Black Widow Movie Review (Spoiler Free)

Ten years after talks, rumours & teasing the audience, we finally obtained Scarlett Johansson’s MCU stand-alone picture. But can it hold up with other Marvel films?

Genre: Action / Comedy / Sci-Fi

Director: Cate Shortland

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, Ray Winstone, Olga Kurylenko, O-T Fagbenle, Ever Gabo Anderson, Violet McGraw & William Hurt.

Run Time: 134 min.

US Release: 09 July 2021

UK Release: 07 July 2021

German Release: 08 July 2021

After having been pushed back several times, due to the COVID pandemic, Black Widow finally made its way to theatres and Disney+ Premium Access. Nevertheless, it is a movie we should have obtained much earlier, especially before the character died in Avengers: Endgame, as it takes away any kind of tension from the story, knowing Natasha’s outcome. I can’t say I was pumped for it, even though I was happy to finally see Johansson kick butt in her stand-alone Marvel project. 

Set right after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Natasha Romanoff is in hiding. However, when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises, she needs to deal with her dark past life as a spy, as well as the broken relationships left in her wake, before becoming an Avenger. 

Sadly, I need to say this about Black Widow; while the film was entertaining enough to keep it just above an average grade, no love has gone into the script or story, which the character of Natasha Romanoff simply deserved! What we obtained was above mediocre at best, without even progressing the plot of the MCU in the slightest (how could it, if it was set right between Civil War and Infinity War), only placing potential future chess pieces into play. The sad truth is, the first movie of the fourth phase is nothing more than a filler flick.

This could have been the chance to create a second spy film a-la Captain America: The Winter Soldier, something greatly enjoyable! Instead, we obtained a picture that stalls a lot, especially around the end of the second act, throwing around silly jokes, mixing it up with a surprising amount of serious drama (of which I would have liked to see more!) and brutality, making it awkward to watch. Natasha’s backstory was depicted in the laziest possible way, it seemed like none of the writers were invested enough to compose an intriguing spy-thriller, which this amazing Marvel character would have deserved at the very least. 

As mentioned before, the dialogue contains too much weird humour that doesn’t blend in well with the amount of “gore” displayed on the screen. Then there is the use of Russian accents; early in the runtime, it is shown that all characters can speak perfect English, then all of a sudden they need to speak with accents to establish that they are Russians. Personally, I would have preferred watching them speak Russian with subtitles.

While the story itself was disappointing, this blockbuster shines when it comes to personal relationships between the characters! The atmosphere of a broken family reconnecting lies heavy along the second act, plus the chemistry between these four characters is impeccable. All of them are giving it their best, which is why Black Widow is partially so frustrating.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff is once again fantastic, being the glue that holds this premise together. That said, she also seems tired of playing her role, or maybe it is that she knew bringing out a movie about her specific persona now, after Avengers: Endgame, is pointless. She still treats the role with respect, compared to the studio, which turns her into a superhuman, defying gravity, in the third act. 

Florence Pugh plays Yelena Belova, Natasha’s “sister” she grew up with, before both being inducted at a very young age. Pugh has a lot of fun with her character, giving her a sass that her sister doesn’t have. In many ways, she is the counter-opposite of Romanoff, which makes it so fun to see when the two interact for the first time on screen. 

David Harbour was given the role of Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. Red Guardian. A forgotten, Soviet-era superhero past his prime. Harbour is the surrogate father of Yelena and Natasha, injecting the character with a lot of humour. Rachel Weisz as Melina is another Black Widow operative, plus the surrogate mother of the two sisters. Her portrayal is alright, reminding a little of Evelyn from the Mummy.

The worst characters - no big surprise here! - are once again the villains! Ray Winston, as Dreykov, is the counter character to Nick Fury, although he lacks any charisma. He is one of those baddies who are evil simply because they want to be exactly that. Then there is the Taskmaster, who is not Taskmaster. It is one of the most disappointing depictions of a Marvel villain!

Cinematographically speaking, the film has solid lighting, looking a little too slick plus clean, especially during scenes filmed in snowy areas. However, compared to other Marvel entries, the fight scenes were shot with too many quick cuts, as well as cutaways to other scenes, to the extent that one can’t get properly invested, hindering a build-up of tension. Then there is the fact that a lot of the action scenes are ridiculously over-the-top, specifically for a human spy heroine, without superhero powers. Black Widow was always given more down-to-earth action sequences in previous installations.  

The Music could have been better as well; The MCU is known for composing masterful, entertaining scores for their pictures. Here, while having an original score, it was often intertwined with a couple of covers of pop songs, especially during the beginning sequence and opening titles. It took away some of the creativity these movies include, feeling like another Suicide Squad score.

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Verdict: It is as if the Disney Corporation is actively going out of its way to produce a good female hero film, be it with the wooden, lacklustre performance by Brie Larson in Captain Marvel or subjecting Black Widow to a side role in her own “filler” flick. The story is entertaining enough, containing over-the-top action sequences, good chemistry between the characters - especially Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh - but it was also very lacklustre, containing boring sequences at times. The humour and amount of gore didn’t go hand in hand; the use of clichéd Russian accents was unnecessary, while the score was uninspiring. This had the potential to be one of the greatest chapters in the MCU, but as it stands, Black Widow is just slightly above average. I can’t give it more than a 6.0 out of 10. - An honest disappointment! 

Have you seen Black Widow yet? Do you agree with my review? Let me know what you thought in the comment section & if you want to read more reviews, subscribe to my site. Thank you very much for reading!