Black Widow (2021)
Directed by Cate Shortland
Natasha Romanoff, also known as 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.
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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 .
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.
New addition to the MCU Yelena Belova (one of the most must-see rising stars today Florence Pugh) asks her estranged nonbiological sister Natasha Romanoff (the eponymous Black Widow reprised, presumably for one final time, by Scarlett Johansson in this interquel set sometime after Captain America: Civil War) what her story is.
The film then fast forwards to the present day; Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is being hunted by the U.S. government, and Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) following the events of “Captain America: Civil War.” Now a fugitive, Romanoff is ten steps ahead of them, but more importantly, the echoes of this shattered family, traumatically torn from her at a young age, are still a painful wound that’s never properly healed or found closure.
As you'll surely recall, that was the year of Captain America: Civil War , in which the Cap and Tony Stark/Iron Man had a big falling out and Natasha disappeared.
Sure, there are references to the Avengers, and Black Widow's reintroduction makes more sense if you remember it's a prequel that takes place just after Captain America: Civil War.
Two decades later, Natasha Romanoff ( Scarlett Johansson ) faces the aftermath of her choices in Captain America: Civil War .
Taking place right after 2016’s Captain America: Civil War , Black Widow sees the titular Avenger on the run and reconnecting with her past.
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.
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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.”
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.
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.
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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 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.
“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.