Black Widow

BLACK WIDOW

Director : Cate Shortland

Year : 2021

Genre : Superhero

Rating : ***

For the 24th film in their ever-expanding Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios turn their sights to one of their icons who was never really given the chance to truly shine. Released simultaneously in cinemas and on Disney+ after numerous delays due to the COVID 19 pandemic, 'Black Widow' is the long-awaited movie that tells the story of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johanssen), the Soviet assassin-turned-Avenger who for over a decade was one of the leading figures in the franchise and whose passing in 2019's 'Avengers : Endgame' proved to be one of the more emotionally crippling moments in a movie filled with unexpected loss and sacrifice. Taking place after the critical events of 'Captain America : Civil War', 'Black Widow' sees Romanoff on the run from the law as she and her surrogate sister (Florence Pugh) attempt to bring down the cruel organisation known as ''The Red Room'' which has been systematically kidnapping and brainwashing young Russian girls to train them up to become highly skilled killers. 

As is to be expected from a movie in the MCU, 'Black Widow' is filled with many exciting action scenes and eye-popping visuals and director Cate Shortland (whose 2012 war drama 'Lore' remains one of the most sorely overlooked films of the last decade) should be congratulated for creating thrilling sequences which are both hyper-kinetic yet completely coherent. Scarlett Johansson is once again very good indeed and her fearsome yet sensitive performance as the psychologically wounded Natasha really makes me wish that previous filmmakers had made better use of her considerable acting talents in the earlier 'Avengers' outings. Great too is the wonderful Florence Pugh who shines here as Yelena, Romanoff's sibling-by-proxy and fellow assassin while 'Stranger Things' alumni David Harbour provides many of the movies laughs as the aging Russian super-soldier Alexei Shostakov aka. The Red Guardian whose witty dialogue is as tight as his ill-fitting costume. 

As a standard superhero film, 'Black Widow' is a perfectly fine if not middling entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but it's let down by some notable problems; the most obvious of which is a discernible lack of an interesting or charismatic villain. There is certainly a bad guy or two working the controls here - the sleazy mastermind of the Black Widow program Dreykov played with scenery-chewing relish by Ray Winstone whose motivations are almost as confused as his wandering Soviet accent as well as a mysterious yet deadly masked figure known only as ''Taskmaster'' who has the uncanny ability to mimic it's adversary's movements. However, these antagonists really pale in comparison to the likes of previous MCU enemies such as Thanos, Kilmonger, Ego or Hela and instead they come across as generic villain archetypes, the likes of which Roger Moore's James Bond would have fought with cheesy aplomb back in the 1970's. 

Another key problem is that rather than ending on a more subtle and defined tone like the espionage thrillers of old that have inspired it, 'Black Widow' instead concludes with a very standard superhero movie final act, with giant buildings blowing up and stunt people punching and kicking each other in the crowded, yet poorly lit corridors of the arch-villains lair - once again, very much like a classic 007 picture. With all that said however, 'Black Widow' is still an entertaining action romp that showcases some really wonderful performances from it's predominantly female-led cast - particularly the always enjoyable Florence Pugh (whose future in the franchise is gratefully secured during the movies inevitable post-credits scene) - while also providing solid evidence that Cate Shortland is most definitely a director to keep an eye on.