24 – Black Widow
I remember the first time I saw Black Widow. It was in the theater, and it was one of the first movie’s I’d seen after the end of my self-isolation because of the Pandemic. It was really exciting to be able to go back out in public again. It was a great action-packed movie, but it felt like it was a bit of a let-down. It was not as fantastically super-powered as the previous entries in the franchise. There were no gods from Asgard, and no magic wielding monks who could teleport across the globe. And because they dialed the story back to a more down-to-earth narrative, it felt separate from the main tapestry of the MCU, like it didn’t quite fit with what had come before. It definitely felt like a transition into a new era. It was a whole new tapestry that was still somehow connected to the big tapestry of the previous twenty-three movies.
Black Widow was an awesome character who had made the ultimate sacrifice to save the entire universe in Endgame. She had no super-human powers beyond her kick-ass fighting skills and a few tech gadgets like a face-changing espionage device, or a surprise miniature grappling hook. And for her character, that had always been enough. That, and her brains. She was super intelligent. The story was a prequel that took place just after the events of Captain America: Civil War, meaning that she was still an Avenger, though she was on the run from the law.
The more times I see this movie, the better I like it. The story was cool, and we are introduced to several great characters, some of whom are still prominent in the MCU today. We got great characters like Natasha Romanoff’s sister, Yelena Belova, awesomely played by Florence Pugh. Though they were not blood related, they were siblings in a family of Russian undercover agents who were stealing intel from S.H.I.E.L.D. Their mother was a Red Room Black Widow assassin, and the father was the Russian attempt to replicate the super-soldier abilities of Captain America, the Red Guardian. Dreykov was a good enough villain, though he didn’t do much. Same with Taskmaster, though she looked good in her costume and mask. I liked her powers of fighting mimicry, though, I wish they would have developed her more.
I particularly loved David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov. He has obvious super strength and durability, but is not big on brains. He is just so charismatic. And I really loved Yelena Belova. There was definitely a bond between her and Natasha, though there is also a certain amount of sibling rivalry that was explored in a sensitive way. And she is just as skilled a fighter as her Avenger sister. And who am I kidding? I also loved Rachel Weisz as the mother, Melina Vostokoff. She was intelligent and kicked ass with the best of them.
And as usual, the action sequences were thrilling and over-the-top. There were fantastic fight scenes, and the idea of impossible technology that we’ve already seen in the MCU, things like the flying fortress, the Red Room, where all the Black Widow assassins are trained. There was a secret serum in gaseous form that could release a Widow from the mind control of Dreykov, the master of the Red Room, and engineered pheromones that could prevent any Widow from harming him. All stuff that only exists in the comic book world that is the MCU.
But if I had a single complaint, it’s that the whole point of the Black Widow assassins is that they are not endowed with super-powers. The Red Guardian, yes, but not the Widows. Then someone tell me how Natasha can fall from the top of a seven or eight story building, banging into fire-escape railings and AC ducts on the way down, and land in a crumpled heap on the ground without dying? Natasha seems to be able to take a ridiculous amount of serious, life threatening injury, and then shrug it all off without little more than bruises. So maybe she does have a bit of superpower, that of unearthly durability. I always have to roll my eye at that one.
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- The family’s daring escape from the US. I loved when the dad jumped on the wing of the plane as it took off, and was still firing his gun at the pursuers.
- Natasha’s first fight with Taskmaster on the bridge
- Natasha and Yelena are reunited. I loved their sibling banter… and their fast-paced fight.
- The girls’ daring escape through the streets of Budapest.
- Alexei’s arm-wrestling scene in the prison. “Oh no! Hahaha. That guy think he going to beat me.” Also, the entire prison-break sequence! The avalanche!
- Natasha, Yelena, and Alexei are reunited with Melina. and the family banter around the table.
- The family infiltrates the Red Room and the reveal that Melina and Natasha had switched places.
- Melina finds a way to destroy the Red Room fortress making it blow up and fall from the sky.
- Yelena kills Dreykov by destroying his aircraft and sacrificing herself in the process, but Black Widow saves her as they fall.
- Natasha reconciles with Yelena and the rest of the family in the aftermath of the destruction of the Red Room.