DIRECTOR: Cate Shortland
PRODUCER: Kevin Feige
WRITERS: Jac Schaffer & Ned Benson (story by) & Eric Pearson
PERFORMERS: Scarlett Johansson Florence Pugh David Harbour D-T Fagbenle
William Hurt with Ray Winstone and Rachel Weisz
She crawled her way into our minds in IRON MAN 2, took us by storm in The Avengers, and ever since then has been a beloved member of the MCU as well as the superhero team themselves. Because of this, so much hype was built around her having her own solo movie and now we finally get our wish. After years of requesting and the last one of being delayed because of COVID, she's finally here!
When she made the ultimate sacrifice to save the universe in Endgame, none of us thought we would ever see her again. This entry in the MCU changes all that and takes us into her world everyone had been waiting to see. In a riveting performance by Scarlett Johansson, the character known as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, gets her chance to shine as a stand alone adventure which took so long to get off the ground. Our hero Romanoff's past is explored here, from the time she was a child to the recent breakup of the Avengers from 2016's Civil War, you get nothing but fast-paced action and adventure. As the film dwell's into her past, it's easy to see how Romanoff became such a highly skilled mercenary. This may be after her joining the Avengers, but this also showcases who she was before and where she came from. That's all good and well, but as far as performances go, Florence Pugh (who plays her sister, also a skilled mercenary) is who really caught my attention. She steals every scene she in, as she serves as a reminder of tough women in movies like this were portrayed as. She deeply reminded me of Sharon Stone in the classic Sci-Fi thriller Total Recall because of her prowess and tough-as-nails attitude her character carried. The scene where she and Johansson are fighting is breathless and they fight so much alike you don't know who to route for. Once they join forces you side with them both but once they reunite with their fake parents (played by David Harbour and Rachel Weisz) all bets are off. My only issue is Harbour's character, I don't ever remember a time when his character was in past MCU films and in his prime fighting bad guys. I never even heard of the Red Guardian, he almost looked like a repeat of Captain America; and all I saw was a guy trying to make amends for his failed efforts to be a surrogate parent to two women who weren't even his children to begin with.
The most significant thing about this film is it's representation of strong female characters. Johansson, Pugh and especially Weisz are major examples of that in this film. Johansson is the moves, Pugh is the muscle and Weisz is the intelligent one. I haven't seen her in a part like this since The Mummy Returns and in this one, Weisz is no joke and one who is not to be underestimated. In Endgame, during the climactic battle all the resurrected heroes came back to stop Thanos and there was this moment where all the women from Captain Marvel to Scarlett Witch and Pepper Potts in a Iron suit, amongst several others others gathered to make their stand and while some say it was rushed and unnecessary, I thought that was fantastic! You don't often see that in films like these. But in this one, these three women actually showed us how it was done right off the bat! The fighting scenes are breathless, the effects are top notch and the story is also just as right as it comes. Touching on a sensitive subject that to some others, I'm sure, are heartbreaking and personal. The concept of building an army through mind manipulation and control is a huge factor in the story, a big reminder of the power of free will vs. no will. I guess if the writers were going to make this work, it had to go in a direction never explored this way before (Good job on their part for it).
Because of the COVID outbreak last year, this along with many other films were put on hold and delayed for theatrical release. I was super pumped to see it when I first heard of it. Now that I have I can say that Romanoff's journey has now come full circle. But in all honesty, I wish this could have been done earlier since it takes place before Infinity War and Endgame. Though I get it, the circumstances called for it to wait; I just don't think we should have waited this long. Was it worth the wait? Yes and No. Why? Because of the setting and mostly the timing. All in all, very satisfying and entertaining on so many levels. This beats out the likes of Wonder Woman 1984 and knocks that right out the park! This may not have been where it all began, but it certainly serves where it continued and knowing what happens next, is good enough for me personally. This was more of a revisit of the past MCU timeline we all saw in the last twenty-two years and that should have been okay with the audience, this is what they've been waiting for and this what they got. My take on it is that while it should have been years ago, better late than never if you ask me. Black Widow was an amazing film and I strongly recommend it for anyone looking to relive old MCU times.
RATING: 4 OUT OF 5 stars