Cate Shortland
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Filmography
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Connections, in both directions
There’s a sly nod early on to the outsize supervillain nature of his ambitions, when Natasha chills in her wilderness trailer in Norway watching the cheesy 1979 James Bond space entry, Moonraker .
A scene in which Natasha watches and recites dialogue from the 1979 James Bond film “Moonraker” (remember that clue) reminds us that films like “Black Widow” with their action, chases, gun play and comic interludes are the children of Bond movies.
Black Widow references 1979’s Moonraker and features a silly plot that largely follows the contours of a standard old-school Bond film, complete with a power-crazed villain who resides in an impressive lair while plotting to take over the world with an evil scheme.
And things do degenerate somewhat into a familiar Marvel climax — huge object crashes to Earth while superheroes do superhero things in mid-air, with a few Moonraker nods sprinkled in for good measure (someone on this film really likes Roger Moore).
Between its allusions to Moonraker and the presence of a maniacal bad guy whose fortress is a floating compound, Black Widow boasts some of the cheeky swagger of Roger Moore-era James Bond.
Not that newcomers would guess these credentials from the scene in which she sits in a rusty caravan eating dinner in front of the TV and mouthing along to Roger Moore’s dialogue in Moonraker .
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Directed by Joe Russo
influenced Black Widow (2021)
Visuals
Shortland has layered in visual references to many action and spy movies – including a nod to John Woo’s love of doves, Bond’s love of sliding down escalator railings and Charlize Theron’s down-and-dirty hand-to-hand in Atomic Blonde, not to mention its MCU predecessor Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Director Cate Shortland adopts a strategy not unlike that of Captain America: The Winter Soldier , focusing on the core relationships at the center of this globe-trotting spy narrative while mostly eschewing the massive stakes of other Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, at least until the gratuitous goofiness of the third act.
Not quite as bad ass as Bourne but more akin to Captain America: The Winter Soldier (still my favorite standalone MCU movie thus far).
The fighting, gunplay, and visual effects are in the vein of Captain America: The Winter Soldier .
It wasn’t until the Russo brothers got a hold of her in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Natasha felt like she developed something akin to a personality apart from “hot spunky spy lady,” and even then, it felt like too little too late.
The film is inspired by the Bourne movie “The Bourne Legacy” and the Mission: Impossible movies (copying its chase scenes), and mixes those two popular movies into this one.
Like many a past Marvel solo movie, Black Widow takes a well-known movie genre and remixes it for the MCU, this time taking heavy inspiration from the Bourne movies and the Mission: Impossible movies, with a dash of James Bond.
The hand-to-hand combat is far and away the strongest aspect of the spectacle, and while it’s clear that Black Widow is aiming to emulate the highest points of the Mission: Impossible , Jason Bourne and James Bond franchises through face-swapping and bone-crunching scraps, it’s more like John Woo’s polarizing Mission: Impossible II and The Bourne Legacy , which ironically also had Rachel Weisz and a secret chemical compound driving the narrative.
The nominal influences here are spy movies; there’s a little Bourne in the pursuits down narrow European streets, a little Mission: Impossible in the mask shenanigans.
Its spy thriller roots also lend Black Widow shades of Jason Bourne and Mission Impossible, with a gorgeous opening credits sequence built around a moody cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.
The plot of Black Widow suggests The Americans met Mission: Impossible and had a baby named Moonraker.
Evoking the rich, authentic vibes of something like Sidney Lumet’s “Running on Empty,” the family escapes following a ridged routine, hopping into an SUV, leaving their belongings, and that once happy life behind.
Shortland has layered in visual references to many action and spy movies – including a nod to John Woo’s love of doves, Bond’s love of sliding down escalator railings and Charlize Theron’s down-and-dirty hand-to-hand in Atomic Blonde, not to mention its MCU predecessor Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
At its best, Black Widow echoes a similar vibe to the Charlize Theron vehicle, Atomic Blonde, and encapsulates how much better the film is when it keeps its feet on the ground .
Fights are mostly hand-to-hand and realistically brutal similar to Atomic Blonde, with the environment playing a vital role in every battle.
It’s no small thing to bring together actors who have carried two of the most audacious films of the past decade (Johansson in Under the Skin , Pugh in Midsommar ) but they deserve better than this material, which could only feel fresh to viewers who have avoided Red Sparrow , Atomic Blonde and Killing Eve .
There’s one standout scene where Yelena and Natasha, much like Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde , tear a city apartment to pieces as they fling assorted homeware at each other’s heads.
And while “The Winter Soldier” modeled itself after the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, “Black Widow” is happier hitching its trailer to more of a flashy international intrigue sort of oeuvre; there’s plenty of James Bond to be found, especially with its cartoon Russian villainy that evokes “From Russia With Love.”
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Directed by James Gunn
influenced Black Widow (2021)
Characters Visuals
In another way, Black Widow is not unlike Guardians of the Galaxy .
Natasha and Yelena’s chemistry and story arc are touching and have shades of what James Gunn tried to do with Gamora and Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 but largely failed to do well.
MCU films such as Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy are funny, adventurous romps, but they don’t have the gravitas that Johansson and her Black Widow co-stars Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour can bring to a scene – although to be fair to Tessa Thompson, she hasn’t been given the opportunity to showcase her dramatic chops in the MCU yet.
Black Widow is an excellent example of this: while it inhabits the same fictional universe as Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy , it feels much closer in style to Mission: Impossible and The Bourne Identity .
But like some of the anti-heroes who carry Guardians of the Galaxy, Yelena’s personality is designed to hide bottled insecurities and fears, which makes for some heartfelt moments in the second act.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Directed by Jay Roach
influenced Black Widow (2021)
Plot Characters
Romanoff watches Moonraker during her downtime (and can quote it verbatim), while a huge chunk of the plot is lifted directly from the Bond parody Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
The Widows, then, are essentially a Fembot army, minus the wit of Austin Powers .
It doesn't help that Pugh's and Winstone's attempts at a Russian accent sound so unconvincing they become distracting and annoying as though this were an unfunny Austin Powers-like spoof of a superhero film.
As it shifts away from a take on “La Femme Nikita” to the dystopian sci-fi routines of “Equilibrium,” ultimately betraying a distillation as a simple revenge flick, “Black Widow” proceeds to remind viewers that all of this could have been so much more powerful and riveting without the over-the-top tech or superheroes of any kind.
From the La Femme Nikita -like training that the widows endure to the sad truth of women being prevented from choosing their own paths in life, Black Widow puts female issues front and center without ever making it feel forced or preachy.
The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)
Directed by Philippe Mora
influenced Black Widow (2021)
Plot
“I could’ve been more famous than Captain America,” he gripes, squeezing himself into his old costume – a gag that is familiar from The Incredibles but has been in service at least since The Return of Captain Invincible in 1983.
Black Widow (dir. Cate Shortland, 2021)…
If the concept of a ballerina assassin feels familiar, it’s because Red Sparrow (2018) and Black Widow (2021) both got there before.
“Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister,” sang Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas .
…sleepwalking her way through a hallway brawl, reminiscent of our first appearance of Black Widow…
Thunderbolts* feels like the Yelena Belova origin story that we never got in Black Widow…
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), battling depression and purpose after Natasha’s death…
Florence Pugh proves to be a worthy inheritor to the Black Widow legacy…
…teases that have awaited conclusion since 2021 and the releases of Black Widow…
…two similarly adrift (yet talented) murderesses from Ant-Man and Black Widow…
But Black Widow , directed by Australia’s Cate Shortland ( Somersault ), is the first full-fledged Marvel blockbuster in two years – and only the second ever, following Captain Marvel in 2019, to centre on a solo female lead.
Shortland, who showed so much promise with edgy arthouse draws “Somersault” (2004) and “Lore” (2012), connects the dots, but as with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck doing “Captain Marvel” (2019), her intimate indie style is nowhere to be found under an unending stream of bombastic CGI effects.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck shared duties on Captain Marvel .
Like Wonder Woman, Black Widow is directed by a woman, Cate Shortland, only the second woman to direct an Avengers film for Marvel, the first being Anna Boden, who co-directed Captain Marvel , along with Ryan Fleck.
At least "Captain Marvel" had a more consistent tone holding it together.
Young Australian actress Abbie Cornish exhibits the same screen presence she showed in her first starring perf in 2004’s “Somersault.”
A young American woman named Christie (Australian actress Abbie Cornish, from "Somersault") turns up claiming to be Henry's illegitimate daughter, and Max has to decide whether to welcome this potential cousin, scare her off, or seduce her.
And to further spice things up, there are complications in the form of a possible challenger to Henry's will, a young American free spirit named Christie (Abbie Cornish, an Australian actress who gave a terrific performance in Kate Shortland's 2004 "Somersault," released here earlier this year).
Cornish ( Somersault ) beams as well, as the girl from Napa Valley, Calif., who knows a few things about winemaking.
With its cobbled Euro courtyards and hell-bent car-chase scenes, it strongly resembles a Bourne movie, and its mile-high Red Room headquarters is an echo of the Alpine Blofeld lair in the long-ago Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service .
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
Directed by Julius Onah
influenced by Black Widow (2021)
Themes
Had Sterns’s monologue followed a film like, say, Black Widow — released in 2020 when the multiverse was just a glimmer in Kevin Feige’s eye — it would have at least made for a fun preview of things to come.
It also would not hurt if you saw “Black Panther” (2018), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), and “Black Widow” (2021).
It was really disappointing to see how Brave New World handled Thunderbolt Ross after his excellent minor appearances in Civil War, Infinity War, and Black Widow.
She’s revealed to have been trained in the Red Room, so essentially she’s a Black Widow just like Natasha Romanoff.
Red Sparrow (2018)
Directed by Francis Lawrence
influenced Black Widow (2021)
Characters Themes Plot
The antagonists are offshoots of similar mercenaries that we’ve recently seen on the big screen, including “Red Sparrow” (2018) and “Anna” (2019), except on steroids.
After a shootout and flight aboard a rickety single-prop plane, they escape to Russian turf, where the sisters are drugged and sent to widow school (think the unenviable ordeal J-Law’s reluctant spy had to undergo in “Red Sparrow”).
It’s no small thing to bring together actors who have carried two of the most audacious films of the past decade (Johansson in Under the Skin , Pugh in Midsommar ) but they deserve better than this material, which could only feel fresh to viewers who have avoided Red Sparrow , Atomic Blonde and Killing Eve .
Late in the film, one of those wall-sized maps reveals how these "widows" have infiltrated every major organization on the planet, which suggests that Black Widow is essentially Red Sparrow without wanting to say the naughty part out loud; "The Americans" but with that MCU fight choreography that seems so particularly white and elderly taking the place of sexual coercion.
There are shades of so many different influences in this film, from the aforementioned Bond to films Hanna and Red Sparrow and television shows The Americans, Killing Eve and Stranger Things , that what makes Black Widow work so well is its feeling of groundedness, its simplicity, its modesty, and yes, its sense of familiarity.
En síntesis, esto es Red Sparrow para toda la familia, con la típica acción y liviana historia de una oferta de Disney, sin entrar mucho en todo lo relacionado al tráfico humano y sexual al que son sometidos estas féminas.
The fight choreography was brilliantly done and the John Wick -esque hand-to-hand combat scenes will easily remind viewers of what they were missing (and should have been getting) as it pertains to Black Widow and what she can do, and is known for.
So rather than some John Wick -type “I guess I’m back” switch, Black Widow feels right at home within the continuity of the MCU as either the start to Phase 4 (which it is) or if you were to place it between Civil War and Infinity War (2018), when the story takes place.
The action, which is much more of the John Wick style than the huge tentpole-CGI heavy stuff we usually get from Marvel, is on point.
It’s abundantly clear how much effort has been put into its hand-to-hand combat; it may not be as slick as it is in films like John Wick, it has an air of The Winter Soldier meets Bourne about it with its hyper-kinetic camerawork circling its combatants.
Whether it’s a young woman grappling with the power and consequences of her burgeoning sexuality in Somersault, a police detective traumatised by an unsolved crime in the ABC telemovie The Silence, or a girl who finds the only life she’s ever known crumbling around her in Lore.