Black Widow review: Marvel returns with a familiar face
By the time Black Widow hits cinemas, it will have been the longest we’ve ever waited for a Marvel Cinematic Universe instalment. Obviously there have been external reasons for this absence, but in a strange way the wait has been beneficial for the world’s biggest franchise. Yes, there have been two and a half Disney+ series in between, but the main film franchise has been able to have a breather. This has allowed some to catch up (a popular Lockdown activity was watching the MCU in order), or simply recover from the fatigue of a Marvel film every three months. Now, the action is back.
Black Widow is the solo movie for Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), a supporting character in the Marvel movies since 2010’s Iron Man 2. She of course sacrificed herself during the events of Avengers: Endgame, so this may be a one-off finale for the much-loved character. It’s set just after the events of Captain America: Civil War, with Natasha going into hiding.
She is contacted by a face from the past, Yelena (Florence Pugh), her sister as a child in the staged family unit put together by the Russian forces that turned her into Black Widow before she defected. Yelena reveals that an old enemy she thought she killed, Dreykov (Ray Winstone) is still alive and controlling the minds of Widow assassins around the world using chemicals. Reuniting with her ‘parents’, scientist Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Russian super soldier Alexei (David Harbour), she sets out to find Dreykov and confront her past.
It’s been a while since most of us have been in the Marvel Universe, but the formula is easy to remember. Another secret base, another maniacal plot, another mind-controlled soldier in Dreykov’s masked baddie Taskmaster. Director Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) doesn’t take us anywhere we haven’t been before, but it’s about the journey rather than the destination. It’s as close to a standalone story as Marvel gets, allowing us to follow the team on their mission without getting caught up in where this connects to other films.
The other pleasure is the characters themselves, who are great to hang out with. Pugh is terrific, providing sardonic jabs at her sibling, such as making fun of her combat poses and comparing her to the Avengers’ Big Ones (“I doubt the god from space has to take an Ibuprofen after a fight”). The British star who broke through in 2016’s Lady Macbeth has an instant rapport with Johansson, which make for the best scenes in the film.
The other treat is Harbour as Alexei, aka Red Guardian. A Russian Captain America equivalent who misses his glory days, he doesn’t add an awful lot to the plot but is enormous fun as he lumbers around looking for something to punch. The Stranger Things star brings the laughs while his co-stars take the spotlight. As for Johansson herself, she proves beyond doubt that this solo movie should have come sooner. Tough and charismatic, she leads confidently in both dramatic scenes and the many elaborate set pieces.
For an actor of her calibre, Weisz is a little bit underused after her introduction, but it’s Shakespeare compared to Winstone, who is far and away the weakest link. Taking his persona from his betting ads, he feels like he’s walked in from another film and never generates the menace necessary to be anything other than a target for Natasha.
A post-credits scene does seem to suggest a future for some of these characters, but in general Black Widow is something of a rarity, being a Marvel film that is happy to be its own self-contained adventure. If this came in the build up to Infinity War, it might have got lost in the shuffle. However, after two years away from the big screen, Johansson brings the universe back with style.
“Black Widow” is in cinemas from July 7, and on Disney+ with Premier Access from July 9