Iron Man 2 introduced Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to the MCU, so her origin story has been a long time coming. Well, the wait is finally over, and while some will say Black Widow arrives a little too late (it takes place after Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War), that doesn’t mean Natasha doesn’t deserve to have her story told. Perhaps seen as too ordinary based on Marvel standards, it still does a solid job in not only shedding more light on where she came from, giving us a better understanding of who she was – but it’s also a straight up exciting action movie.
Before her Black Widow days, Natasha had a family. Granted, it wasn’t for very long, but she did have one when she was younger. It was her (Ever Anderson), her little sister Yelena (Violet McGraw), and her mom (Rachel Weisz) and dad (David Harbour) living a normal life in Ohio. However, that fantasy comes to an abrupt end after her old man Alexei’s secret mission blows their cover of being Russian operatives, leaving them with no choice but to flee the U.S.. Soon after, the sisters are separated and recruited to the Red Room – an esoteric Soviet program that converts girls into lethal assassins – that’s run by the unmerciful General Dreykov (Ray Winstone).
Time has surely passed, and Natasha is now solo and on the run from Secretary Ross (William Hurt) due to her total disregard of the Sokovia Accords. But that becomes the least of her worries once her tortured past catches up with her. Dreykov is still kicking and he’s got quite the Black Widow army behind him, including Natasha’s sister Yelena (Florence Pugh). That’s not all. Dreykov has a threatening new weapon – Taskmaster – who can emulate all of his enemies’ movements. If Black Widow is going to have to go down memory lane to finish what was started so long ago, she’s going to need her family to do so whether she likes it or not. Feels like the perfect time for some family healing if you ask me.
Talking about when Black Widow debuted back in 2010, Johansson recently told Collider, “You look back at Iron Man 2 and while it was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualised, you know? Really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever.” Clearly, the character has a come a long way since then, with Johansson totally embodying the role and making Natasha an integral part of the Avengers. Black Widow is her well-earned swan song, but the writers and director Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) use it as a launching pad for Yelena who came to play in this adroit spy caper.
Exhibiting great strength and vulnerability, Pugh delivers a first-rate performance as Black Widow’s baby sis. The torch has been officially passed and it’s going to be a thrill watching what she does with it. Furthermore, Weisz is always terrific, and Harbour is hilarious as a brawny dunce who’s far removed from his days as the Red Guardian. As a family, they’re as dysfunctional as it gets; yet, the love a family provides isn’t entirely lost on them. Black Widow‘s delve into a character we felt like we have known forever without really knowing isn’t wasted by any means. Shortland more than satisfies by combining staggering action with unavoidable family drama to shape a stellar summer blockbuster.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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