In Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow,” Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow made her first big-screen appearance in 2010’s “Iron Man 2” and cemented herself within the MCU as a strong, intelligent, and resourceful female character who was more than capable of handling herself. Since then, she has appeared in seven Marvel movies, including “Black Widow,” which will hit theaters and Disney+ Premier Access on July 9th. For those who have not yet seen “Avengers: Endgame,” I would highly recommend watching it before reading this review as it gives away spoilers that play heavily into “Black Widow.” You have been warned.
Halfway through “Avengers: Endgame,” Natasha Romanoff sacrifices herself in order to help her best friend Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) acquire the Soul Stone so that the Avengers can bring back everyone who disappeared after Thanos’ snap. “Black Widow” takes place immediately following the events of “Captain America: Civil War” but precedes “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame”. The film opens up in Ohio in 1995 when Natasha (Ever Anderson) and her younger sister Yelena (Violet McGraw) are still kids. They are an all-American family and their parents, Alexei and Melina (David Harbour and Rachel Weisz), work locally. As they sit down one evening for dinner, Alexei comes home and the look on his face tells Melina that it is time to go. We learn that they are in fact, not a family but Russian sleeper agents that were sent to America years earlier for an undercover operation that Alexei has just completed. After a daring escape, they end up back in Russia, where Alexei and Melina’s boss, Dreykov (Ray Winstone), informs them of their next mission while taking Natasha and Yelena and separating them, eventually brainwashing them, sterilizing them, and training them in combat and espionage at the covert “Red Room” facility.
The movie then flashes forward right after “Captain America: Civil War” where General Ross (William Hurt) is hot on Natasha’s heels. She has just gone into exile after helping Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes escape and she makes her way to Norway and with the help of an old friend, Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle), lays low in a trailer on the outskirts of a small fishing village. Mason informs her that her old apartment in Budapest is being used by someone and brings a package that was addressed to her and leaves it by the door. Later that evening, the trailer’s generator runs out of gas so she jumps into her car, bringing the package with her, with the intent of discarding it in town but she is attacked on a bridge.
She comes face to face with Taskmaster, an adversary who is covered from head to toe in armor and wields a sword and shield, and has photographic reflexes that allow him to mimic any fighting style he comes into contact with. After a brief scuffle, Natasha is knocked down but Taskmaster doesn’t appear interested in her, instead, he approaches her car and picks up the package with her name on it. She manages to constrain him long enough to grab the parcel before disappearing over the side of the bridge into the icy waters below. She turns up at her old apartment in Budapest and confronts her sister Yelena (Florence Pugh). After a brawl between the siblings, Natasha calls a truce and presents the package she received in the mail to her. She immediately comes unglued, stating that she sent her the package to get it out of Budapest. She informs Natasha it is the antidote to a form of mind control used by her old nemesis Dreykov.
Dreykov is now kidnapping young women from all over the world and invading their minds and forcing them to become his own personal army of widows. After an attack from said assassins, Natasha and Yelena escape and realize in order to try and take Dreykov down, they will need the assistance of their adoptive parents, Alexei and Melina. The only problem is that Alexei is in prison and Melina has gone off the grid. Relying on Mason once more, he furnishes Natasha with a helicopter that she and Yelena utilize to break Alexei out of prison and coordinates to Melina’s farm outside of Saint Petersburg. Once all together, they are quickly apprehended and brought to Dreykov’s compound in the sky where he informs them that he is about to unleash his army of widows on the world but Natasha and her family have other plans.
Typically, Marvel movies are filled with characters embodied with superhuman powers like Thor, Captain America, Vision, and Hulk but while Natasha Romanoff is an expert spy, expert marksman, and master of various weapons, she is very human and thus, “Black Widow” is a straightforward action film, albeit a fantastic, exciting, and very entertaining one. In many ways, you could call it the James Bond of Marvel movies, brimming with an assortment of really cool gadgets, gimmicks, and weapons galore. We even get to see Natasha watch “Moonraker” on her laptop in one scene. Scarlett Johansson finally takes the lead and is in top form as the titular Black Widow. The filmmakers take this opportunity to go into Natasha’s past so we can see the events and the people who helped shape her into the person she would eventually become. Florence Pugh is matchless as her sister and constantly criticizes Natasha every chance she gets and in one hilarious scene, even mocks her trademark fighting stance, calling her a “poser.” David Harbour and Rachel Weisz are wonderfully cast as Natasha’s adoptive parents who learn to put their differences behind them in order to help Natasha and Yelena take down Dreykov and his army of assassins.
“Black Widow,” much like the Bond films, conveys a real-world ambiance as it travels the globe from country to country including Norway, Hungary, Morocco, the UK, and the US. Unlike some films that utilize greenscreen backdrops to give the impression of their international presence, “Black Widow” unapologetically takes you there for real and you savor the atmosphere from every location. As with previous Marvel movies, there is an end-credit scene that sets up the next chapter in the MCU so don’t forget to wait until the very end. It’s been a long time since we were able to sit in a theater and watch big-screen entertainment but with “A Quiet Place Part II, “F9,” and now “Black Widow,” my recommendation to you would be to see this on the biggest screen possible, IMAX or Dolby would be ideal but please, if you are a fan, watching this on Disney+ will take away from the overall interactive experience of sitting in a theater with family or friends. If you can, go see it opening weekend, I promise you, you will not be disappointed.
In Theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access in most Disney+ markets Friday, July 9th
