even the odd couple pairing of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier<\/em>, a spy thriller in which there\u2019s only one returning Avenger (and a dead one, no less) looks a little blah by comparison, no matter how competently made it might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s slightly unfair, given that Black Widow<\/em> has just enough appeal to recommend it, but it\u2019s not untrue. Very little of what\u2019s good here comes from Scarlett Johansson. The MCU\u2019s Black Widow has never been a compelling character; Natasha Romanoff\u2019s existence is defined by tactical support, with a hint of a backstory the other films never found interesting enough to explore fully. Now that we\u2019re finally getting that story, nobody seems willing to put forth the effort to make Johansson\u2019s Russian defector superspy a hero worth investing in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film begins with the childhood origin story of young Natasha Romanoff. It\u2019s Marvel\u2019s version of The Americans<\/em>, an enticing concept that unfortunately doesn\u2019t last. Natasha and her \u201csister\u201d Yelena are the adopted children of spies Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), posing as a normal American family. Alexei gets made, and the quartet escapes to Cuba where Alexei and Melina are extracted, and Natasha and Yelena are given to Russian military official General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) to be part of the Red Room, where they\u2019re both raised to be spies for Mother Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flashing forward, Johansson\u2019s Natasha is on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. after the events of Captain America: Civil War<\/em> when she receives a mysterious package. The red vials inside contain an agent that undoes Dreykov\u2019s Red Room programming, releasing his spies from his brainwashing. They\u2019ve been sent by Yelena (Florence Pugh), who\u2019s defected from Dreykov and wants Natasha\u2019s help to bring the program down. Executing their plan requires involvement from Alexei, now in prison, and Melina, now a neuroscientist in Dreykov\u2019s employ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pugh is easily the movie\u2019s brightest spot, bringing humor and electric energy to her scenes with Johansson (her description of the Red Room\u2019s reproductive sterilization of its agents is especially hilarious in its frankness). If nothing else, Black Widow<\/em> introduces Yelena as a presence we\u2019ll be seeing more of, and it\u2019s fun to think of how she\u2019ll bounce off the other characters in the series. Harbour has fun as the nostalgic blowhard Alexei, while Weisz has a little more trouble selling Melina, mostly because of an inconsistent accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole enterprise is meant to be anchored by Johansson. While she\u2019s reliably sturdy as Natasha, that\u2019s the only thing that performance and that character was ever meant to be up to this point, which makes it hard to feel much toward her. Cate Shortland\u2019s direction is solid but not terribly remarkable. It mostly reflects Marvel\u2019s house style, meaning it\u2019s not going to ruffle any feathers, but lacks a distinctive personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Widow<\/em> isn\u2019t a bad movie, but it\u2019s not a great one either. It mostly feels like background noise, with a few individual performances or elements that briefly poke through. More than anything, it highlights Marvel\u2019s early shortcomings in its female representation by continuing to do a disservice to its most frequently shortchanged character. It suggests a bright future for Pugh\u2019s Yelena, but, ironically, does the bare minimum in finally giving Natasha Romanoff her due. \"\"\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C+<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

“Black Widow” is out Friday in theaters and via Disney+ Premier Access.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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