Kevin Feige, you sly devil. I remember being pretty pissed that ScarJo really got the short end of the stick after Avengers Endgame gave a whole production to Tony Stark. But apparently that was all because he was using this movie to give Natasha Romanoff a 2+ hour sendoff. Black Widow gives the character a lovely ending through a fun spy movie, while also introducing us to an exciting new character we’re going to have in our lives for a while.
After a brief prologue, the movie takes place after Captain America: Civil War. With the Avengers split apart, Natasha (Johansson) goes on the run from US Secretary of State Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) because she didn’t sign the Sokovia Accords. After assistance from her friend Rick (O-T Fagbenle), Natasha secludes herself in rural Norway, waiting out the storm. But the storm comes to her when her younger “sister” Yelena (Florence Pugh), comes into possession of something that could take down the General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) and Red Room, running a host of Black Widow assassins. Desperate to settle the score with Dreykov, Natasha seeks out the other members of her “family,” “dad” Alexei (David Harbour) and “mom” Melina (Rachel Weisz), to try to understand where the Red Room organization might be located.
Oh Marvel, how I missed your lovely cinematic formula: a light breezy mixture in the genre of your choosing. Because Black Widow is the subject of this movie, we’re inside Marvel’s version of a spy movie. Pieces of each of the great spy franchises are evident in Black Widow. There’s a stellar Yelena/Natasha sparring that does a terrific Jason Bourne action scene impression. James Bond would totally approve of the country hopping and political intrigue pieces of the story as well as the car chases. And the gadget use and death defying action in the 3rd act Scarlett Johansson pulls off makes me wonder if she called Tom Cruise for some Impossible Mission tips. Through all of this though, Feige, writer Eric Pearson, director Cate Shortland, and Scarlett Johansson never lose sight of the characters and world they build, incorporating all the pieces of Black Widow’s past (Budapest gets explained for example) into the story to make it fully her own tale rather than just a pale imitation of something better.
The other part of that Marvel formula is the light breezy part, and those parts are where the movie shines brightest; that’s right, Black Widow’s best scene is at the tensest family dinner since this. Florence Pugh could not be a more welcome addition as Yelena. Pugh has proved her wide array of skills already, and all of them are on display in Black Widow, making a perfect casting as ScarJo’s little sister. She gets the biggest laughs, the best lines, and an end credits scene that teases we are witnessing the tip of the iceberg here. David Harbour kills it here too, as the self absorbed Alexei, sliding into the Marvel sweet spot like he was destined to be there. And Rachel Weisz completes the ensemble, the smartest person in the room happily sidekicking Pugh and Harbour but emotionally grounding the movie with Johansson. Speaking of Johansson, she finally gets a well deserved swansong here, showing that prodigious talent that landed her the role in the first place, while sweetly sharing and passing the torch to Pugh for Marvel’s next phase. I’ll miss her ability to make every Marvel movie she’s in a little better with her presence, in whatever way the movie needs her help (comedically, emotionally, bad asserly).
Thank you Scarlett Johansson. And thank you Kevin Feige! This movie could have been a sign of the decline of the MCU, a funeral of sorts. Instead, with one of your better stingers, I see you, and I see where the next phase is going, and I approve heavily! Also, Florence Pugh! You keep up this amazing trajectory, and I look forward to you dominating Hollywood for the next 20 years! Marvel movies are back y’all!