Black Widow review – bringing the MCU back to the big screen in style

“Even almost 30 films in, Kevin Feige and his team are finding fresh ways to entertain us…”

For a superhero character that has been on cinema screens for more than a decade, this is one is overdue a solo outing. Finally, Scarlet Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff is centre stage, and her story doesn’t disappoint. Though Black Widow has a few pacing issues and missed opportunuties, the positives outweigh the negatives in the shape of a strong cast, some killer twists and no mercy action.

Taking place between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow fills the gap of Romanoff’s story whilst delving heavily into her backstory. The opening 10 minutes alone are espionage-heavy, hinting there is more to the character’s origins than meets the eye. The opening credits then tops it off with a Bond-feel and an incredible cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Literal chills.

The supporting cast is mainly made up of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian and Rachel Weisz’s Melina Vostokoff respectively. All are on hand to help the title character take down the Red Room, headed up by Ray Winstone’s Dreykov. Though Shostakov helps to bring comic relief and Vostokoff helps to anchor the emotion relating to our Avenger’s tragic childhood, Belova does both single-handedly with a flourish. From the moment she enters, there is an instant boost to the energy and everything goes up a gear. Having said that, all three of these characters work well as unit. We get a very entertaining family dynamic. One that I don’t think we expected Natasha to every be in.

There is also O-T Fagbenle’s Rick Mason, who acts as the sort of Q to Romanoff’s 007. As good as he is to set up future appearances, there’s not a lot that can be praised about his involvement. He’s here one minute and gone the next, and we don’t necessarily care.

Johansson herself has no struggle in keeping us entertained throughout the entire film. Whether it is performing a beat down (both physically or emotionally) or having a family squabble at a dinner table, we are reminded of why we are going to miss her take on the ex-Shield agent after the character’s death in Avengers: Endgame.

The villain on the ground comes in the shape of Dreykov’s Taskmaster. The character is written as a gold standard assassin who works for the Red Room and can mimic an opponent’s every move. Of course we don’t want to reveal the identity of the antagonist for those who haven’t seen the film, but we can definitely say the character’s hauntings throughout the story are appropriately terrifying. Once you discover who is behind the mask the scare factor then increases. You discover how this villain fits into the solo film of the MCU’s Black Widow perfectly.

Winstone fits well into the character of Dreykov, overall top dog villain. Finding out his dealings within the Red Room, Dreykov is on the mark and he makes for a very intimidating presence around those who have been under his thumb.

With this being a spy film, you can expect the action to be top tier – and Marvel have doubled down on it. With every fight sequence, you wince at most of the blows. You can definitely see that director Cate Shortland wants the audience to almost feel every punch and also show that women can take the action just as much as men.

The biggest plus of the film is the twists. Not just Taskmaster’s identity, but also how the main characters are led into the third act and how our lead assassin reigns victorious in the end. All done flawlessly, and nothing feels shoehorned. Delivered perfectly and without fault. We can only hope that the team behind this flick stick around Marvel Studios for other future outings.

As much as Black Widow comes in as a strong entry, it does have its downsides. Between the action sequences and moments of drip feeding information, it does feel stretched a tad. Some scenes could be shortened and tastier. More direct scene objections could have been utilised. One slight let down is also Winstone’s accent. As much as he kills it as overall villain of the piece, we notice quite easily that his Russian accent keeps getting that famous Cockney twang. Not enough to ruin the portrayal, but a bit…irritable, if anything.

Of course, this is a Marvel film. With that comes the fabled tradition of a mid and/or post credits scene. Again we are not here to spoil, but we can definitely say that this credits scene is a continuation of something that has already begun to build up whilst also acting as a nod to an upcoming Disney+ show. We’ll leave you with that.

Related Article: Our Top 10 MCU Films

All in all, Black Widow performs as one of the MCU’s heaviest hitters. Even almost 30 films in, Kevin Feige and his team are finding fresh ways to entertain us and give us a new level to a character we’ve known since film number three. Yes, it has it’s issues like every film, but it isn’t dragged back enough to call it a failure or a “don’t expect a sequel” entry. All we can say is it is a shame that Johansson got her solo film as her final bow. A lot of potential for future storytelling.

The rating for this one is going to have to be a firm 8/10

Black Widow is available on Disney+ and is showing in cinemas worldwide now.